The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. He was wounded and suffered permanent disability shortly before his tour was up. Also , it I might add that the, Government big wigs, have a quota [percentage]of a lot of the Military equipment etc that had a certain amount of time to function until it was disable, blow up, wrecked, junk, etc. There were two different groups that flew aeromedical evacuations. Ed, I was in a Grunt Platoon in Vietnam 70-71. Gotta say I think you hit it on the nose. Really? My shit got weak and a sniper popped three rounds in my young ass. There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam Veterans of the same age group (Source: Veterans Administration Study). Anyway I was wondering about the RTOs in a grunt platoon, was that their MOS or were they 11B that carried a PRC ? We were like sitting Ducks. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. I also was 2/327 B company. We used to provide cover for these guys. Spent my year in a Recon platoon 2/35th 4th ID. I couldnt see DeLong and didnt know if No. Shea's gallantry in action at the cost of his life were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon . I was a grunt with c co. 4/31 196th it inf bade. C Co, 1st-12th 66-67. I was also told that the Radio did put a target on my back. Sholly injured an ankle, and 1st Lt. Cary Allen took command of Company B. If you would like to get a copy, and cant find it, let me know, and I will make sure you get one. Enemy fire greeted as us as soon as we landed near the village. The Army suffered the most total casualties, 38,179 or 2.7 percent of its force. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Address: 9241 13th Ave SW MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 500,000 missions. I also earned a Combat Infantryman Badge, signifying that I had been actively engaged in combat. At this time- senior Army leadership ordered us all to read the Geneva Convention to our troops because of the My Lai debachle. Were talking averages, obviously so, an RTO, with an expectancy of 5 seconds (!) hbbd```b`` ,&Iw sA '#o We ambushed and got ambushed, firebase got attacked who carried what or did what had no bearing. And yes, please God, bless America. My dog and I walked point my whole tour in Vietnam. Some 23% of Vietnam vets had fathers with professional, managerial As I was running to the rivers edge, ready to unload on the VC hiding in the elephant grass, I ran past a grass hut and never bothered to clear it. I just wanted to get off No. One afternoon, while Company B was still in the Tuy Hoa area, we received orders to gather up our gear and get ready to board choppers for an assault into a hot landing zone. This is excellent! Michael Doolittle..I was with 1/8 inf, 1st Brigade, and that day, March 22nd was also our darkest day. I packed my own radio and got a Thank you from his Mom. The 4th Platoons single machine gun crewthe platoon had entered the fight short a gunhad been killed in the fighting, and I was to be moved there. Needless too say I depended on Sgt. 2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam. Both my tours were in the Delta (IV Corps) where the only ground troops were regular ARVNs and RUFF/PUFFS. If it was your day to get hit or die, it happened. Sgt. As I carried a PRC25 radio for over seven-months in the > Nam, I was curious to find out what I did RIGHT to surv >, One MOS I figured was a sure short timer was POL{Fuel} Truck Driver. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. General Vo Nguyen Giap, the designer of the Tet Offensive, is considered by some as ranking with Wellington, Grant, Lee and MacArthur as a great commander. I will always think/say, we had absolutely no reason for being in that place. The one number that is really important is 56,220 and we all know what that number represents. I agree with all of the comments, however I would add Tunnel Rats to the group I was one and saw many of my friends die in those tunnels I was very fortunate or very lucky and was never a lead but was at the tail end. Contents1 [] KICK ASS AS NEEDED!!! Papitto Opportunity Connections Mission: The Papitto Opportunity Connection (POC) is a private foundation dedicated to listening and working together with Rhode Islands BIPOC communities to empower and create individual success stories by investing in education, job skills training, and entrepreneurial ventures. It was the silent power of the pig, I suppose. What percentage of Vietnam veterans actually saw combat? I never understood why they didnt put M60s on Medevacs (once the VC shot them down) but then, we now know they never intended to win that war in the first place. See also: Population The Vietnam War gave us trouble because we didnt know how to counteract against guerrilla warfare in a jungle (dont forget that the US Army was switching to M16s, which often jammed). AS LEADERS IN AMERICAS SERVICES WE MUST BE PROFICIENT AND READY TO ACCOMPLISH OUR MISSIONS- The one that should be there is the combat medic. As we approached the battle, we heard intense firing. If you have other information let me know. three, he believes he is doing what his country wants him to dojust like you So you better damn well treat him with the compassion you want for you!! May was eventually able to hand off 2nd Platoons No. 75,000 Vietnam veterans are severely disabled. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Though I flew only about 1/2 dozen missions as a Huey door gunner, I was initially told to sit on my flak jacket I always did so (personal protection first). Supported by a shoulder strap, No. In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans group. We were very, lucky. 1 Gun before my luck ran out. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. Also, it would mean the killed RTOs died within seconds of the fight (it doesnt distinguish between ambush or regular fight, eg. Contents 1 Unclear objectives 2 North Vietnamese strategy Commanders like him were few and far between many were afraid of their own shadow and were only there to get their ticket punched. Bruce Grandstaff and my best friend, Sgt. Spanish Help By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE VIETNAM VETS ARE NOT. An Hinglish word (Hindi/English). Activated in 1915, as the 173rd Infantry Brigade, the unit saw service in World War II but is best known for its actions during the Vietnam War. Moving west down the trail, 4th Platoon exchanged fire with a single NVA soldier, then a handful and finally a group of about 10-15 around noon. The Republic of Vietnam lost 1,018 aircraft and helicopters from January 1964 to September 1973. Enter the the Ksp expression forC2D3 in terms of the molar solubility x.? The fact that PDoggbiker cant find any decent calculation/explanation, tells us a lot. The Bn & Company I was assigned to, was on the last row of Bldgs. But I made it back in one piece. Hey Robert I was with the 38th Scout Dog Plt. (LogOut/ Different jobs have different life expectancy. Nicknamed "the pig" due to its size, weight and sound, the gun struck fear into enemy troops. I spent 10 1/2 months in the jungles of Vietnam. Sholly finally agreed and stated that the next time we received replacements I could give one of them my M60. Eventually I found a spot where the bed leveled off and began firing on the NVA. We observed the rules of the Geneva Convention while the bad guys had no interest in doing so. Of the eight who remained, seven were wounded. The early days of May 1970, I arrived at the Airport, next to Saigon. I was a helicopter pilot 4314 0 obj <> endobj For some reason, the written word of this article was somehow deleted and lost. Thats why they called us GRUNTS ! He pulled the company into a perimeter and dispatched 4th Platoon to recon the trail to the west, while 1st Platoon performed a similar mission to the east-southeast. On the morning of March 22, 1967, companies A and B of my battalion began a search-and-destroy operation along the Cambodian border. I am 81 now and survived the encounter by terminated the sniper. One was holding a carbine. We had one RTO killed because he was too close to a 2ND Lt, same thing happened to another RTO. Their personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. Fact: The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. The United States sought to minimize and prevent attacks on civilians while North Vietnam made attacks on civilians a centerpiece of its strategy. I personally carried 300 rounds of ammo at all times, one belt in the gun and two across my chest. Mech. Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. Very Good , I was a radio operator up in I corps in 68 & to me the worst thing was the walking . endstream endobj startxref I was still pondering the move to 4th Platoon when U.S. Air Force jets screamed over the treetops with canisters of napalm. In my tour everyone had the same chance of getting shot. So I guess I defied the odds. I sure feel for all you guys that went outside the wire. The incident in the photo took place on the second day of a three day battle between the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) who occupied the village of Trang Bang and the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) who were trying to force the NVA out of the village. It began just as, it was getting dark. After a quick lesson, DeLong became the new owner of 4th Platoons No.1 Gun. Thanks for the reply. Once we turned on the radar they could hit us with a harm missile. We walked the mountains and rice patties all thru Tu Thien Province. Sept 69 to Sept 70. Artillery, and ground forces. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Of those killed, 61% were younger than 21 years old. Sociologists Charles C. Moskos and John Sibley Butler, in their recently published book All That We Can Be, said they analyzed the claim that blacks were used like cannon fodder during Vietnam and can report definitely that this charge is untrue. (LogOut/ Soon I could take the gun apart and put it back together in the dark. Totally bogus. Good article. Although the percent that died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. On Sun, Mar 8, 2020 at 4:00 PM CherriesWriter Vietnam War website wrote: > pdoggbiker posted: A friend recently sent me the link to an article > claiming that the life expectancy of a radio operator in the Vietnam War > was only 5 seconds.
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