2 tour Nam Vet, The Navys First Vietnamese Admiral Saw His Family Killed by an Infamous Viet CongGuerrilla, The Navy's First Vietnamese Admiral Saw His Family Killed by an Infamous Viet Cong Guerrilla, A Day in the Life of an Infantry Point Man in Vietnam, The Story behind the famous Saigon Execution Photo. 1ST MAW 66-68. 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. Was I lucky ? 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. Arthur Parker and Spc. When Apache Snow began, I was an RTO, after Airborne, and before the CA on Dong Ap Bia, I became the AG for Roeski. RIght there and the NVA we were usually up against knew this. Some very close calls but I am alive at age 74. I couldnt see DeLong and didnt know if No. From Cam Rahn, we kept flying north to, a Landing Zone near QUANG TRI. I was an Artillery Forward Observer 13F20 E-5 at that time. both tours. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_losses_of is sharing facts, thats truly good, keep up writing. Very interesting I carried theM 60 for 5 months that gun would cut down anything. First thing we did was, Set up a complete circular perimeter. 85% of Vietnam Veterans made successful transitions to civilian life. The average age of the men killed: 23.1 years. Vietnam veterans' personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. We were about 700 yards east of Company A when it was ambushed by an NVA battalion. Life expectancy at birth. We are a woman-owned small business and Veteran-owned incorporated in Ohio. Re: Helicopter Crews (Medevac & Dustoff): To my knowledge, only the 1st Cav Medevac had M60s for protection. Hats off to them. And yes, please God, bless America. I was with HHC and 1st Platoon C Company in 70-71. I was trained as a RTO in 1970 at Fort Ord then went to Fort Gordon for teletype school, my MOS was 05C20 when I finished. S/F, There were no door gunners on dustoffs. Bravo, 3/187th Inf, 101st Airborne Div, 2nd Plt, 2nd Sq, Hamburger Hill, May 69. my left and saw this rice paddie farmer and his ox and I was trying to motion him to get down he just looks at me and starts Welcome home. waving then I realized they Werent shooting at him only at the Answer (1 of 12): It heavily depends. hmK#1+yNvA If it was your day to get hit or die, it happened. Our Aussie Dust off choppers had door gunners, we worked on the theory if the Noggies would shot at Red Cross choppers, we would return fire, Aussie grunt, 60000 00 Aussies fought in Vietnam, Up the Old Red Rooster and more beer. Lt lost a finger, same time. When I popped back up to put out some automatic fire, a bullet whizzed by my earno more than an inch from my headand slammed into the tree next to me, shattering the bark. Foot soldiers went by the grace of God, but had a better chance than the infantry platoon commander in combat. TONY DISAGREED> hE SAID TAKE A 19 YEAR OLD, WHO HAS JUST TAKEN TWO ROUNDS TO HIS BODY, And IS watching his best friend die from multiple, bleeding wounds he wont give a shit about the Geneva Convention. How Many Vietnam War Veterans Are Still Alive? The 140,000 evacuees in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon consisted almost entirely of civilians and Vietnamese military, NOT American military running for their lives. The planes doing the bombing near the village were VNAF (Vietnam Air Force) and were being flown by Vietnamese pilots in support of South Vietnamese troops on the ground. Thats why they called us GRUNTS ! History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. At this time- senior Army leadership ordered us all to read the Geneva Convention to our troops because of the My Lai debachle. U.S. Wings is a manufacturer and a supplier. The Bn & Company I was assigned to, was on the last row of Bldgs. And I know what youre going to say, Because the American cs! Bullcrap!!!! Amazingly, the NVA men then walked a short distance away, sat down and ate lunch. How old are Vietnam vets now? We fought to an agreed stalemate. I remember we were always short of replacements throughout 1968 because of the high Kia & wounded rate we suffered at that time ! I was on a radar crew and we were told that, during war time, we would most likely be killed within minutes. Required fields are marked *. It resulted in the death of some 45,000 NVA troops and the complete, if not total destruction of the Viet Cong elements in South Vietnam. However, Shermans were very outmatched by the German tanks on the field of battle. The machine guns were numbered within each platoon. I was a point man, M60 Gunner and squad leader. Express your answer in terms of x. Some 23% of Vietnam vets had fathers with professional, managerial Ambulances are not supposed to be armed (either) though in training, medics are told they and their vehicles will be a prime target. I was a helicopter pilot BS but ia a way you are correct. The Kb of pyridine, C5H5N, is 1.5 x 10-9. 2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam. We walked the mountains and rice patties all thru Tu Thien Province. I know the scouts in my company had a slightly longer rate but not much. 74% say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome. Your Dad and I had the same job. Its just (bad) luck, fate, randomness theres no right or wrong, no justice or fairness, no reasoning. He then said that they were generally on patrol moving through their area, both attacking and being attacked depending if the VC knew their location. Bob Sanzone. This is not Vietnam where a machine gunners life expectancy was short because you had an entire army shooting at them. Great story!!! Surrounded by an enemy battalion, our hopelessly outnumbered platoon waged a desperate battle for survival. As far as I knew that was done in the whole battalion in 1968 . Good article. Half of the company hopped off the Huey on one side of the river, and the rest exited on the other side. The Australian Vietnam veteran study assessed the postservice mortality of 19 205 Vietnam veterans and 25 677 non-Vietnam veterans through 1981. I assisted Vessey and Capt Cartwright by helping prepare the Bee Hive Rounds (first time they were ever used), firing 4 rounds at proximity 0 range into a human wave attack on or weak side after 5 hours of relentless attacks on the opposite side of the perimeter Those 4 rounds killed @ 400 enemy soldiers, of the 881 total enemy losss John Vessey later became a 4 Star general and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs appointed by Reagan 1983, and at retirement became Chair of the POW MIA Commission for 14 years, Passing away in August 2016 just 6 months before our 50th Reunion. I was to have that experience two more times before it was over. I carried the PRC-25 Radio most of that time. If youre American (which you probably are), I could give a f***. I did worry about the strength of my flax vest. I do remember when I got short I thought about it a lot more. Artillery, and ground forces. But I made it back in one piece. Was a door gunner and crew chief for just shy of 18 months (I extended to get out early). At Fort Lewis, every recruit learned to operate various weapons. A Co, 1/5 Cav, 1 Cav Division. Does this mean addressing to a crowd? Found NVA bunker complex. I was also told that the Radio did put a target on my back. What was the life expectancy of a point man in Vietnam? We soon learned that the NVA troops were very different from the local guerrillas we had fought around Tuy Hoa. Two rounds smashed into a log inches above my head. The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand stayed free of Communism because of the U.S. commitment to Vietnam. For example, life expectancy of male and female Veterans with household incomes less than $20,000, at respectively. There were two different groups that flew aeromedical evacuations. 3 Answers C5H5N in water > C5H5NH+ & OH- Kb = [C5H5NH+] [OH-] / [C5H5N] 1.5e-9 = [x] 1. 1 Gun and I survived our first firefight. I was over there twice serving as a Hospital Corpsman with a marine unit. I may not have hit anyone that day, but I am certain that No. For example: 7*x^2. .. Different type units, different locations, different opinions on dangers. The average man who fought in World War II was 26 years of age. Their personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. Posterior Thigh _____ 4. I know this is a standard cliche, but it is so true, All gave some. Theres 58,276. It began just as, it was getting dark. Very memorable comments. As an infantry platoon Sgt of a platoon made up of all draftees my age 21 plus or minus a year We fought the largest single one day battle of the war March 21, 1967 known as the Battle of Soui Tre, fire support base Gold operation Junction City, that base was commanded by LtCol John Vessey of the 2/77 FA Vessey was a 25 year veteran of WWII fame with a DSC at Anzio, and on this day he was looking at the end of his career after that tour in Vietnam. Vietnam War soldiers endured many hardships and faced many problems. 1 Gun used to kill Americans? In Company A, 22 men had been killedadded to the seven killed in Company B. All the comments and replies are of absolute truth, I was only 18 when I got to Nam ,Im a country boy from NC so here I am I flew Dustoff and our unit did not have M60s for protection, nor did any other Dustoff unit that Im aware of. I was an M-60 machine gunner for a battalion recon platoon in 1967, for the First Infantry Division, Known as The Black Scarf Battalion. Our battalion operated at a base camp near Tuy Hoa in Phu Yen province along the South China Sea from October 1966 to January 1967. Phi Pow B.Sc (econ) in Economic History & Economics (college minor), London School of Economics and Political Science Author has 212 answers and 234.6K answer views 2 y Originally Answered: What soldier had the shortest life expectancy? I spent 10 1/2 months in the jungles of Vietnam. Then we learned, appx: 1 mile to our North was, an American AMMO storage area. Soldiers also act in the mobilization of vehicles, weaponry, troops, and more. Was it left behind on some forgotten battlefield? Hack received the Purple Heart for major combat injuries, and spent the rest of his military career as a recruiter for the US Army in Akron, Ohio. Helicopters, F4 fighters. The Organization of the Viet Cong Units in the South never recovered. I carried the PRC-25 for most of a year. The jungle seemed to want No. Comments were more interesting than the article it self. Completa las oraciones con la forma correcta del presente de subjuntivo de los verbos entre parntesis.? Nobody attacked, where we were. Photo above is of Stanley Kober with RTO, John Scheur. If anything went wrong, I could easily kill some of our soldiers. I was never formally trained as an RTO. Dap, Hope this helps. never happened,we lost two sweep team members and some That means you lose five RTOs in 5 seconds. Both halves quickly swept toward the river to clear the village. Needless too say I depended on Sgt. We do have infantry (why do you think we have that MOS? well I wonder how long your going to last lieutenant? Thank You Roger!!! Thats 390 per day. Also, it has been incorrectly reported that two of Kim Phucs brothers were killed in this incident. I picked up my M60 and walked to the center of the perimeter, where I found the company commander, Capt. AS LEADERS IN AMERICAS SERVICES WE MUST BE PROFICIENT AND READY TO ACCOMPLISH OUR MISSIONS- At that time, an infantry company consisted of about 150 men. If the enemy was near, we never saw any. We observed the rules of the Geneva Convention while the bad guys had no interest in doing so. In January 1967, the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, was airlifted to Pleiku province in the Central Highlands. Wortman, another RTO never made it back to The World. A typical Patrol Boat River (PBR) was about 31 feet long and had twin 50s forward an M 60 midships and a 50 aft. Calculate the pH of a solution of 0.157 M pyridine.? Date: March 8, 2020 Author: pdoggbiker 97 Comments Photo above is of Stanley Kober with RTO, John Scheur. What Was It Like To Hump The Boonies in Vietnam? Welcome Home Brothers ! We then took all Trucks and equipment to the Port Of Saigon. To an, open area. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. It was an honor indeed to serve with some of the finest soldiers I have ever met. I was told to show the new guy how to use it properly. Ernest, Im glad that your first tour with the VN airborne was rewarding. Im laying behind a rice paddie dike.I put my whole body as far down in the muck while the bullets were over my head. Thats why I never understand people talking about survivors guilt it should have been me, why him? etc. One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. (Although 58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and birth date. Screaming Eagles! (LogOut/ Your article was quite interesting. Love you Wortman!!!! Cruz quite a lot. Fact: No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. I prayed I would not have to fire over the heads of the 4th Platoon troops entering the draw to retrieve our dead. 1 Gun, I jumped into a small dry streambed with Domke, my assistant gunner. David H. McNerney, who assumed command of the company when all of its officers were killed or wounded, was presented with the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony in September 1968. If you ask people who live in these countries that won the war in Vietnam, they have a different opinion from the American news media. However, it was the discretion of the individual crewmen if they wanted to carry personal weapons or not. My father was on a lrrp team!65-67never was shot but killed alot.He never really got over it though died in 2012! Death by a Bottle! We all have opinions, this is mine. Rarely do we examine war through the unique bond between a man and his weaponin this case the . endstream endobj startxref Remember he wanted to reenlist for one more year in Vietnam. Sholly finally agreed and stated that the next time we received replacements I could give one of them my M60. Not to mention that right now its safer than some cities in the us. Welcome Home Roger. Such as in the song Jimmy by M.I.A look at aaja in the dictionary My indian boyfriend told me is meaning come to me, 6 Answers I have never had or heard of that particular brand, but have had several here in Canada, plus a number in the Caribbean and Asia, and there all the same, small cut hot dogs in a can, no need q now please.. Name the major nerves that serve the following body areas:? I had a 20% death rate in my Hospital Corpsman Class. If the NVA shot at the group retrieving the bodies, I was to fire over the heads of the grunts and engage the enemy. Fact: The domino theory was accurate. Mi hermana se sorprende N-F C-F Cl-F F-F 2 Answers C-F is the most polar. After a couple of hours, the Viet Cong stopped shooting and melted back into the jungle. I sure feel for all you guys that went outside the wire. The first thing my platoon sgt. Contents1 [] I felt the same way jumping off the chopper with my m-60, 300. rounds of ammo,grenades,sandbags and six canteens of water. 1 Gun. There were almost twice as many casualties in Southeast Asia (primarily Cambodia) the first two years, after the fall of Saigon in 1975, than there were during the ten years the U.S. was involved in Vietnam. 2 Gun.. Many were killed or wounded ! Both served in A 2/18 1st Infantry Division. Why is my internet redirecting to gslbeacon.ligit.com and how do I STOP THIS. The other group of aeromedical evacuation were divisional, i.e. But, once the enemy lays down his weapon, I want YOU TO REMEMBER THREE THINGS: 1, HE IS A SOLDIER, JUST LIKE YOU.2, HE IS AWAY FROM HOME And family, just like you. Information presented by SFC (Ret) David Hack. Had multiple Ks and Ws. Without that commitment, Communism would have swept all the way to the Malacca Straits that is south of Singapore and of great strategic importance to the free world. The Tet Offensive succeeded on only one front and that was the News front and the political arena. We wanted a break. If there was anything to this life expectancy of a few minutes then myself and many of my friends that are still alive today would be a long time dead. The fact that PDoggbiker cant find any decent calculation/explanation, tells us a lot. Grab some friends and go outside. 240 men were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. I couldnt disagree. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. The earliest casualty record contains a date of death of . MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 500,000 missions. I won a few times, and even when I did not I benefited from handling the gun under stress. 15 May he was killed by friendly fire, and a host of us were WIA, myself included. Company A searched in vain for the platoon in the dark and finally found the shattered unit on the morning of May 19. 4 Paul Domke, who carried extra belts of ammo and fed them into the gun. Then I dropped back down in the streambed to organize our ammo. Company B arrived in-country with four rifle platoons, and each platoon was armed with two M60s. Welcome home brothers and sisters. In all that time, the Tet 1968 fighting in Saigon was the only time the unit fought a pitched urban battlevery unusual during the war. Suddenly, I heard my name shouted from the Company B command group. Thanks for the perceived loss and the countless assassinations and torture visited upon Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians goes mainly to the American media and their undying support-by-misrepresentation of the anti-War movement in the United States. 4314 0 obj <> endobj The early days of May 1970, I arrived at the Airport, next to Saigon. I am 81 now and survived the encounter by terminated the sniper. It was just north of Saigon. Lowering my gun, I turned around and noticed two VC sitting in the doorway of the hut, staring at me. And us the living that served, who suffer from PTSD ,that figure or percent-aged would be about the greatest of all. the life expectancy of a LT in Vietnam in major combat was 16 minutes. The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. 2 Gun to Ranallo. 23,24 This study found that the death rate for Vietnam veterans was 1.3 times that for non-Vietnam veterans; however, the excess deaths were limited to Engineer Corps members (RR, 2.5). Appx: 6 months in, all of the 543d TC joined forces with the 572d TC. Lived too tell about it. An interesting comment I had. Nixon Presidential Papers. I was in the AF a Reo in a F4-C. Who had time to worry about the life It was always quick/quick, load the bodies in and get the hell out. Life Expectancy of the World Population. hb```8fB cBLd2>Tb jz1@E; aK6Tmc.Nn"&gn7hj'wm,h d6p4u0`&88:,TMV& y@ b=e>a&^ >{2b`ZHE3psn QZ I was constantly untangling the barrel and bipod of the gun from grasping vines and branches. I served in A Company 3/22 of the 3rd Brigade 4th Infantry 12/66, then Hq Co 2/12 of the 3rd Brigade 25th Inf until the night of the TET offensive end of January 1968 and returned home July 18 1968. Both served in A 2/18 1st Infantry Division For some reason, the written word of this article was somehow deleted and lost. Although the percent that died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. Diaphragm _____ 3. The Marine Corps lost 14,836, or 5 percent . I also was 2/327 B company. We (Americans) had nothing to do with controlling VNAF, according to Lieutenant General (Ret) James F. Hollingsworth, the Commanding General of TRAC at that time. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. My first tour was as an advisor to the VN Abn. If you were an administrative officer or clerk in an air-conditioned trailer in Saigon, your war might be a lot like peacetime duty. Ive always considered myself damn lucky to make it out alive. Lucky you. To my right, Piambino had poked his head out of the trench to fire his M16 rifle. It called for release of all U.S. prisoners, withdrawal of U.S. forces, limitation of both sides forces inside South Vietnam and a commitment to peaceful reunification. said to me. We had been carrying machine guns for over seven months. Quickly learned to control rate of fire. I wasnt sure if the VC had moved to right or left, so I sprayed the elephant grass in both directions. 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. A documentary about our company and our 1st Sgt was made. Was No. Most of us have memories of these kind of experiences. Then we all, loaded on C-147 cargo planes. In my humble opiniona maneven leaders should often recalculate their adversaries capabilities and limitations and his own limitations as wellwhen 10,000 miles from home against a determined worthy foein a strange landThe objective of Lam Son 719? RIP KOOKIE forever young, Thank god you are still alive, I am age 77. By the time we reached Vietnam in October 1966 I felt the gun had become a part of me. Then he said youre on a FB, the enemy always knows your location, can pretty much attack at will, and you really dont have the capability to retreat.
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