For a mile or so the road cut through the jungle like a tunnel; the vegetation brushing against the sides and roof hid what lurked in the shadows. There were an estimated 58,318 U.S. soldier casualties alone. I wonder if I was not Dante- would I have the inspiration to survive? That means bullets where flying at me and I killed people in combat. CIB. Kenneth, your definition of combat veteran is so wrong on so many levels that it would be funny if it did not besmirch the service of so many good men, alive and dead. The ERA Vets know perfectly well that they were neverNEVER..in Vietnam, and that this is nothing but a desperate attempt to gain the respect those men earned. Vietnam War veterans can suffer from a variety of physical and mental health conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), drug and/or alcohol problems, and hearing loss. And just as the bell rang he got out of the ring , technically I won the fight. i went to dong ha several times. and US, 7 Valuable Life Lessons My Navy Dad Taught Me, Understanding The Five Branches of The Military, 3 Things That Could Happen To the Military in a Recession. I have spoken at many VETS EVENTS, and done interviews with the media .. Never get tired of people telling me Thank You for your service, and absolutely love hearing WELCOME HOME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I needed the rest! This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. i never saw them again, but i knew we had shared something that was filled with pride, sadness, and the passage of time. 31 sets of brothers are on the Wall. I entered an L shaped ambush. It is called the Stolen Valor Act., Dau Tieng A Co. 3/22 Inf. Each averaged 2500-3000 personnel on a yearly rotating bases, groaning and shrinking based on the missions being conducted. According to the Pentagons Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, there are currently 83,204 unaccounted for U.S. personnel, including 73,547 from World War II, 7,883 from the Korean War, 126 from the Cold War, 1,642 from the Vietnam War, and six from Iraq and other recent conflicts, including three Defense. I wonder how many vets died of one of the cancers on the list before it made the list? (Mar 1969-Sep 70) 2/23, 196 LIB & 1/23 MP Co, 11 LIB, AMERICAL DIV. My government murdered me. You go, brother! i sailed with some in vn at the end of the work lives. Alternatively, to transfigure my destiny. Separate war. As of 2015, more than 1,600 of those were still unaccounted-for. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) of the U.S. Department of Defense lists 687 U.S. POWs as having returned alive from the Vietnam War. Army Reserve: 189,500 You are certainly a Vietnam Vet, and I know the danger that you were in As an Infantry (CIB) Sgt I spent part of my second tour with the 97th Trans out of Cam Rahn Bay, they operated @28 LCUs hauling projectiles up those rivers, always a risky business. David, please do not compare this to Merchant Seaman in WWII who braved the many packs of Submarines etc as thgatr uis hgow many died in WWIU, Sorry my spell check went nuts There is a statistic that has been widely quoted in the veteran community that highlights an estimated 22 veterans a day are committing suicide. 8,113,000 are still alive (May 2000) Post navigation The average number of Vietnam War veterans who die each day is 390 deaths. Some where along the way after returning home & towards, if not after the end of involvement, the number Id heard/read was 5 million US military served. Finally got all the right stuff together; received benefits couple months ago. I was on LZ Bayonet during 1970 and experienced many of the things you described. The oldest living Vietnam War veteran is believed to be a man named Larrivee Ronald A, who was born in Feb, 24, 1935. I know full well it takes many, many hands to make the infantry function but like you saidclaim your time. The article states that The youngest Vietnam Veteran is aged in the late 60s today. they sucked. How Many Vietnam War Veterans Are Still Alive? Thats what we did in Vietnam we left and am glad we did. Then later we were transferred to Camp Red Ball. my point is that they were shot at and in country. No two people standing side by side performed the same duties. He was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II. Well thank God congress got it right putting the definition into law, otherwise those who served there would not be eligible for many VA benefits, particularly Agent Orange claims. He was drafted and qualified for Helicopter pilot school. He got a letter from his wife telling him she was divorcing him and marrying his best friend. Now Iv had five and 10 % works. I think The NY Times has conflated he number of Viet Nam veterans with those who served in the military during the years 1960-1975. Okay.Ill be the one to tell it like it is, even though everyone here, as well as everyone else, knows the truth already! Deaths per day . Hometown: Detroit, Michigan. I left the Ville at 3:00pm. Bullets were flying everywhere, and the noise was tremendous. I was only there 9-months but others served multiple tours, so I tend to believe the 2.7 3.0 million is probably an accurate number. How many Vietnam veterans are dying each day? You would think the services would know how many were assigned to RVN and direct support of RVN, wouldnt you?? Div., 67-68. This situation has been an issue for years longer than any of us has been around. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. I will have to disagree with the CIB being the only combat veterans The Battle of Soui Tre 3-21-1967 at Fire Support Base Gold Operation Junction City, the 2/77 Artillery 18 105s and the 3/22 Infantry A & B Cos the enemy lost 881 KIA and UNK WIAs, we lost counting the landing in the 19th 55 KIA & 287 WIA, within an hours Westmorland and other Stars were there claiming this Victory (14 Stars on the battlefield) The Artillery are every bit combat veterans with the infantry and many other FSB battles as well I have a CIB and did 22 months in country late including TET. I was C 3/17 air cav. I volunteered for 3 TDY tours 18 months total. How many Vietnam veterans are still missing? We and they generally slept in the same bunks in the same tent if we werent up on call during the night. Using the 2.7 million and assuming one hundred thousand did two tours, I would use the six hundred thousand as the amount still living, due mainly to the delays in Agent Orange treatments and PTSD delays with the sucides from 1970 approx. I concur with the 610,000 as the 850,000 remaining vets have been used for years and would be much lower by now. September 27, 2022 by Editorial Team. It is difficult to say how many Vietnam veterans have been affected by Agent Orange. My performance as Dante Michael Anthony Puccetti was at its close, and resembling the theater, I was ready to take my curtain call. C 3/17 Air Cav. i was not a supporter of the war but i did my job. As I moved my right hand to change gears, it just blew apart, as red blood and parts of my hand flew everywhere instantaneously, but in slow motion I seemingly was catapulted onto some parallel universe. scipione@geneseo.edu, Yes a Vietnam Veteran, but not a Combat Veteran. Check out this post and see if you can figure this out. What Major Is Kent State University Known For? Was back at LZ Bayonet the last part of my tour after being medevaced off of Professional and in the hospital at Chu Lai. 11B20 and proud of it. Hunter killer division. Those an in the Era the we were in Vietnam but they are not Vietnam Vets by any stretch of you imagination. If you were in Vietnam, you were exposed to Agent Orange, period. Learn something new everyday. And yes I was sprayed with Agent Orange. These numbers do not include the Americans who served in Vietnam during World War II. The Nation supported WWI & WWII, the entire Nation was involved in the war effort. I always ask those who claim to be Compare yourself to the Marines at Fallujah, if they are a 10, what number are you, Thanks for your comment! It seems to be all about syntax. (Operation Ranch Hand) that were loaders and used no protection. Everyone did their assigned job; some just got better assignments. What was the cause of preventable deaths in the Vietnam War? Rear echelon? how would you define a clerk typist who stayed in saigon and never went into the field. So, I must be a VN Vet and VN Era Vet and Cold War Era Vet but not a Cold War Vet because I never got anywhere near the USSR. Does having your ramp down and touching a river bank count as boots on ground while we were not allowed to go off the boat when we were pumping gas to the airbase? He was carrying a BAR, killed fighting an infantry action, and the desk jockeys decided he did not meet requirements for a CIB. VA released VetPop 2020 which is VA's new official estimate and projection of the Veteran population. This was with conversations with them while waiting our turn to be seen in the VA. Like you I am sick of ERA Veterans claiming to be in country. 101st Airborne 25th Infantry 82nd Airborne 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Return to reality. Had several replies over the years that this was not a cause. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. I was with the 1st Inf Division from July 67 to June 68 and we received $15 overseas pay and $65 combat pay a month. It makes a big difference because stating that only one-third of Vietnam veterans are still alive today is much harsher than stating that three-quarters of Vietnam veterans are still alive and well. I recall combat pay (Hazard DutyPay) at $60 dollars a month. Not 499 days between dec 67 & april 68? Thanks for your responses. 997 soldiers997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam . Scavenger1, I agree with you. Most of the time as a grunt without a map. John, all of the participants in this thread are veterans. We just hoped the pilot put us where we were supposed to be. He was killed in action just a few months later. Most of those who flew had Air Medals which are a combat medal. . Overall, the death rate of Vietnam veterans seems to be rather consistent if not better than other people their same age, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If we arent able to determine WHO is a Vietnam Vet, then how can one determine how many of us are still alive today? The term I like to use is Together We Served. I think its just a generalization but should be cleared. you tell me. I think there about 250,000 Virtnam Vets that saw actual combat. I do not, however, have a CIB. They wouldnt know the truth even if they tripped over it. I don't know about you guys, but it kind of gives me the chills. March 29, 1973Part of what was called Operation Homecoming, the first 20 POWs arrived to a heros welcome at Travis Air Force Base in California on February 14. In my Book if you didnt step foot in Nam Your sure not a Vietnam Vet, Period. I wouldnt trust the New York Times study, regardless of their Sources! What other conclusions have been made about the percentage of Vietnam veterans who are still alive? Damn it, government could have sent anyone serving at any time to Vietnam. it is branded on you. I raised my left leg and body up and pushed off that knee with my left hand. My whole essence was involved it the quest of one more heartbeat, one more breath, one more gasp of pain averting energy, one moment at a time. Vietnam Vet_combat. It's estimated that tens of thousands of veterans have returned to Vietnam since the 1990s, mostly for short visits to the places where they once served. We havent forgotten that time of our lives, and remember full well, that most of these ERA Vets joined these other branches in a desperate attempt to avoid service in Vietnam. That's 390 per day. I am unsure of how many Native peoples joined the US marine corps and volunteered for combat duties. For US Vietnam Veterans it's about 66 years vs just about 78 years for non vets. In the highlands we had to take one every day in addition to the once a week pill. Nebraska Farm Boy, that had to go to County Agent Classes before buying any chemicals. scipione@geneseo.edu More than 3.4 million deployed to Southeast Asia (1) and approximately 2.7 million of those served in the Republic of Vietnam (2). Served most of my time on LZ Professional. may we all be the last man standing. Needless to say, I set them straight about his lying BS, and moved out the next day. It too bad that guys that never fought think for some reason they deserve credit for being in Vietnam when they werent. An overwhelming number are buried by family and friends. Hell no. In addition, the US lost two F-111As, three F-4s, two A-7s, two A-6s, one EB-66, one HH-53, and one RA-5C. for most of it i listened but not wanting to interfere. I agree Vietnam vets are fewer. I understand that they only got about 300,000 of us, but that is a huge, decent number, considering how cynical we Nam vets can be about studies. Last I heard the database indicated that the Median Age of Death of Nam vets was reached at least three or four years ago.
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