Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. 2025. Why do the vets who served during the Vietnam War era have to be so devisive? My government murdered me. 15 of us REMFs were surrounded by the 33rd NVA June 13 1970. I was driving the OPs 3/4-ton, 4X4 truck down the main dirt highway from Camp Enari entering the Ville and Mark Stanley was a passenger in the cab. 1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam. I was a merchant marine officer on cargo ships, american export lines, for three years, back and forth to viet nam. Certainly leaves some doubt about the numbers because why are we including the years from 1954 to when the actual American forces entered hostile missions? I served in Vietnam from Jul 68 to Jul 69. Apparently Infantry is the operative word. to Ken Drombosky A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. Special Forces orderly room to picked-up theyre new frequencies. My performance as Dante Michael Anthony Puccetti was at its close, and resembling the theater, I was ready to take my curtain call. for most of it i listened but not wanting to interfere. Even in this age of computers and accountability just goes to show ya ,people still cant Add or do Math . Id like to know what the 1 in 14 men figure is based on. Infantry Division. I would say anyone who has drawn Vietnam Hazard Duty pay, 30 dollars for every month or part of any month, in or over country, should qualify. It should be duly noted that these numbers do not include the 2500 to 3000 US Air Force troops stationed in Guam, Thailand, and other countries that were involved in the Vietnam War effort. How many veterans die each day? In 2019, the most . If you served anywhere at all, anywherre during WWI, you are a WWI vet. He is absolutely obsessed with military and different men who have served, The definitive statistics come from the VAs Million Vietnam Vets database, which will continue until we are all gone. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. 8,113,000 are still alive (May 2000) Post navigation Thanks for your responses. What report or reference confirms it? What other conclusions have been made about the percentage of Vietnam veterans who are still alive? Having served two tours on the ground, as they say, I find it depressing. If I got in the ring with Cassius clay later known as Mohamed Ali. All the others are Vietnam ERA Vets. 11B20 and proud of it. The definition of Combat Veteran is NOT if you have a CIB. My husband was awarded several (door gunner w/191st AHC Bounty Hunters). What qualifies you as a viet Nam vet would be if you stepped foot on the soil. I always ask if they know what a fuck you lizard was. These numbers were not included since these service members were far removed from combat experience and did not spend any amount of time in harms way. Number who served in country and number who served DURING the Vietnam War regardless of where they were deployed. So it only makes sense that for those very few of the 9+ million in the service during those years so be able to distinguish themselves. Educate your self and search the web for the last battle of the Vietnam war. How many Korean War veterans are still alive? Tom Selleck. We need more honest Veterans. next with 1st of 12th cav. none more than the ERA Vets. How old are Vietnam vets now? The last three I knew had lost a lot of weight, two had each lost a lung. Anyone who served during or because of The Vietnam War IS a Vietnam War Veteran. Jul 1971-19 Dec 1971) 29th CA Co, XXIV Corps (Danang). They used the same aircraft, and there was anything left in the aircraft, whatever the spray for the day was added, so you got both. Then there was peace. Lots of people say they served in Nam, but dont remember their unit, where they were at in country or any buddies or officers names, since I served with D 2/1 196th LIB as a Combat Medic in 1968, I carried a company Roster and had to give each EM a malaria pill each day, I learned everyones name, dont remember them all after 53 yrs but go to reunion when I can. Your numbers are way off on the number of Air Force personnel serving in Thailand during the Vietnam war. Heres a fact: Jeffery Lynn Scheller, USN, born July 31, 1954 was Killed In Action on October 1, 1972. I was on merchant ships for three years in viet nam. Should you have a question or comment about this article, then scroll down to the comment section below to leave your response. I was at 6 different LZs from Aug 67-Aug 68, with a 4th Medical Battalion aid station (D Company), and I never heard of a fuck you lizard. 2500 to 3000 US Air Force troops stationed in Guam, Thailand, and other countries that were involved in the Vietnam War effort. @Dea KellyWere you on the ground when this happened? 7,484 women served in Vietnam, 83.5% being nurses. Yes, Vietnam War veterans are still eligible for various benefits and compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs, including disability compensation, health care, and education benefits. If you are a pretender go stand in front of the mirror and tell that lie one more time so you can watch yourself steal the respect from an actual COMBAT VETERAN A/3/22 3rd Brigade 4th ID Dau Tieng 12/66 to 1/68. Heres my article about Canadians who fought in Vietnam: https://cherrieswriter.com/2015/11/13/lost-to-history-the-canadians-who-fought-in-vietnam/. Been there, seen it, did it. A Vietnam era veteran is certainly not a Veteran of the Vietnam War. I remember that the minute we came around the coast and headed up for Vung Tau, as merchantmen on American Export LInes ships, we got a sizeable war zone increase in our pay. Apparently, its been agreed upon that 800,000 Vietnam veterans had passed away by the year 2000. We may never know who actually served and were in country during the fight. There is a MOUNTAIN of difference in each s experience, combat veterans, those of us who lived and died in the jungle muck, snippers, booby traps, mortar attacks, and the battles with dozens killed and scores wounded. ago. Bullets were flying everywhere, and the noise was tremendous. Canada did not enter the war so many Canadians joined the americansThey wanted to put a memorial in Ottawa and were refused the built it someplace on the Canadian side I beieve near Detroit, The monument is on the Canadian side of the Detroit River (Windsor). One other thing I would like to know, when Jane Fonda was sitting on that anti aircraft gun in Hanoi did they let her try to use it. it was one of the smaller airbus aircraft. of the 1st cav div. There he was wearing my dress uniform jacket SSG, CIB, BS three rows of ribbons 8 years service, 10 overseas hash marks and he had 3 very underage teeny boppers girls smoking weed telling them war stories and bragging about his combat exploits. i would like to confuse the issue a bit more. 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. just an aside.I was at dinner the other night with my wife and at the next table was an honest Veteran. and for the most part, we had no weapons. i served and i was affected like nearly every other person who spent time there. i never saw them again, but i knew we had shared something that was filled with pride, sadness, and the passage of time. If you prefer to differentiate who served in country and who did not, then the arithmetic must divide the groups into two lists accordingly. My uncle John was in Company A, 290th Engineer Combat Bn during WWII. Clearly, the New York Times is referring to Vietnam-era veterans, not Vietnam veterans. in ww2 more merchant men were killed than all the services combined until june 6, 1944. and they were civilians. Real combat veterans will share with other combat veterans as their stories have many similarities. The truth is that until Vietnam veterans can agree amongst themselves what constitutes a real Vietnam vet, the debate may continue. To this day, I dont know how I was transported from the right-side dirt shoulder but ending up in the center of the dusty road. Their names are at least on the wall thanks to the efforts of many service organizations and Congress. remember) there will likely be a debate as to how 240,000 survivingAbout 70 million people fought in World War II and, as of 2021, there are still approximately 240,000 surviving veterans in the United States alone. Our med company was on 6 different LZs during the year I was with them, supporting the 3rd Bde 4th ID. BTW, Why would this conservative believe anything the New York Times says anyway! Welcome home! A few people were killed. Anyone suggesting that only a CIB award means you were a combat veteran is very uninformed The Battle of Soui Tre March 21, 1967 the men of the 2/77 Artillery were every bit infantry as well as Arty that day and many many other FSB battles. As you did not disclose what position you did or did not fill in Vietnam, or did not set foot in Vietnam, I will assume you are not a combat veteran, maybe not a Vietnam Veteran either. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". It only had the National Defense ribbon on the cap. I only spent one overnighter. 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. Makes it worse, they were all wheelchair bound. All I know is that Im a Vietnam Combat Vet. two weeksOver 10% of Vietnam casualties were helicopter crew members, and most of those were the door gunners that protected the helicopter, its crew, and its transports, from their exposed position. 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. The number of Viet Nam veterans, those who served in combat and combat related services (such those flyboys from outside the territory/waters of Viet Nam is about 2.7 million. Lying on my back in the underbrush, watching the blue sky, bleeding on the jungle floor alone. The only good thing was 22 days off my tour. 9.2 million served on active duty (5 August 1964 to 7 May 1975) 2,590,000 served in the combat zone. Question Two. Dave, You do not need to establish anything other than that. We are not ashamed of our service or the fact we killed and had friends die, far more than we care to remember. so if you wore chinos instead of camo you are not a veteran? I knew I had to stand up again, even though I made a better target; my staying in the open road would be a death sentence. I have VSM on my DD215 which deleted the AFEM on my DD214. While that's a staggering figure is, the actual amount could be higher. Posted in these groups: Vietnam War American History Posted >1 y ago Spent a year in training and ended up a buck Sargent airborne ranger. Most of the time as a grunt without a map. The book by Hal Moore & Joe Galloway We were soldiers once, and young describe what many of us experienced. for the sake being more realistic, I served from June 1962 to April 20 1970, and was always told it will vary from 1 in 7 to 1 in 10. As stated in the previous post I too can spot a fake in 10 seconds. While every GI serving around the world was important to securing our Cold War victory over Communism just as the Vietnam conflict was also, those who served in uniform in the SEA War Theater are the true veterans of the Vietnam War. One count should be those Vietnam Veterans who had feet on the ground. I flew with the 220th Aviation Company (Cat Killers) in 1968. Was an Armored Cav Platoon leader Nov 67-Mar 68 Lost 4 APCS 4 men in my platoon KIA 12 wounded I think I was in a little combat . If he was at least in the Army, this might not work. Perhaps the reason for guys is that there were times we had to drink out of bomb craters that were in areas sprayed with Agent Orange. But I guess I knew where I was if we were at a base. So do not throw stones at some who got to lay in the same bunk night after night, just because we slept in a dirty hole night after night. The average annual payment was $18,100. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. This trip always was a concern, because I would be in a vulnerable condition in Indian Country with only two surveyors alone in a ton jeep. Granted, most of them were deployed for the durationa WWII vet I knew was gone 4 years without coming back to the states. drafted in 1966, Vietnam 1967-68 with the 1st infantry Division.now 75!!!! many US MILITARY PERSONNELL served in Afghanistan from the start to when the last GI got on the last plane/helicopter out. Had an easy tour given what i was trained for before I got there. Interestingly, the research concludes that Vietnam veterans seem to be dying at a similar rate to World War II veterans. Who is the oldest living Vietnam veteran? No, Wildaboro was gone, and AK-47s and B-40 rockets were sapper armaments Later, I read in a letter that Sp.4 Donnon F. Porier grabbed the M-60 machinegun, risking his life, and ran down the hillside rushing to the ambush site. so in 2190 days.from today, lucky to be a Vietnam veteran alive. He now has a 100% disability as unemployable. My brother claims he is a Vietnam veteran. Although my time had come, my death brought a realization that, I WOULD NOT ALLOW MYSELF TO DYE IN THAT JUNGLE. I discovered a conviction, antithesis to my beliefs, that it was not the North Vietnamese Army that sealed my fate, nor the soldier that touched off the RPG that distorted my body; I had the power from GOD to go to the next phase in my journey. 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. Another long time friend served on the Riverine Force actually served on John Kerrys boat and is mentioned prominently in his book, told me stories about being ambushed, as those boats made a lot of noise. NOTE: in 2010 Census 13.2 Million claimed to be Vietnam Veterans. Just because some idiot politician or people want to say you were not a war vet unless you saw combat dont feel bad most of those people found ways to evade even getting drafted. However I know many many who have died these past 55 years & 6 months since the Battle of Soui Tre March 21, 1967 and I know what is a combat veteran. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Next determined those Veterans who were awarded the Vietnam Service ribbon. There is a statistic that has been widely quoted in the veteran community that highlights an estimated 22 veterans a day are committing suicide. The debate depends on only two numbers. Combat Veterans know who they are, pretenders know that they are not.. i TO AM A VEITNAM VET. a few years ago i was flying from rome to possibly germany or holland on the way back to montreal. The way many of us were treated on returning from that war, but in truth it was only a war for very few of those who served there. Systematically, a surveyor from the Plei Do Lim (PDL) flash Out Post (OP) had too physically exchanged the old for the new code-book and radio frequencies for the facility. I can somewhat understand your position since you experienced actual combat. How many Vietnamese citizens died in the Vietnam War? I left this Sunday, as other mornings, to make a supply run and a code book and frequency transfer to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB); to gather C-Rations, mail, and most importantly to acquire our new radio codes of the confidential frequencies for this period. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. I entered an L shaped ambush. the merchant marine needed every officer and sailor they could find. All Lawyer adds is for 2 percent, do you think that this was a greater risk for Cancer. I and other merchant marine did. Unless they kept track by service or SSN, how many Vietnam Veterans are there ? According to the Department of Defense, infantry soldiers had the highest casualties during the Vietnam War, making infantry the deadliest job in Vietnam. Scavenger said you had to be fired on in viet nam to be a veteran. Active Duty: 473,000 Can You Join the Military With Depression? go to the top of this article and choose the magnifying glass and search for Canadians in Vietnam to read an article on this website about them. (Mar 1969-Sep 70) 2/23, 196 LIB & 1/23 MP Co, 11 LIB, AMERICAL DIV. How many vietnam veterans are still living. 2010-11-24 14:32:32. scipione@geneseo.edu, Yes a Vietnam Veteran, but not a Combat Veteran. from Fallen Leaves, Broken Lives By Edward Tick According to Department of Veterans Affairs' projections, Vietnam Veteran deaths will hit 103,890 this year, about 285 a day. Oliver Stone. 3rd Brigade 4th ID attached to the 25th ID 111.40 & 112.40 later these became 11B.40 & 11C.40. I always felt this was the maximal danger of the trip. I agree with the conclusion taken by the Website Admin. I changed emails and cant reach you!! A phantom drifted over and raised me up to unconsciousness. Before I passed out, I was being picked up off the jungle floor by some entity. 45-50 years from now (and I bet no-one will want to I have read about Canadians coming south to fight in Vietnam but have never seen any real authority to support this. Last one left was about 15 to 20 years ago. And though did not serve in actual combat, as you describe it, we were shot at & mortared on occasion. Tell it like it is. I shipped to RVN on the USNS Geiger, manned by Merchant Marines, leaving Tacoma, WA on June 30, 1967 and arriving in Vung Tau on July 21, 1967. There are no foolproof questions. But to me, Nam is my whole universe i.e. 1968, 69. Bob Kerrey. Combat was what we did. But if the 800,000 number is right then it has to be out of the 9,000,000 and not out of the 2.6 million. Nha Trang (TET 68), Later, and Welcome Home to all Vietnam Veterans!!! Separately I am working on an article that analyzes how many States are over or under represented in terms of their number of KIAs during and right after the war., Dr. Paul Scipione His Engineer company was tasked to fight as Infantry, and they did. Does receiving a few mortar rounds inside the wire of our compound count? These numbers have come about due to the extensive research of various mortality indexes and sources by the American War Library which concluded that about one-third of those who served in the Vietnam War are still alive today. by your definition, cia personal in civilian clothes were not veterans. My body was throne backwards into the seat and rebounded forwards; bent over at a 90-degree angle from my waist. one of the ships i sailed on had a captain that was drunk for 5 months. Here are some statistics on the veterans of the Vietnam War. we had a building where the company stored our property. We didnt make it on shore very often but I still feel I was in VietNam. Okay.Ill be the one to tell it like it is, even though everyone here, as well as everyone else, knows the truth already! He showed me his DD214 and low and behold it says he was in Vietnam. My sister found enough info to get my brother in laws ship re-classified as a brown water ship and proved he was sent in country by the ships commander (Newport News). I find it best not to remember that time. Served most of my time on LZ Professional. Everyone did their assigned job; some just got better assignments. Other than guard duty i was not in combat but the perimeter at Long Binh was regular defoliated and we experienced rocket and mortar attacks. How Many Vietnam Veterans Have Been Affected by Agent Orange? More than 300,000 Veterans were wounded during the Vietnam War. I was shot up more than a dozen times and shot down once. I remember reading in the Stars and Stripes there were 500,000 plus in Vietnam at the time. It was also projected that, from here, 138,000 Vietnam veterans are expected to die each year. The report is based on national death certificate data currently available through 2020. My time stands still. 997 guys died the first day they stepped in Nam. SP5 Mark Kuzinski 86.6K 296 151 53 53 0 Vietnam veterans are dying at the rate of 390 deaths each day. Every veteran has his/her duty station recorded on the individual DD214 or 201 personal military forms. Some advisors embassy guards, but all combat units left. I also had assisted the FAA in 3 fatal Aircraft accidents. Your not a vet if you never stepped foot in another country. my larger point is that , in my opinion, they were veterans. i said once if you walked , you worked. There were approx. Even if his job depended on them doing theirs well. for myself, being bored sometimes, and anxious to see and do more, i volunteered and went on a number of supply missions to the fire bases. 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 WOULD SURVIVE! Every single day 22 veterans commit themselves to death. But a growing army of strangers is. I think there about 250,000 Virtnam Vets that saw actual combat. but i was happy to serve. I think by now weve pretty much said all that can be said about this question. The New York Times estimated that, of the 8.4 million Vietnam veterans who were still alive in 2000, 1.1 million had died. It is difficult to say how many Vietnam veterans have been affected by Agent Orange. When he first got out we roomed together, and I came home from school one day s clss was canceled. It was a free-fire zone, and a nearby flight of gunships was engaged in shooting up the western valley. No one paid any attention to them and this non-controversy continues. Also consider the thousands that served multiple tours. Veterans support veterans, their stories and we bristle at those who would steal their history, we are not Valor Police, but those who pretend are an insult to those of who struggle with that past. when we carried ordnance we had to accept 50 cal fire from the shore on the way to saigon. It was what it was. retired university professor eventually i commented that i had flown into dong ha on resupply missions , having become bored with my mates work on merchant ships that spent long weeks at da nang. The youngest Vietnam War veteran was a 15-year-old child named Dan Bullock. Check your POW list. I meant any one that stepped foot in Dec 1967 Dec 1968 & Jan 1969 Nov 1969. this exclusiveness does no one any credit. Peter my husband is now deceased but he was a door gunner with the 191 st AHC Bounty Hunters (gunships), Very good. That was our regimen along the Cambodian border, too. Antonia is a gifted educator, and she is widely respected within the education community. Combat veterans will share their experiences with other veterans especially combat veterans (CIB). I KNOW MY STATS BECAUSE I WAS THE LONGEST SERVING MEMBER (20 YRS) on the New Jersey Agent Orange Commission, including four years as Chairman. My brother was stationed in the Air Force in 1975 and flew missions over Vietnam. Floyd James ThompsonHe was one of the longest-held American prisoner of war in U.S. history that was returned or captured by troops, spending nearly nine years in captivity in the forests and mountains of South Vietnam and Laos, and in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. I know full well it takes many, many hands to make the infantry function but like you saidclaim your time. Current Status of Unaccounted-for Americans Lost in the Vietnam War. How many WWII veterans die each day? In my Book if you didnt step foot in Nam Your sure not a Vietnam Vet, Period. He was carrying a BAR, killed fighting an infantry action, and the desk jockeys decided he did not meet requirements for a CIB. No reflection on your daily activities, just a friendly piece of information. I know from my time with the 3/25 that you dont need to be a ground pounder to see more then your share of combat. Im still here after all the BS of AO has really messed up my life with illnesses, surgeries ect since 1975, noting problems while I was in Vietnam in 69, and confirmed. Perhaps, another RPG impacted and careened us sideways knocking me unconscious. Now Iv had five and 10 % works. I needed the rest! Through my blood-covered face, I could not distinguish whom! Pleiku, Dak To, An Khe. Nor, do they know about what is referred to as the last battle of the Vietnam war, which occurred on 15 May 1975, eight days after the legally defined end date of the Vietnam era; 7 May 1975. I think I know the answer but like youjust being picky. I did work with Korean Troops. In the highlands we had to take one every day in addition to the once a week pill. i think the definition should not be restricted by whether you wore khakis or como. Scavenger1, I agree with you. They're generally in their 90s and about 245 die each day according to the VA. At 95 Army veteran Lincoln "Linc" Harner still remembers the war. no disrespect here. 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. If one in ten saw sustained combat, then there may be as little as 60,000 of us left! It too bad that guys that never fought think for some reason they deserve credit for being in Vietnam when they werent. The one question I have is how many in country vets did multiple tours over there. Where do they thinly get Ella enemys came from? The Nation supported WWI & WWII, the entire Nation was involved in the war effort. 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. Which Statement Best Describes How Americans In The 1960S Felt About The Vietnam War? YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. How many Vietnam veterans are still missing? Vince. I saw the truck bounce towards the trees. Another 2,000,000 were in country but worked supply or support [based on 10% rule]. Our service was diminished while there and continues being disrespected by those who lump all Vietnam-Era vets with those whose lives were on the line. Cheers, AFAIC, anyone within the bounds of South Vietnam was on the ground. In or out of a compound or an LZ or anywhere else. These Veterans are now in or about to reach . If you were shot at, in an incoming rocket attack, had to protect during a ground attack, you could bleed and die, you were in Combat. Awakening, I was the only person there, so the enemy was concentrated on me. My sister found enough info to get her husbands ship re-classified to a Brown Water ship due to his operation of a river boat and also medical evac of Marines, while he was assigned to the flagship, the Newport News, Prior to that any sailor who served aboard the Newport News, that applied for disability connected with Agent Orange, was denied.
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