So he goes to Camp Wolter Texas for his 11 month school (they pay them E-5 during training) then just few weeks before graduation he declines to sign the extension for his Warrant Officer Status, they send him to Vietnam as a private to Phan Rang to ride security on fuel convoys (safe Gig) he never had to fire a weapon. Ive reached the age of truth telling, and have grown sick of pretending, and giving trophies to the undeserving I saw good men die, and their loved ones dont deserve this dishonor any longer. We certainly were in close combat often during my tour in 69-70. Do not consider yourself a 10, unless you are a 10. Air crews who flew over Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam had no Fox hole or ditch yo hid behind while delivering payload after payload to help destroy supplies heading towards those in the bush, while avoid withering anti-aircraft fire and missiles. Enlisted 7/70. Active Duty: 473,000 Having served two tours on the ground, as they say, I find it depressing. I was thinking that in 10 days I would be on R&R in Taipei, Formosa. Based on data through September 30, 2020, VetPop2020 provides a projection of the Veteran population at each fiscal year end from 2020 to 2050. Ah. I got the disability benefits at age 79. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 530 Vietnam veterans die every day. The truth is that until Vietnam veterans can agree amongst themselves what constitutes a real Vietnam vet, the debate may continue. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Based on them, and allowing for a couple of intervening years, there appear to be about 600,000 veterans still living who actually set foot in Vietnam or flew in the skies above it. 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. My uncle John was in Company A, 290th Engineer Combat Bn during WWII. We just hoped the pilot put us where we were supposed to be. Some idiot in DC decided to do this. It only had the National Defense ribbon on the cap. Damn it, government could have sent anyone serving at any time to Vietnam. He signaled a repeat, and the second rocket impacted on target. 2 tours I volunteered and my 3rd I re-enlisted. may we all be the last man standing. Or did you spend 24/7 365 days in the boat? the merchant marine needed every officer and sailor they could find. 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. Here are two additional sources of information (added 9-3-2022) updated in 2021: https://www.americanwarlibrary.com/personnel/vietvet.htmhttps://news.va.gov/89450/vietnam-war-veterans-honoring-served-memorial-day-2021/. ago. Every veteran has his/her duty station recorded on the individual DD214 or 201 personal military forms. Many Vietnam Vets do not even know about the secret operations from Thailand, now declassified, that probably helped save their rears during some of their combat operations. Perhaps, another RPG impacted and careened us sideways knocking me unconscious. scipione@geneseo.edu, Yes a Vietnam Veteran, but not a Combat Veteran. ARP. You can sleep in it. 58,184 died in the combat zone or from combat wounds. This was with conversations with them while waiting our turn to be seen in the VA. I didnt know that. I believe the aircrews flying out of those places were take issue with not in harms way. In 11 days of December 1973, 16 B-52s were lost over North Vietnam during Linebacker II. 4 Carl Dodd Former Police Officer Author has 18.5K answers and 25.3M answer views 10 mo I do appreciate what they did, from the hero medevacs to those gun ships who flew into madness to help save our asses knowing that mortar rounds fall from above, RPGs & macjine gun rounds were in mass supply with the moniker attached To whom it may concern. How many ww2 vets left 2021? I was in Vinh Long in 1965, Mekong delta area. Aint this fun? As the Department of Veterans Affairs studies, each day over 20 veterans take their own lives. The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. In addition 18 US AF Security Police personnel and their 5 person aircrew were killed responding to the incident (the seizure of the USS Mayaquez), some do not recognize them as combat related deaths either. I think I know the answer but like youjust being picky. Served most of my time on LZ Professional. Army personnel were awarded VN Service Medals and and Vietnam Campaign Medals. Leave your thoughts below in the comment section. I did a short extra tour with the 97th Trans in Cam Rahn Bay, they had 30 or so LCUs that hauled artillery projectiles and other stuff including fuel up many of those rivers. Each BUFF had 6 crewmen onboard. Thats what we did in Vietnam we left and am glad we did. We got a personal visit from 10 Generals (no joke). I changed emails and cant reach you!! to Ken Drombosky About 15 out of every 100 Vietnam veterans (15%) were currently diagnosed with PTSD when the most recent study of . When we find that number we can start to determine those of us still standing. wounded evaced) then Am 3/21 196th LIB. Trying to understand: Does being shot at outside the wire while moving to new location count? It does not store any personal data. What is the life expectancy of a Vietnam veteran? what i am saying is that there were all kinds of service, and if you think the definition is being in country and being shot at, then i qualify and so did my shipmates. I had a Swedish citizen in AIT, with orders to go to Vietnam. 23 Div and finally MACV Tm 87, 43 RCAT 18th ARVN Div. 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. Without fanfare or much recognition. 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. Special Forces orderly room to picked-up theyre new frequencies. It was also projected that, from here, 138,000 Vietnam veterans are expected to die each year. Then, I stopped at the 5th. Still, the American War Library continues to verify their accounts and come to more concrete conclusions. i think the definition should not be restricted by whether you wore khakis or como. Even in this age of computers and accountability just goes to show ya ,people still cant Add or do Math . We who were in Vietnam know who we are and dont need anyone telling us what they think. I always felt this was the maximal danger of the trip. It was a free-fire zone, and a nearby flight of gunships was engaged in shooting up the western valley. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. 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. As an analogy I will use familiar figure of that time. I agree with the rest of your post, and so did the Army. no body turned down extra hands, and my india purchased white shirt and shorts made me attractive target in the event of a problem, and provided some humor to the 130 crews. Not 499 days between dec 67 & april 68? That number was reasonable: About 9.2 million Americans served in the military during the Vietnam era . 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. Yes, there are fuckyou lizards. Like you I am sick of ERA Veterans claiming to be in country. But serving in any capacity in Vietnam makes that service person a War vet. He arrived on Yankee Station, Vietnam in early May, 1972 when he was still 17 years of age. Tom Selleck. 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. Jorge Otero Barreto. I flew with the 220th Aviation Company (Cat Killers) in 1968. i appreciate i was not in a company and humped for a year. 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. My time stands still. The jungle sat still except for the dirt road with my truck speeding along. Alice, my sister lost hers in Oct 2020 from throat cancer due to agent Orange. How many Vietnam veterans are dying everyday? I pulled up to the local tailor shop to fix some of my fatigue pants. Ive also created a poll to help identify my website audience before leaving, can you please click HERE and choose the one item that best describes you. There is no definitive answer to this question as the number of World War 2 veterans who die each day varies depending on the specific situation. 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. Not sure what to think about the article. How Many World War 2 Veterans Die Each Day? Youll have to look for it, but a long time ago I posted the most recent VA numbers I could find. Motherfucker? It was only a short ride. These numbers do not include the Americans who served in Vietnam during World War II. I volunteered for 3 TDY tours 18 months total. after spending 1968 with 3/25 0f 2nd field forces and 1970 with the 1/12 cav. A total of 9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the Vietnam era, with over 2,709,000 Americans serving in Vietnam, about 9.7% of the generation. I served in an artillery unit. That is your opinion and youre entitled to it, I disagree very strongly. I served in Quang Tri (70-71) and took two types of Malaria pills. I salute all Veterans, and those Pencil pusher, clerks, medics, fire-fighters, etc., all had jobs to do to support everyone, they deserve respect as well, as without them no one should have had the tools necessary to accomplish any mission! I to served two tours 67-68 and 69-70,first with 1st of 8th cav. Change). The number of people who are Vietnam veterans in the first place is a number that is widely debated. ahead of me in the next row was a man conversing with another man about two rows ahead of him. To my understanding, Army aviation unitsAssault Companies, Cav Troops, ARA units etc., had the highest casualty rates of any TO & E unit in Vietnam. All opinions graciously welcomed. Agent Orange is impacting that timeline and those serving around the world were not affected by this wonderous life-robbing gift. I know . 45-50 years from now (and I bet no-one will want to Return to reality. Reports from the Department of Veterans Affairs say about 240 300 World War II veterans are still alive in 2021. 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 I do not, however, have a CIB. The percentage of fatalities that resulted from this was 7.9%. 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. According to the American War Library website, it was concluded by the Department of Defense that their best estimate is that between 2,709,918 and 3,173,845 GIs served in Vietnam and its surrounding waters between the years 1954 and 1975. The New York Times estimated that, of the 8.4 million Vietnam veterans who were still alive in 2000, 1.1 million had died. Tom, to me, the CIB says everything; the wearer is a soldier who has earned the right to it and deserves respect. The Vietnam War was the nation's longest and costliest conflict of the Cold War. I asked him to give me his number, he did not put a number on it just that he was Not. Combat Veteran means being awarded a CIB. Without a doubt Helicopter Crews are COMBAT VETS, to fly so low & slow over the most hidden turf below.. On landing at LZ Gold March 19, 1967 we lost 6 Hueys and 7 pilots. This is a suicide rate of 1 EVERY 65-80 minutes (APPROX). But the 23 months I spent doing my duty as outlined our government to assure you had a way to be resupplied means I, and those like me, am a Vietnam Veteran. Dave, Everyone did their assigned job; some just got better assignments. 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. Past history shows ALL Veterans of previous Wars were classified as Vets of those wars regardless of where they served. Thank you for taking the time to read this. One sapper shot off a whole magazine of armor piercing bullets at the drivers side windshield of the truck, and glass was flying in all directions. Of the 2.7 million men and women who served in land forces in Vietnam, only about 600,000 are still alive. I was also at LZ Bayonet. 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. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Florida Agricultural And Mechanical University, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (Mit), Missouri University Of Science And Technology, State University Of New York Health Science Center At Brooklyn, Suny College Of Environmental Science And Forestry, The University Of North Carolina At Charlotte, The University Of Texas Health Science Center At Houston, The University Of Texas Health Science Center At San Antonio, The University Of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, The University Of Texas Medical Branch At Galveston, The University Of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Uniformed Services University Of The Health Sciences, University At Buffalo Suny School Of Engineering And Applied Sciences, University Of California, Los Angeles (Ucla), University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign, University Of Maryland Baltimore County (Umbc), University Of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester, University Of Tennessee Health Science Center, University Of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. a clerk typist got benefits. 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. was i a veteran? for most of it i listened but not wanting to interfere. According to DCAS Vietnam casualty files, the following casualty were sustained outside of S. Vietnam: 728 in Laos, 523 in Cambodia, 1,120 in N. Vietnam and 10 in China. in ww2 more merchant men were killed than all the services combined until june 6, 1944. and they were civilians. State-Level Veteran Suicide Data: 2020 Update I agree, 10% in combat, sounds right! 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. So, where is the discrepancy in these numbers? 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. ******************************************************* Phu Loi Nov 66 to Dec 67 HHD 11th Cbt Avn Bn. 35th CBSG, 315th CAMS Working on C-123,s. 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. I went on about 500 missions. . So, nearly 300,000 over the 14 years of their operations, a far cry above the 2500-3000 referenced in the article. the draft board made that very clear. What percentage of Vietnam vets are still alive? 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. ho, i could not . Sgt. Quite a story. a few years ago i was flying from rome to possibly germany or holland on the way back to montreal. What is the average age of Vietnam veteran in 2021? I know the difference, do you ? Videos, Film, Music, and Movies about VN War, Author interview War & Life: Discussions with a Veteran, A Chat Between Three Veterans [live video with author], Lest We Forget Meet the Authors & Book Signing April 4th: Cherries and Donut Dolly, Interview with author John Podlaski in Examiner Magazine, American Heroes Radio interviews author of Cherries A Vietnam War Novel, Cherries Author Interviewed on British Website, U.K. Blogspot posts interviews author, John Podlaski, More Book Reviews and author interviews about Cherries, https://news.va.gov/89450/vietnam-war-veterans-honoring-served-memorial-day-2021/, https://cherrieswriter.com/2015/11/13/lost-to-history-the-canadians-who-fought-in-vietnam/, Three maps remind us of the horror of the Vietnam War WebInvestigator.KK.org by F. Kaskais, Three maps remind us of the horror of the Vietnam War | Self Improvement Life Hacks, Three maps remind us of the horror of the Vietnam War | Top Pin Answers, A Day in the Life of an Infantry Point Man in Vietnam. The thing is the question/topic here is not how many Vietnam combat veterans are there, or how many Vietnam Era veterans are there; its how many Vietnam veterans are there. Then we went back to the Boonies. Non combat Vets served elsewhere. My husband was one of those 191st Assault Helicopter Co. Bounty Hunter door gunners. no disrespect here. i would like to confuse the issue a bit more. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. I agree with the conclusion taken by the Website Admin. I and other merchant marine did.