take a look at my article titled a pale smoke google it . Im 75 and served in South Vietnam (30 Dec 1967-68) A/504th MP Bn. So, where is the discrepancy in these numbers? Hometown: Lincoln, Nebraska. Only believing what Fox & Friends has to say is really what you need to question Most things in the NYT does get critical peer review and push back when questionable Fox NOT SO, look at the crap coming out of Tucker Carlson, now that is scary extreme BS, The picture tells far more than a Thousand Words, it is that thousand yard stare, and any veteran who was out there can fill in the blanks of what they were thinking at that moment Offshore ocean sailing is a lot like being out trucking thru the jungle Minutes , hours day upon day of monotony and boredom, interrupted by moments of fright & terror I know that thousand yard stare, and many a time since I have found myself back there in my mind, staring at whatever and seeing nothing but what was in my mind. Besides, who says anyone can claim this status or that status just because. Ah. But having spent a little time thinking about it, I go with the 2m figure. Granted, most of them were deployed for the durationa WWII vet I knew was gone 4 years without coming back to the states. Straining to regain my feet again, I staggered a few strides to my right and throe myself forward, with all I was worth, collapsing finely into the vegetation face up. 15 of us REMFs were surrounded by the 33rd NVA June 13 1970. 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. Additionally, the American War Library approximated that around 164,000 Americans who served at sea in Vietnam waters during the same time are still alive today. Quite a story. I submit, we should use the same standard for Vietnam. 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. We just hoped the pilot put us where we were supposed to be. Apparently Infantry is the operative word. Arrived in country March 1969, subsequently assigned to B Battery 1/14 Arty. U failed to remember the last name on the Wall was in 1975. hello, Combat Vets and Non Combat Vets. He was a Private First Class who was killed in action in the Second World War. https://www.americanwarlibrary.com/personnel/vietvet.htm best to all. 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. 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. I WOULD SURVIVE! 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. Currently, it is estimated with data provided by the United States Census Bureau, that there about 100,000 Oregon Vietnam era veterans alive today. Oliver Stone. 2010-11-24 14:32:32. BTW, Marys father was a Marine in Nam and died when she was only a few years old. And yes I was sprayed with Agent Orange. If the ratio of approximately 10% remains the same about 314. Steve They wore the Vietnam Service Medal. my larger point is that , in my opinion, they were veterans. You would think the services would know how many were assigned to RVN and direct support of RVN, wouldnt you?? The Nation supported WWI & WWII, the entire Nation was involved in the war effort. 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. One of the things that really bothers me is the statement that we lost in Vietnam? Fact: Everyone who served during the Vietnam War are classified as Vietnam Era Vets. Makes it worse, they were all wheelchair bound. why not compare them?. I was in Vinh Long in 1965, Mekong delta area. Editorial comment by website administrator: Personally, Im going with the 610,000 estimate of 2 yrs. 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. Wiki User. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Vietnam Veterans are dieing faster than World War Two veterans do to Agent Orange contamination . When all was done and the Army was cleaning up the details of the action, they decided to award CIBs to the officers and not to enlisted. The leading cause of preventable death among US military casualties in the Vietnam War was exsanguination from extremity wounds. I know what I did while there in 1975, protecting USAF resources and aiding in the support of many end of the war mission. it was printed in the ny times and cherries writer. i would like to confuse the issue a bit more. it is much easier to say who was not. As anti-war vet , all these years later, I respect yall and your stories. 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. No two people standing side by side performed the same duties. ARP. i never saw them again, but i knew we had shared something that was filled with pride, sadness, and the passage of time. Base was 1st MAW Danang AB which got hit early Tet with rockets, mortars and sappers. Dr. Paul A. Scipione Today is Sun 22 Aug 2021 but the actual date HAS YET TO BE DETERMINED as the US is SENDING GIs BACK! My uncle John was in Company A, 290th Engineer Combat Bn during WWII. 1968, 69. Or did you spend 24/7 365 days in the boat? Your not a vet if you never stepped foot in another country. A Vietnam Era Veteran is everyone who was serving in the military while the Vietnam War was going on. Most of the time as a grunt without a map. This battle resulted in the loss of 13 Marines (10 in combat, 3 were left behind and executed by the Khmer Rouge, 2 Navy Corpsmen, and 3 Air Force pilots. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Active Duty: 473,000 Helicopter Units and losses in the Vietnam War, The Story behind the famous Saigon Execution Photo, https://open.spotify.com/show/5Th7BCpIKDE1hVTqNL3u0Q. And though did not serve in actual combat, as you describe it, we were shot at & mortared on occasion. 2.8 million tour because some guys just couldnt get enough! 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. 1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam. a few years ago i was flying from rome to possibly germany or holland on the way back to montreal. When you spend most of the time out in the Bad Lands, bad things happen. Im going with 2.9 and saying the person who wrote 9.2 has the seing disease whereas they see everything in reverse. We were sprayed every 2 weeks with Melithon (Insecticide) that was 96 percent pure. Born in 1953, he joined the US Marine Corps at the age of 15 and was sent to Vietnam where he served as a machine gunner. I Never got to Korea but I have friends who got a medal for service in Korea. The average number of Vietnam War veterans who die each day is 390 deaths. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 530 Vietnam veterans die every day. What Was It Like To Hump The Boonies in Vietnam? Another 2,000,000 were in country but worked supply or support [based on 10% rule]. I still consider myself lucky every day! References:https://www.americanwarlibrary.com/personnel/vietvet.htmhttps://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/science/how-many-vietnam-veterans-are-still-alive.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War, The Armys FY 2023 budget request is ~$177.5 Billion. for most of it i listened but not wanting to interfere. 35th CBSG, 315th CAMS Working on C-123,s. Then we went back to the Boonies. Numbers can always be manipulated. It was 3:30pm when I entered the slowest aspect of the trip. 240 300 World. I agree Vietnam vets are fewer. As a retired Green Beret, his assessment and stats of the war are accurate. Bob, Our medic gave them out every Monday. I certainly dont agree on the 9 million in country. ******************************************************* The other number of significance is the number of Viet Nam veterans killed by Dow chemical. but some men, like myself , were told by their draft board, go to vietnam on your ship. Nha Trang (TET 68), If you are diagnosed with a condition that they know is caused by exposure to the chemical, they will presume that condition is service-connected. Believe it or not, I still have every pay voucher..and in 1967 Hazard Duty Pay was $65. 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. However, like it or not, the U.S. government makes the final decisions on who is officially considered a war veteran and thats really the way it HAS to be. I was ASA, 1960-1963, Ft Dix, Vint Hill Farm, DaNang and PhuBai. as soon as it was ammo or arms, we were machine gunned where ever we went. Canandaigua, NY Merchant Marine officers or crew are not wearing the uniform of the USAs Armed Forces. If you prefer to differentiate who served in country and who did not, then the arithmetic must divide the groups into two lists accordingly. 2025. I am an Era vet, and the closest I got was R&R in Thailand. 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. There is a bird in India that says Did you Do it? Id like to ask a question. I knew what life in-store for me in my recovery had- years of pain and disabilities while I waited for my next adventure. That is correct, Dow Chemical is responsible for three times as many Viet Nam veteran deaths as the NVA and the VC. Copyright 2022 MilitaryPerson.com Frantically searching to find that one resource in my spirit to survive. Is It Hard To Get Into Kent State University? 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. You can sleep in it. Around 2.7 million troops were stationed in Vietnam either on land, within its airspace, or in its waters. To my understanding, Army aviation unitsAssault Companies, Cav Troops, ARA units etc., had the highest casualty rates of any TO & E unit in Vietnam. How Many World War 2 Veterans Die Each Day? Awakening, I was the only person there, so the enemy was concentrated on me. During the Vietnam War, Air Force C-123 planes sprayed millions of gallons of herbicides over the jungles of Southeast Asia to destroy enemy crops and tree cover. It is estimated that there are around 610,000 surviving Vietnam War veterans as of 2023. and i remember that we talked about how much we would make if we lost a finger or an arm. To say that the Air Force in Thailand and Guam was too far away to be in harms way shows you have no idea what Navy and Air Force aircrews do. 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. Porier was firing from the north, while the three Cobras choppers were engaged the sappers trying to kill me. I served until April 28, 1969 !!!!!!!!!!!! The average number of Vietnam War veterans who die each day is 390 deaths. if you read up on it you will see that ww2 merchant sailors were despised as cowards. Still, the American War Library continues to verify their accounts and come to more concrete conclusions. All the others are Vietnam ERA Vets. These Veterans are now in or about to reach . More than 3.4 million deployed to Southeast Asia (1) and approximately 2.7 million of those served in the Republic of Vietnam (2). Bob ONeal, Lt.Col. Mekong Delta US Army 1969. Agent Orange is impacting that timeline and those serving around the world were not affected by this wonderous life-robbing gift. Phu Loi Nov 66 to Dec 67 HHD 11th Cbt Avn Bn. How old are Vietnam vets now? If true, 390 VN vets die a day. Alice, my sister lost hers in Oct 2020 from throat cancer due to agent Orange. After Tet it was quiet. Bullets were flying everywhere, and the noise was tremendous. Your numbers are way off on the number of Air Force personnel serving in Thailand during the Vietnam war. 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. 610,000 figure is more accurate., NYT was referring to VN Era Veterans. Music That Moves the Military. 23 Div and finally MACV Tm 87, 43 RCAT 18th ARVN Div. 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. Bob Kerrey. All who served In Country and the those outlying areas in support should be considered Vietnam Vets. a clerk typist got benefits. I remember reading in the Stars and Stripes there were 500,000 plus in Vietnam at the time. the draft board made that very clear. If we dont include forces in Thailand or Guam why are we including anyone except Navy pilots, because I dont remember any deep water people who were subjected to enemy hostilities. She has received numerous awards and accolades for her work, including being named one of the "Top 10 Educators to Watch" by Education Week magazine. My brother claims he is a Vietnam veteran. Had an easy tour given what i was trained for before I got there. 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. I was on a boat floating up and down rivers for 19 months. I only spent one overnighter. The term I like to use is Together We Served. Waiting for a slight pause in the clamor in my ear, I decided to escape towards the cover of the Bush. 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. Luck of the draw my twin that received a silver star got the luck of the draw made it home. I did work with Korean Troops. Considering the kind of information available about the death rate of WWII and Korean War Veterans, publicized information indicates that in the last 14 years Vietnam veterans are dying at the rate of 390 deaths each day. It was hot that day; the mosquitoes were going through my mind, and the sun was again brilliant. The one question I have is how many in country vets did multiple tours over there. There are no foolproof questions. Even if his job depended on them doing theirs well. 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 always rounded up to 3,000,000 served in Vietnam..and I read someplace where of that number, only 10% were actually in combat. i think the definition should not be restricted by whether you wore khakis or como. There was a huge difference between the merchant ships i sailed on, no passengers, and vessels like usns geiger. I saw the truck bounce towards the trees. nothing exists or will exist in another time. Nobody can bad-mouth Huey pilots and crews. It seems to be all about syntax. Thank you. . In 1995 Vietnam released its official estimate of the number of people killed during the Vietnam War: as many as 2,000,000 civilians on both sides and some 1,100,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. I knew I was dying, but I struggled with all my might to stay alive. The only good thing was 22 days off my tour. The Vietnam War was an undeclared war between the US and Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. 997 soldiers997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam . If they enlisted or were drafted before 1975, they likely are in their late 60s now. Most of those who flew had Air Medals which are a combat medal. 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. How many Vietnam vets have died from Agent Orange?