Everything slowed down, and I was alone, above my body that was thrown into the dashboard hitting with my left side. I do not know where that number 1 in 14 came from, but in my time in the Army 1962-1970 it was in the range of 1 in 8 to 10 using the total manpower % . I was thinking that in 10 days I would be on R&R in Taipei, Formosa. DamnIll be 76 in March. How many vietnam veterans are still living. How Many Vietnam Veterans are AliveToday? 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. Thank you..Its been many years sinice I left, needed answers, read the 1987 pulitzer prize book on Vietnam, A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan, and later Secrets by Daniel Ellsberg a Marine who worked at the pentagon cable room.both left me so shaken I couldnt finishe either but Ilearned so much. Most of the time as a grunt without a map. drafted in 1966, Vietnam 1967-68 with the 1st infantry Division.now 75!!!! 35th CBSG, 315th CAMS Working on C-123,s. 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. It could be a Yard, Don Porier, or a sapper. I went into shock and lost conscienceless. Scavenger1, I agree with you. When we DEROSed we were given 6-8 pills to continue taking them every week. This could be a simple semantics issue, but what about the Air Force guys who flew over Vietnam. Some idiot in DC decided to do this. This part of Pleiku Province is a combination of mountains, triple to single canopy jungle and/or open valleys. 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. a clerk typist got benefits. Estimating the number of suicides among Vietnam veterans Unconfirmed reports that 50,000 or more Vietnam veterans have committed suicide give the impression that these veterans are at exceedingly high risk of suicide compared with other veterans and nonveterans of the same age. Leave your thoughts below in the comment section. What other conclusions have been made about the percentage of Vietnam veterans who are still alive? Combat veterans will share their experiences with other veterans especially combat veterans (CIB). Hunter killer division. I to served two tours 67-68 and 69-70,first with 1st of 8th cav. Suddenly, I was in front of the truck near the grill. Dave, My brother was stationed in the Air Force in 1975 and flew missions over Vietnam. Fact: Everyone who served during the Vietnam War are classified as Vietnam Era Vets. Same aircraft were used and were not cleaned before spraying anything else. 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? Vietnam Vet_combat. https://news.va.gov/89450/vietnam-war-veterans-honoring-served-memorial-day-2021/. Ive seen start dates for the VN war as 1954, 1959, 1961, 1964 and 1965. They wore the Vietnam Service Medal. I was there in 69-71 also sprayed Im 74, inlisted 1968 spent 2 tours in Vietnam Im now 73, Comments left by my fellow Vietnam vets are very useful. remember) there will likely be a debate as to how Combat Vets and Non Combat Vets. How Many Vietnam War Veterans Are Still Alive? Those experiences vs the ones of the rear echelons are grossly different. This is a reasonable number but you get very different notions of the death rate when you compare 800,000 to 2.7 million versus 800,000 out of 9.2 million. REAL Vietnam War veterans are all those who are officially authorized the Vietnam Service medal and possess official military-issued documentation to confirm their medal authorization. Army Reserve: 189,500 take a look at my article titled a pale smoke google it . His combat medal was an Air Medal. We certainly were in close combat often during my tour in 69-70. 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. How old is the oldest living Vietnam veteran? 997 soldiers997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam . What was the life expectancy of a helicopter door gunner in Vietnam? Hometown: Lincoln, Nebraska. so the cia men who changed from suits were not vietnam veterams when they went into laos and cambodia? After Tet it was quiet. Lol. His Engineer company was tasked to fight as Infantry, and they did. One was daily and the other weekly. Our 2003 NJAOC Desk Guide to the unique health issue of Nam vets and our children is still the Gold Standard. I know what I did while there in 1975, protecting USAF resources and aiding in the support of many end of the war mission. Vietnam was very different, it was not supported by our Nation, the draft of so many young men to fight in a country that few could ever find on a map, let alone now anything about. Served most of my time on LZ Professional. best to all. Vietnam Veterans are dieing faster than World War Two veterans do to Agent Orange contamination . 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. 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. A few times Id meet a group of guys claiming they were all Nam Vets. I could type and did all the reports. The average annual payment was $18,100. What numbers do the VA have? 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. 101st Airborne 25th Infantry 82nd Airborne 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. in any event, i went as soon as i was contacted by the draft board. I realized what control I had in the cosmos. I wouldnt trust the New York Times study, regardless of their Sources! It seems like you are looking at a very narrow view of the division of experiences of those who served in Vietnam. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died. Bless you and your family Those of us who live day to day with that medical time bomb know the pain you suffered before he passed, and the endless pain of loss ever after. Posted in these groups: Vietnam War American History Posted >1 y ago I knew that I was gravely wounded, and bullets were kicking up dust clouds as they were landing around my feet. I flew with the 220th Aviation Company (Cat Killers) in 1968. 1 in 14 men pulled a trigger in Nam. to Ken Drombosky Learn something new everyday. We have been betrayed by all Globalists. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". 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. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 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. I have heard many stories (more in the past 30 years) of people claiming to be a combat veteran, maybe seeking some kind of hero status or valid excuse for why they are where they are. i sailed with some in vn at the end of the work lives. These are numbers never heard before & I would not include those before the advisers were sent over in the early/mid 60s. My squad leaderSteve Cook wrote, Dont Cry for Us Saigon. He gives stats. after spending 1968 with 3/25 0f 2nd field forces and 1970 with the 1/12 cav. Interesting and certainly thought-provoking. Or did you spend 24/7 365 days in the boat? It took about 30 years for the government to acknowledge we were even there. (1st time to operate a river boat 2nd time to evacuate injured Marines. But I didnt beat him he just left. The Vietnam War was an undeclared war between the US and Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. That's 390 per day. War is Heck!!! 3rd Brigade 4th ID attached to the 25th ID 111.40 & 112.40 later these became 11B.40 & 11C.40. Where is this one in twelve figure from? SP5 Mark Kuzinski 86.6K 296 151 53 53 0 Vietnam veterans are dying at the rate of 390 deaths each day. Bullets were flying everywhere, and the noise was tremendous. i never saw them again, but i knew we had shared something that was filled with pride, sadness, and the passage of time. Splitting out the numbers of combat and era vets are separate questions. At 73 years, I plan on beating that date. Nha Trang (TET 68), Mike. What percentage of Vietnam vets are still alive? Do you by chance remember a Jim Blackshear? I dont know why we have to make this simple arithmetic drill so difficult. off the ship i went out with airforce on resupply, went out with troops through rubber plantations, ran from gunfire in saigon and chulon. It was also projected that, from here, 138,000 Vietnam veterans are expected to die each year. No one paid any attention to them and this non-controversy continues. Most likely Les considers those who werent in-country as REMFs. Then, I stopped at the 5th. How many ww2 veterans are still alive 2021? My question, How many guys are I still alive refers to the ones who were in direct combat action? Of the nearly 3Mil that served, only one in twelve were in fire fights. I got the disability benefits at age 79. 58,184 died in the combat zone or from combat wounds. By the time I got to vin long the nva was gone and Charlie was pretty much non existent, he new we had snakes, the closest I got to him was when I was on the perimeter waiting for him to crawl thru the wire. Vince. Really, very easy to say if your were able to sleep at night, so being anonymous means you stand up for those words All members of the team are NOT COMBAT VETERANS, My husbands boots werent on the groundthey were in the air and he was definitely a Combat vet. IF you didnt get any extra pay better have a good excuse .like to hear it. I have done lots of research, read a bunch of historical history, and met and talked to well over 1000 NAM VETS !!!!! The third cancer was the charm as it was declared Presumptively caused by Agent Orange in 2021. Tell it like it is. How Many Vietnam War Veterans Are Still Alive? The Vietnam War was the nation's longest and costliest conflict of the Cold War. maybe, maybe not. It is a deeply troubling statistic and has. Bill, Hometown: Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Helicopter crewmen did not receive the CIB, but they fought every day. Yes. Combat Vet, Vet on ships that never touched country, military who were passing through and were on airport tarmac? Here are some statistics on the veterans of the Vietnam War. Just like ALL Vets who served DURING WWII are classified as WWll Vets regardless of where they served. He signaled a repeat, and the second rocket impacted on target. I made a mistake !!!!! After Vietnam I hitchhiked for about 12 years. 1st cav div. 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. Im proud to be a surviving vet and the men who served with me then and those after me. They dont include forces in Guam or Thailand. Had an easy tour given what i was trained for before I got there. He received every military combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Pop, POP POP. This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. 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. Finally figured out what was wrong with me, received help but refuse to dwell on the dark demons that quite frankly just did not give a dam for humanity. If I got in the ring with Cassius clay later known as Mohamed Ali. Just come up with two lists and leave it at that. None of us could have done our job without the support of troops around the globe. 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. While I honor those who served worldwide, it comes across as yet another slap in the face to those of us who faced enemy fire. The artillery, Helo crews, combat engineers, in Vietnam are also considered Combat Vets, Well, I guess it just did not count for us Huey Teams (Sky Angels) supporting infantry/artillery units by flying in to lay down suppression fire, flying you into hot LZs, taking you out of the boonies, bringing you ammo and supplies, flying the wounded and dead back to base camp, not to mention Huey night Hawk missions to rectify an enemy ambush for our infantry that would be pinned down with no hope of survival. I served in the 101st airborne infantry battalion in 1968, the time of the Tet Offensive. It only had the National Defense ribbon on the cap. Yep feet never left the ground except to do my mos. Who really cares who stepped foot on land. Home Kent State University How Many Vietnam Veterans Are Still Alive In 2022? The last veteran who served in the trenches was Harry Patch (British Army), who died on 25 July 2009, aged 111. Mean 69 maybe? Needless to say, I set them straight about his lying BS, and moved out the next day. There are still a lot of us left by some miracle! All five of the CIDGs we dropped off that morning filed into the back of the truck, but unlike the cab the back had a canvas top and sides. We all served in our assigned duties, some bled, and some died. It was apparently based on an estimate that 800,000 Vietnam-era veterans had died by 2000. and i abhor those who say they served when they were plumbers in texas and talk of medals they never earned. This is a controversial post. Id like to ask a question. Other sappers were shooting their AKs at any targets. 45-50 years from now (and I bet no-one will want to . Question Two. Dec 1967 Dec 1968 & Jan 1969 Nov 1969. Lost my Vet to Leukemia just after this count was done. Antonia Leonard is an education expert who has dedicated her life to helping students achieve their academic goals. Okay.Ill be the one to tell it like it is, even though everyone here, as well as everyone else, knows the truth already! three years on and off in vietnam . I was in 1st Battalion 26 th Infantry HMP 1st Infantry Division in 68 November 68 to January 69. Finally got all the right stuff together; received benefits couple months ago. State-Level Veteran Suicide Data: 2020 Update Were you at Saigon firebase when guys set off grenade in APC ? As I started to slowly stagger upright towards the opposite side of the road, trying with all my might to gain my balance, I went down hard. But that number will probably go down by at least 50,000 to 75,000 per year. We, the U.S. have lost over 158,000 American lives to the Vietnam war and that count is still rising. in viet nam, because of the unions, they got more money. Heres my article about Canadians who fought in Vietnam: https://cherrieswriter.com/2015/11/13/lost-to-history-the-canadians-who-fought-in-vietnam/. Those an in the Era the we were in Vietnam but they are not Vietnam Vets by any stretch of you imagination. 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. Just a minor clarification, not all of us were on the groundJust being picky. and for the most part, we had no weapons. Those of us on the battlefield who bled and many died would take issue with your opinion. They are a ten (10), they fought alongside the infantry defending the perimeter. @Dea KellyWere you on the ground when this happened? This is a suicide rate of 1 EVERY 65-80 minutes (APPROX). Then upon returning I would be stationed in Camp Enari, away from most of the intense fighting, and protected by the whole 4th. The disparity seems to be In Theatre veterans between the years 1954-1975, and veterans in the Military at that time that were not deployed, or NOT In Theatre! Excellent questions. I still consider myself lucky every day! (There are other locations and occupations also, but lets not muddy the waters in this paragraph.) And just as the bell rang he got out of the ring , technically I won the fight. 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. In country Vietnam Vets are the only Vietnam Vets. Its possible that the youngest living Vietnam Veteran may be 61 years old.

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