What was the average age of soldiers in Vietnam? Myth: The media have reported that suicides among Vietnam veterans range from 50,000 to 100,000 - 6 to 11 times the non-Vietnam veteran population. "My time in Vietnam is the memory of ignorance," O'Brien wrote. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971. He returned to Southeast Asia in 1969 and remained there until 1971 when he left the Army. When the two sides did meet, they rarely fought large-scale battles that allowed the United States to use its superior firepower. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. Vo Nguyen Giap The planes doing the bombing near the village were VNAF (Vietnam Air Force) and were being flown by Vietnamese pilots in support of South Vietnamese troops on the ground. evidence of enemy activities. South Vietnamese military officer and political Burkett and Glenna Whitley, Verity Press, Inc., Dallas, TX, 1998. That sinister-sounding term was coined after the war) Orange was sprayed at three gallons per acre that was the equivalent of .009 of an ounce per square foot. Never knowing who to trust, the U.S. combat troops experienced constant fear and anxiety during their frequent patrols of the villages and countryside. Ebert, James R. A Life in a Year: The American Infantryman in Vietnam,19651972. Communism A political system in which the government controls all resources and means of producing wealth. "The Marines provided them with a guaranteed annual income, free medical care, free clothing, and something else, less tangible but just as valuableself-respect," former U.S. Marine Philip Caputo explains in A Rumor of War. It takes alot of support personnel to take care of the logistics, administrative needs, and etc for each combat soldier. Click #isupportlocal for more information on supporting our local journalists. Yuzuk also found papers showing that Flaherty had paid a deposit for a burial plot in Miltons Forest Memorial Park, with a request to be buried near Lisa Davis Anness, whom the Vietnam vet described as the love of his life. Many other U.S. soldiers came from small rural towns or farming communities. There was a problem saving your notification. . Appy, Christian. The speed of evacuation had a significant effect on mortality rates. "Every time we slapped someone around, or trashed a village, or shouted curses from a jeep, we defined ourselves as the enemy and thereby handed more power and legitimacy to the people we had to beat.". Second and third tours were in 6 month increments. Thousands of villages were destroyed by U.S. bombing missions or American combat patrols. I'm alive. The hard drugs American soldiers used in Vietnam were much more powerful and addictive than the versions available in the United States. Also "Estimating the Number of Suicides Among Vietnam Veterans" (Am J Psychiatry 147, 6 June 1990 pages 772-776). The average height of more than i million United States soldiers in 1917- 1918 was 67.5 inches. Vietnam: A History. The decline in morale among U.S. troops contributed to a number of significant problems, including atrocities, desertions (when a soldier leaves the military illegally before his term of service has ended), violence toward officers, drug use, and strained race relations. Capt. In fact, antiwar organizations often held meetings on college campuses to inform potential draftees about their options. [Westmoreland], 97% were discharged under honorable conditions; the same percentage of honorable discharges as ten years prior to Vietnam [Westmoreland], 85% of Vietnam Veterans made a successful transition to civilian life. One-third were volunteers who had chosen to join the military. Over 900,000 patients were airlifted (nearly half were American). "Why didn't they get behind us? [People], The person who can be seen aiding the refugees was CIA operations officer, Mr. O.B. Upon arriving in Vietnam, American soldiers found themselves in a strange land of watery fields and dense jungles. Recent reports in the news media that an American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc are incorrect. Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: Feb. 26. troop numbers peaked in 1968 with President Johnson approving an increased maximum number of U.S. troops in Vietnam at 549,500. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. He indicated that while Flahertys survivors had planned on the burial taking place at Arlington National Cemetery, they honored his wish to be buried in West Virginia. Flaherty led his platoon in a flanking assault on the enemy position, during which an NVA bunker was spotted. "In all the years we've been working on this we have found that's not the case." areas in wet fields known as paddies. This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. WebBelow are two tables which report the average adult human height by country or geographical region. The incident in the photo took place on the second day of a three day battle between the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) who occupied the village of Trang Bang and the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) who were trying to force the NVA out of the village. WebOf the 2.6 million, between 1 and 1.6 million (40-60%) either fought in combat, provided close combat support or were at least fairly regularly exposed to enemy attack. POPULATION: 70-80 million Partly due to their young age and working-class backgrounds, the U.S. soldiers in Vietnam did not tend to be well-educated. They stuck together and often refused to associate with whites. Appy, about two percent of Americans lived in towns with populations smaller than 1,000 in the 1960s. As of 1967, eighty percent of the American troops had a high school education or less, and only six percent had completed four years of college. What was the average age of soldiers in Vietnam? WebAssuming KIAs accurately represented age groups serving in Vietnam, the average age of an infantryman (MOS 11B) serving in Vietnam to be 19 years old is a myth, it is actually Choose wisely! Rather than trying to capture and hold territory as they had in He agreed to cooperate, but said that once we got started, I had to promise to finish the project, Yuzuk said. During the Vietnam War, however, at least one-third of the American troops were selected for military service through an In addition to exposing himself to enemy fire while leading the charge on the bunker, Flaherty displayed extraordinary heroism while engaged in close combat with a well dug-in enemy force, in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.. But he may have left me with more mysteries than Ill ever be able to solve.. A few years later, we started talking. Peak troop strength in Vietnam was 543,482, on 30 April 1969. The movie and a book the movie was based on contend that the CIA condoned a drug trade conducted by a Laotian client; both agree that Air America provided the essential transportation for the trade; and both view the pilots with sympathetic understanding. Starr, Paul. There are 23,300 troops in Vietnam. Caputo, Philip. [Westmoreland] Approximately 70% of those killed were volunteers. There were some legal ways to avoid or delay military service. The Vietnam War was shortly after China got involved in the Korean war, the time of the Cuban missile crisis, Soviet aggression in Eastern Europe and the proliferation of nuclear bombs. 58,169 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.59 million who served. [Westmoreland], Democracy Catching On - In the wake of the Cold War, democracies are flourishing, with 179 of the world's 192 sovereign states (93%) now electing their legislators, according to the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union. "The problem is that those who think the Vietnamese haven't cooperated sufficiently think there is some central repository with answers to all the lingering questions," notes Gen. John Vessey, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Reagan and Bush administration's designated representative in MIA negotiations. But since it was often difficult to tell friends from enemies, the emphasis on body counts led to many civilian deaths. different ideas into one] the physical experience of the American combat soldier in Vietnam would be that of a column of men spaced about five yards apart; burdened with 80-pound packs; wearing thick armored vests called flak jackets; carrying rifles, mortars, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and three or four canteens; and patrolling on foot through jungles, mountains, or rice paddies," Appy writes. WebU.S. But race relations deteriorated significantly in non-combat support units and base camps during the late 1960s. NVA The North Vietnamese Army, which assisted the Viet Cong guerilla fighters in trying to conquer South Vietnam. He worked for a while as a confidential informant for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the 80s but he was homeless in Aventura, just north of Miami, by 1990. The pilots who were flying this helicopter, Long Time Passing: Vietnam and the Haunted Generation. Dan Bullock was born on December 21, 1953, in Goldsboro, North Carolina. The peace settlement was signed in Paris on 27 January 1973. Hed traveled a lot, read a lot and was interesting to talk with.. More than fifty-eight thousand American soldiers and an estimated two million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians were killed in the Vietnam War (1954, Westmoreland, William C. Polner, Murray. It was if he was hardening himself up for some special task.. He wrote letters to my sister, I wrote letters to his sister. Richard Flaherty returned from war and studied at the University of Miami in Florida. New York: Penguin Books,1997. Myth: The United States lost the war in Vietnam. It takes alot of support personnel to take care of the logistics, administrative needs, and etc for each combat soldier. vvmf.org Social Makeup of Forces in Vietnam The US soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War were different in many ways from those who had fought in earlier wars. Sadly, only 200 of the American military dogs returned to the United States at the end of the Vietnam War. During the spring "monsoon" season it would rain nonstop for days at a time. . In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. "The military mission became to inflict casualties and the primary reason for existence became to minimize your own casualties. 9 1965: President Johnson increases troops to 184,300. In reality, few soldiers left their units during combat patrols of South Vietnampartly because it was even more dangerous to travel through the countryside alone. Richard J. Flaherty may never be known. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). Walking down the Karnow, Stanley. A government agency called the Selective Service collected the names of all American men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six. For example, many of these men inherited strong family traditions of military service and felt it was their duty to join the armed forces. Ng, PRONUNCIATION: vee-et-nuh-MEEZ LANGUAGE: Vietnamese Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Some of them considered the military a good place to receive training. When they got back on dry land, they had to check their skin for blood-sucking leeches. You secure a village, you search it, and you leave, and the village reverts [goes back] to the enemy. "Almost as Many soldiers became ill from drinking dirty water or developed painful sores on their feet. The 1990 unsuccessful movie "Air America" helped to establish the myth of a connection between Air America, the CIA, and the Laotian drug trade. I knew nothing about the culture, nothing about the religion, nothing about the village community. They believed it was important to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. Maclear, Michael. In the rice paddies, the U.S. soldiers often slogged through water and mud that came up to their waists. The South Vietnamese ran out Others grew angry that the South Vietnamese did not seem to appreciate American efforts to save their country from a Communist takeover. Some used drugs or alcohol to help them cope with their experiences. . I knew nothing about the aims of the peoplewhether they were for the war or against the war . Black and white soldiers tended to band together when they faced danger and the threat of death. But somehow they knew that the enemy had been there. You love the musty morning air. one of 42 pictures of this helicopter that UPI photographer, Hubert Van Es took Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993. In 1971, for example, 5,000 American soldiers were hospitalized for combat wounds, while 20,500 were treated for drug abuse. To some American combat soldiers in Vietnam, mines and booby traps turned the land into an enemy more frightening and deadly than the Viet Cong. Besides looking for enemy troops, they had to watch out for tiny trip wires that caused hidden hand grenades to explode, and for signs of digging that might indicate a landmine or a dangerous pit. One of the main U.S. strategies for winning the war was to kill as many Viet Cong and NVA forces as possible. Capt. The dogs also served as sentries at U.S. bases and helped drag wounded American soldiers to safety in medical units. Free shipping for many products! The ten percent of the draft-age generation that ended up serving in Vietnam consisted of three groups of relatively equal size. The voting age in the United "When GIs couldn't tell friend from foe, they came to hate and despise them all," Cecil B. Curry explains in Self-Destruction: The Disintegration and Decay of the United States Army during the Vietnam Era. In some cases, racial tensions exploded into violence. The enemy, the hummingbird that we were after, was just buzzing around. The picture of a Huey helicopter evacuating people from the top of what was billed as being the U.S. Embassy in Saigon during the last week of April 1975 during the fall of Saigon helped to establish this myth. Below are two tables which report the average adult human height by country or geographical region. Richard Flaherty returned to the U.S. and trained at the Army's Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, becoming a member of the Green Berets. Myth: The war was fought largely by the poor and uneducated. When American soldiers arrived in Vietnam, they entered a land, climate, and culture that was very different from the United States. Americans were tall because The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of America's commitment in Vietnam. Upon enlisting, soldiers were given a one-time bounty of $31.00 and 160 acres of land, a total later increased by Congress to $124.00 and 320 acres. For more information see By the late 1960s and early 1970s, however, both the morale and performance of the U.S. forces declined rapidly. Helicopters in Which made up only about 10% of the total American soldiers in Vietnam. Servicemen who went to Vietnam from well-to-do areas had a slightly elevated risk of dying because they were more likely to be pilots or infantry officers. This soldier of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam is equipped with US weapon, uniform, webbing, and radio pack. killed or wounded by a booby trap. For example, U.S. soldiers resented officers who directed dangerous field combat from the safety of high-flying helicopters or distant command posts. Their feelings of vulnerability were increased by strained relations with Vietnam's rural communities. Yet undoubtedly every plane in Laos carried opium at some time, unknown to the pilot and his superiors. As a result, African Americans made up twenty-five percent of the U.S. soldiers killed in Vietnam during 1965 and 1966. story building where the CIA station chief and many of his officers lived, located at 22 Ly Tu Trong St. Asian countries had the highest share of overseas troops (38%), while around a third were deployed to Europe (32%). Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. We fought to an agreed stalemate. War is brutal and not fair. Some gave candy to the children and tried to help in other ways. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. WebBelow are two tables which report the average adult human height by country or geographical region. But these deferments were not available to students who had to work their way through college on a part-time basis. "The man who wore that uniform was somebody. WebDuring the Vietnam War era, between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. military drafted 2.2 million American men out of an eligible pool of 27 million. webmaster@vhpa.org A marker has been ordered for his grave and is expected to be placed early next year. [Nixon], The Vietnam War has been the subject of thousands of newspaper and magazine articles, hundreds of books, and scores of movies and television documentaries. Charlie Cargo, an American soldier who served as a dog handler in Vietnam, remembered an occasion when his dog, Wolf, saved his life: "He latched onto my hand. Specifically, as it relates to western Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations. 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