USA, (Ret.). at DaNang If we came in they set up tents to sleep in and had a big blivet bag for a shower. Dont know about the MM but everyone got the same combat pay whether a grunt or clerk. Not affiliated with any government agencies.All Rights Reserved. 997 soldiers997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam . It was a free-fire zone, and a nearby flight of gunships was engaged in shooting up the western valley. I was out of my earthly shell. I dont see how there can be any dispute about this. What Major Is Kent State University Known For? ago. Current Status of Unaccounted-for Americans Lost in the Vietnam War. Enjoy today's Memorial Day and please take time to "Remember". Awakening, I was the only person there, so the enemy was concentrated on me. Waiting for a slight pause in the clamor in my ear, I decided to escape towards the cover of the Bush. I think by now weve pretty much said all that can be said about this question. I think its just a generalization but should be cleared. Of the 2.7 million men and women who served in land forces in Vietnam, only about 600,000 are still alive. So, nearly 300,000 over the 14 years of their operations, a far cry above the 2500-3000 referenced in the article. Could this be friendly fire on a beautiful Sunday? The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died. The NOISE ringing in my ears, the torment, the muggy damn heat, and the distance echo of gunfire ALL STOPPED! we spent sometimes a month or more in one port depending on the cargo and the need. However, typically, the number of World War 2 veterans who die each day is approximately 100. I needed the rest! Hometown: Detroit, Michigan. Les, in IMHO being a Vietnam Veteran has nothing to do with combat. 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. My time stands still. https://www.americanwarlibrary.com/personnel/vietvet.htm Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. Like you I am sick of ERA Veterans claiming to be in country. Check out this post and see if you can figure this > out. The 25th Infantry Division, in III Corps, issue two different Malaria Pills. I know I was there and have several cancers! I know the difference, do you ? i am not better, but i am not worse. The stroke wasnt assumed until after 2000 & heart not until 2010. However, any veteran who served in Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, is presumed by the VA to have been exposed to Agent Orange. young men and woman who were there and did get fired on, or were in danger, should be recognized . I made a mistake !!!!! I wouldnt trust the New York Times study, regardless of their Sources! I was all over in 7 years. i was not a supporter of the war but i did my job. 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. As a Combat Infantry Veteran those who allow people to assume that they experienced actual combat because they refer to themselves as a Vietnam Vet. Separate war. 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. And a count of military that flew over Nam bombing etc. Im glad you made it back! Thank you for taking the time to read this. we had a crew of about 42, spent weeks at anchor in vung tau or da nang. I was there in 1964-1965 then 1967-1968 then my last tour was 1971-1972. The group in my AIT Class were all happy about this. Does having your ramp down and touching a river bank count as boots on ground while we were not allowed to go off the boat when we were pumping gas to the airbase? He showed me his DD214 and low and behold it says he was in Vietnam. it is the duty of the community to stay behind their warriors to heal them and at the back of them when they come back. so if you wore chinos instead of camo you are not a veteran? This answer is: U failed to remember the last name on the Wall was in 1975. hello, The number of Vietnam veterans affected by the chemical Agent Orange is astonishing. Great article! I found out from a vet in 2017, filed in 2018. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. My mos was 11B and the army in its great wisdom sent me to an aviation unit in the Mekong delta. Presently, I approached the road to the top of PDL hill, and I was thinking what a beautiful day this would have been if this were some other place in some other world. Jorge Otero Barreto. My husband was one of those 191st Assault Helicopter Co. Bounty Hunter door gunners. According to the American War Library, as of February 28, 2019, it is estimated that approximately 610,000 Americans who served in land forces during the Vietnam War or in air missions over Vietnam between 1954 and 1975 are still alive to this day. I entered an L shaped ambush. 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. nothing exists or will exist in another time. The only good thing was 22 days off my tour. 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. I have one, but I fought a ferocious battle at FSB Gold at the beginning of Operation Junction II March 21, 1967, the artillery guys in Vietnam were every bit an infantryman as well, they suffered mortar & rocket attacks, enemy probes and attacks They were lucky in some ways that they did not have to crawl through the shit every day. Then we went back to the Boonies. We may never know who actually served and were in country during the fight. The VA conducts the largest national analysis of Veteran suicide rates each year. All the millions of other Vietnam Era Veterans are Cold War Veterans. The VVA Veteran boils it down to a totally different conclusion that the American War Library drew. Next determined those Veterans who were awarded the Vietnam Service ribbon. I can tell you that those who served in Thailand should definitely be considered Vietnam Vets. Statistics on PTSD in Veterans | US News My number one issue is running into a FAKE. We are working on a feature article How Many Of Us Are Still Alive: that will show a complete Actuarial Model that shows the likely number of us still alive (725,000 to 750,000 out of 2.4 million) and the likely progression of our deaths. We need more honest Veterans. It does not store any personal data. Nobody can bad-mouth Huey pilots and crews. I was ASA, 1960-1963, Ft Dix, Vint Hill Farm, DaNang and PhuBai. My left leg hurt like HELLFIRE! Base was 1st MAW Danang AB which got hit early Tet with rockets, mortars and sappers. . Number who served in country and number who served DURING the Vietnam War regardless of where they were deployed. YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages. 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 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. If they enlisted or were drafted before 1975, they likely are in their late 60s now. I got the disability benefits at age 79. I was there in 1969. I could never guess the number of actual Vietnam Vets there are, nor the % still alive. From what my son in law says (Apache gunship pilot) they also flew a tremendous number of combat hours everyday, And I know from what few stories he did tell (hes now deceased) they often had mortar rounds incoming. 23 Div and finally MACV Tm 87, 43 RCAT 18th ARVN Div. How many Vietnam War veterans are still alive 2023? NO, some who got to sleep in the same bed night after night, yet were low slow flying targets by day are NOT REMF. 15 of us REMFs were surrounded by the 33rd NVA June 13 1970. Far as Im concerned, they are all Vietnam Vets and this devisiness should STOP! According to the American War Library, as of February 28, 2019, it is estimated that approximately 610,000 Americans who served in land forces during the Vietnam War or in air missions over Vietnam between 1954 and 1975 are still alive to this day. I can somewhat understand your position since you experienced actual combat. 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. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". **********************************************************. I don't know about you guys, but it kind of gives me the chills. One of the things that really bothers me is the statement that we lost in Vietnam? How many US Army died in Vietnam War? - 2023 Well again, nothing that you have posted tells the story that you were in Vietnam. What report or reference confirms it? The now call them Vietnam era veterans. I flew as a crew chief / door gunner from dec 12 th 1965 till dec 15th 1967,I may not have had my boots on the ground out side the wire but we flew close air support , every time you grunts got your ass in a sling we were there to help you, i was on old B model gun ships low and slow ,I was shot down three times, so i dont think your cib means that much to me. How many Vietnam veterans died from Agent Orange? 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. 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. Somewhat confusing. Exhausted! Okay.Ill be the one to tell it like it is, even though everyone here, as well as everyone else, knows the truth already! Exiting the jungle, still at the foot of the mountain opposite from my defenses; the mountains bulk acted as a radio barrier between help from S3 at Enari or the SFs at the Ville. in ww2 more merchant men were killed than all the services combined until june 6, 1944. and they were civilians. three years on and off in vietnam . That was our regimen along the Cambodian border, too. Army personnel were awarded VN Service Medals and and Vietnam Campaign Medals. 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. 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. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Age: 84. How Many Vietnam Veterans are Alive Today? - CherriesWriter I give a silent prayer of thanks for all of you, every time I hear a chopper going by, even now. I arrived in country Dec. 5, 1967. The amount of compensation a Vietnam War veteran can receive varies depending on their individual circumstances, such as their disability rating and the number of dependents they have. 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. 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. Again, I see a jumbled view of jungle and sky, and vaguely see a solitary soldier standing over me. Were you at Saigon firebase when guys set off grenade in APC ? 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. Here are some statistics on the veterans of the Vietnam War. 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. 35th CBSG, 315th CAMS Working on C-123,s. They are paying on Melathion settlements (Watch TV, and it as on 2 to 3% purity, used inside US) There are no living Veterans that I know of. Music That Moves the Military. What other conclusions have been made about the percentage of Vietnam veterans who are still alive? 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. In the highlands we had to take one every day in addition to the once a week pill. 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. He was a Private First Class who was killed in action in the Second World War.