Id like to know what the 1 in 14 men figure is based on. 1st cav div. Then later we were transferred to Camp Red Ball. How many ww2 veterans are still alive 2021? Just like ALL Vets who served DURING WWII are classified as WWll Vets regardless of where they served. As Ive mentioned before, I dont think posing this question was intended to be divisive among veterans, but it has turned out to be. How Many B 52S Were Shot Down During The Vietnam War? Our med company was on 6 different LZs during the year I was with them, supporting the 3rd Bde 4th ID. 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. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Just because some idiot politician or people want to say you were not a war vet unless you saw combat dont feel bad most of those people found ways to evade even getting drafted. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Good disxussiin. How many Vietnam veterans are dying . In my book, they are all Vietnam Vets, just like the guys back home who never went overseas are WWII or WWI veterans. It was all about teamwork, whether you pulled the trigger or not. The total number of is estimated at 2.8 million US veterans who were exposed to the poisonous chemical while serving and later died. Even if his job depended on them doing theirs well. Just a minor clarification, not all of us were on the groundJust being picky. The last combat veteran was Claude Choules, who served in the British Royal Navy (and later the Royal Australian Navy) and died 5 May 2011, aged 110. I bounced all around and slowed almost to a stop, and I downshifted and ground to first gear while checking my watch. I WOULD SURVIVE! There are 500,000 Korean War veterans still living, but about 600 of those die every day, according to the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation. It seems to be all about syntax. The Vietnam Veterans of America have cited that they will remain an organization until last man standing. Still, other sources like the New York Times claim the number of Vietnam veterans is actually somewhere around 9.2 million. If I got in the ring with Cassius clay later known as Mohamed Ali. Phu Loi Nov 66 to Dec 67 HHD 11th Cbt Avn Bn. Sgt. The now call them Vietnam era veterans. 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.. Got a nice break the last 5 months, got to drive a bird colonel around Chu Lai as he delivered classified info all over the base !!!!! I knew that I was gravely wounded, and bullets were kicking up dust clouds as they were landing around my feet. So, nearly 300,000 over the 14 years of their operations, a far cry above the 2500-3000 referenced in the article. My mom had all three sons in the war my twin brother and i were drafted he got combat I got artillery the younger one joined the air force . Nobody can bad-mouth Huey pilots and crews. 45-50 years from now (and I bet no-one will want to Are these all American vets. DamnIll be 76 in March. Door gunner with the 191st AHC Bounty Hunters. Antonia Leonard is an education expert who has dedicated her life to helping students achieve their academic goals. Unless they kept track by service or SSN, how many Vietnam Veterans are there ? As a child I knew several WWII veterans. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. that conversation has stayed with me. You guys were the lifeblood of our war effort. 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. a few years ago i was flying from rome to possibly germany or holland on the way back to montreal. Thanks for your responses. 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. Base was 1st MAW Danang AB which got hit early Tet with rockets, mortars and sappers. 23 Div and finally MACV Tm 87, 43 RCAT 18th ARVN Div. Operation Homecoming was completed on March 29, 1973, when the last of 591 U.S. prisoners were released and returned to the United States. TRUE, yes more may have had a mortar or rocket land in the vicinity, or heard a sniper round shot, but the manpower rule is 1 out of 7 10 is an actual seek out and engage the enemy, tip of the spear veteran. The number of people who are Vietnam veterans in the first place is a number that is widely debated. It is difficult to say how many Vietnam veterans have been affected by Agent Orange. This could be a simple semantics issue, but what about the Air Force guys who flew over Vietnam. if you were effected by the first or second tour, or as i did, three years back and forth , then you were , are are a veteran. We dont respect the combat Vets and they shouldnt disrespect us. Apparently, its been agreed upon that 800,000 Vietnam veterans had passed away by the year 2000. 2500 to 3000 US Air Force troops stationed in Guam, Thailand, and other countries that were involved in the Vietnam War effort. That's 390 per day. one yearA tour of duty in Vietnam for most ground forces lasted one year. Agent Orange was sprayed on the Jungle areas, and Melathion (Insecticide) was sprayed on Base Camps. These Veterans are now in or about to reach . take a look at my article titled a pale smoke google it . This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. These numbers do not include the Americans who served in Vietnam during World War II. NO! A Vietnam era veteran is certainly not a Veteran of the Vietnam War. A lot of guys broke out with rashes every time that sprayed for mosquitos, using Melithon, which was every 2 weeks over all Base Camps. 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. ARP. I certainly dont agree on the 9 million in country. 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. When the 3rd Brigade,82 ABD moved from Camp Rodriguez (I Corps) in October 1968 my first base was Tent Citynear Bien Hoa (III Corps) then my unit was moved to Phu Loi. Quite a story. so if you wore chinos instead of camo you are not a veteran? I asked him to give me his number, he did not put a number on it just that he was Not. But Officers do not get CIBs But for those Cav troopers who know I have my Spurs. 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. She is new to that post, having spent 20+ years as head of coding & analysis at NSA. This is a controversial post. A few people were killed. When you spend most of the time out in the Bad Lands, bad things happen. My Company was A Co, 5th Trans Bn, 101st Abn. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. ooops !!!! two weeksOver 10% of Vietnam casualties were helicopter crew members, and most of those were the door gunners that protected the helicopter, its crew, and its transports, from their exposed position. I concur with the 610,000 as the 850,000 remaining vets have been used for years and would be much lower by now. Exhausted! Change). Overall, the death rate of Vietnam veterans seems to be rather consistent if not better than other people their same age, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As anti-war vet , all these years later, I respect yall and your stories. Vietnam era vets are not the same as Vietnam vets, but they are important. VA released VetPop 2020 which is VA's new official estimate and projection of the Veteran population. Next determined those Veterans who were awarded the Vietnam Service ribbon. 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. I can assure you there will be those of us alive longer than 10 years from now. I WAS IN THE 85TH ORD COMPANY . Antonia is a gifted educator, and she is widely respected within the education community. The wheels were bouncing crazily as the tires encounter deep furrows dug in the hard dirt from the last monsoon. Me? I was in Vinh Long in 1965, Mekong delta area. That makes more sense. It was an incredibly tumultuous time in US hi >, It poses more confusion about what constitutes a Vietnam Vet! What report or reference confirms it? Bob ONeal, Lt.Col. Dec. 5, 1967 to April 28, 1968 is 144 days. 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. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". I submit, we should use the same standard for Vietnam. So, here well dive a little bit deeper into how many Vietnam veterans are estimated to still be alive based on various approximations and predictions. How many Vietnamese citizens died in the Vietnam War? many US MILITARY PERSONNELL served in Afghanistan from the start to when the last GI got on the last plane/helicopter out. I left the Ville at 3:00pm. i agree with many who feel that a private who served his time in new jersey is not a vietnam vet. More than 8 million people served in uniform during Vietnam and those who are alive are typically in their 60s and 70s. i do not denigrate their service or define them as inferior. Perhaps the reason for guys is that there were times we had to drink out of bomb craters that were in areas sprayed with Agent Orange. Everyone that served and was in combat which means they were in the line of fire (received it and returned it in some form or fashion) deal with their dark side in various ways. What qualifies you as a viet Nam vet would be if you stepped foot on the soil. Agent Orange is impacting that timeline and those serving around the world were not affected by this wonderous life-robbing gift.