"It is monotony punctuated by moments of sheer terror, just horrible stuff. 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. While braving the intense hail of hostile fire, Lieutenant Flaherty displayed astute direction and leadership, leading to the enemy bunker being swiftly destroyed and allowing his platoon to advance and continue its devastating attack on the enemy, according to the citation for the Silver Star Flaherty was awarded for the action. This famous picture is the property of UPI Corbus-Bettman Photo Agency. On average there were only about 35,000 combat soldiers in Vietnam, on the average. Another problem associated with the decline in morale of U.S. soldiers was increased drug use. But many other American soldiers conducted themselves honorably throughout their time in Vietnam. 19 In the following excerpt from a New York Times Magazine article, Tim O'Brien recalls the deep love he felt during the war: Vietnam was more than terror. Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: Feb. 26. Myth: Air America, the airline operated by the CIA in Southeast Asia, and its pilots were involved in drug trafficking. As they marched through the rice paddies and jungles, U.S. combat units never knew when enemy forces would suddenly appear. The men who served in Vietnam also tended to be younger than the U.S. soldiers who had fought in previous wars. They knew that the enemy was all around them, but their main form of contact came through traps or ambushes rather than large-scale battles. "Then, the 21st time, zap, zap, zap, you get hitand Victor Charlie [the Viet Cong, or VC] fades into the jungle before you can close with him. General Vo Nguyen Giap was the leader of the North Vietna, Nguyen Van Thieu Why didn't they care that we were dying for them?" He returned to Vietnam in 1969 and stayed there until 1971 when he left the Army. [Westmoreland] Approximately 70% of those killed were volunteers. Another villageand nothing there. The United States sought to minimize and prevent attacks on civilians while North Vietnam made attacks on civilians a centerpiece of its strategy. [1996 Information Please Almanac], The 140,000 evacuees in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon consisted almost entirely of civilians and Vietnamese military, NOT American military running for their lives. Chance and Circumstance: TheDraft, the War, and the Vietnam Generation. American combat soldiers had to remain alert at all times, even when they were exhausted from many hours of patrolling. In some cases, men who entered the service by enlisting rather than being drafted received better duty assignments. Viet Cong guerillas liked to launch surprise attacks at night or during bad weather in order to gain an advantage over the Americans and their powerful weapons. U.S. Army general and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; commander of the American troops in Vietn, Nguyen Cao Ky Altogether, 27 million American men came of draft age during the Vietnam War years. During most of the Vietnam War, nineteen-year-olds were not even allowed to vote. . In the American Civil War, a typical Union soldier might carry a total of 60 lbs. Indian army is 57 to 59 and some are 6ft but not all Hundreds of dogs were killed in action in Vietnam, but it is estimated that their efforts prevented over 10,000 human casualties. He also fell below the Army's weight requirement of 100 pounds. Adopted by the U.S. Army in the early 1960s, the Huey was the aerial workhorse of the U.S. military, serving prominently with the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. Enrolling in college. [Houk] Testimony by Dr. Houk, Oversight on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, 14 July 1988 page 17, Hearing before the Committee on Veterans' Affairs United States Senate one hundredth Congress second session. Many officers who commanded U.S. troops in Vietnam were good leaders who earned the respect of their men. Which made up only about 10% of the total American soldiers in Vietnam. Myth: Agent Orange poisoned millions of Vietnam veterans. So they trained the villagers to recognize subtle signs of a mine or booby trap. As a result, many American soldiers became increasingly frustrated with the war and the U.S. strategy. casualties increased, some soldiers were overcome by fear. '", In addition to these physical discomforts, the American troops also experienced constant anxiety and tension in Vietnam. When a man's name was drawn, he was required to report to his local draft board for evaluation. LANGUAGE: Vietnamese By the conclusion of the United States's involvement in 1973, over 3.1 million Bringing the War Home: The American Soldier in Vietnam andAfter. The final third enlisted because they expected to be drafted soon. Dan Bullock (1953-1969) Dan Bullock was the youngest member of the United States Armed Services to die in the Vietnam War. Quang Binh Province, Vietnam 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. Yuzuk said it was not long after he moved to Florida in 1999 and joined the Aventura Police Department that he noticed Flaherty. On average there were only about 35,000 combat soldiers in Vietnam, on the average. In the mountains, they exhausted themselves by marching up and down steep hillsides. Some historians blame the American antiwar movement for the decline in the motivation and performance of 1966: U.S. troops in Vietnam increases to 385,300. 17. Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. For example, disgruntled soldiers might sabotage a helicopter or shoot an officer during combat with enemy forces. On average there were only about 35,000 combat soldiers in Vietnam, on the average. And you were sort of walking that tightrope the whole time," veteran James Webb recalled in Working-Class War. (as Cincinnatus). Finally, wealthy and educated young men were more likely to be aware of all the ways they might avoid military service. The intentional use of violence toward unpopular officers was common enough in Vietnam that a new word was invented to describe it. After a while, whenever Id see him, Id give him a little head nod and hed do the same. "Among the infantrymen, the 'grunts,' this was known as 'humping the boonies. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. What as the average height of US SOldier in Vietnam? One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. "Fragging" initially referred to the practice of using a fragmentation weapon (an explosive device, such as a hand grenade) to murder an officer. Some of these animals were pets that were donated to the armed forces by American owners. Approximately 5'8" average height. Not sure what average Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam. While there are still officially more than 2,200 cases, there now are only 55 incidents of American servicemen who were last seen alive but aren't accounted for. ", in which he states that the average age of the American combat soldier in Vietnam was 19.. 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. This destruction left many Vietnamese people homeless and forced them to live as refugees. The northern section, which was led by a Communist government under Ho Chi Minh, was officially known as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, but was usually called North Vietnam. He gave me a friendly nip on the hand and looked at me. Click #isupportlocal for more information on supporting our local journalists. Others grew angry that the South Vietnamese did not seem to appreciate American efforts to save their country from a Communist takeover. It was NOT the U.S. Embassy. Free shipping for many products! Many of the men who served in Vietnam were minorities from the nation's inner cities. Which made up only about 10% of the total American soldiers in Vietnam. Without that commitment, Communism would have swept all the way to the Malacca Straits that is south of Singapore and of great strategic importance to the free world. By contrast, there still are 78,000 unaccounted-for Americans from World War II and 8,100 from the Korean conflict. The constant threat of triggering a hidden explosive caused some soldiers to become paralyzed with fear and indecision. In the Special Forces height is never a factor. Like the old saying, its not the size of the dog in a fight but the size of the fight in the dog "Where were the sons of all the big shots who supported the war? But nothing could be further from the truth. It does not have to be war related. The average age of those men that died in Vietnam of all causes was 23.1; the most common age at death was 20, Official U.S. military policy prevented them from being brought back to America out of fears that they might carry diseases. In May of 1969, Chip was blown high into a hedge of bamboo. Images of firefights, bloodied U.S. soldiers and body bags were seen nightly on network television, along with scorecard-like tallies of the number of American and enemy soldiers killed in action. 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. [Burkett] Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation was Robbed of its Heroes and its History by B.G. WebPrivate First Class Bullock arrived in South Vietnam on May 18, 1969, and was assigned as a rifleman in 2nd Squad, 2nd Platoon, Company F, 2nd Battalion 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. [People.com] Vietnam 25 Years Later, by Ground troops typically did not enter a sprayed area until four to six weeks after being sprayed. For me, at least, Vietnam was partly love. 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He was struck and killed in a hit and run in 2015. 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. The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. ", In addition, men from poor families tended to have fewer job options in civilian [non-military] society. The combat patrols rarely found any strong evidence linking the villages to the Viet Cong. But some officers seemed to place their own desire for glory and promotions ahead of the safety and welfare of their units. But the term was later used in reference to any deliberate act of violence toward a higher-ranking person. This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. "Ethical confusion is the only word that I can use. They tended to be assigned to dangerous combat duty more often than white soldiers. In the rear [non-combat support areas], back at Gator, Chip and I would go our separate ways, by color, both of us ashamed but knowing it had to be that way. one of 42 pictures of this helicopter that UPI photographer, Hubert Van Es took He agreed to cooperate, but said that once we got started, I had to promise to finish the project, Yuzuk said. [McCaffrey], MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 500,000 missions. "Drugs became the main expression of discontentin effect, an inoculation [form of protection] against 'Nam,'" Michael Maclear explains in The Ten Thousand Day War. 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. The South Vietnamese soldier. He was stationed at An Hoa Combat Base, west of Hi An in Qung Nam Province. 6. Myth: Most Vietnam veterans were drafted. For the most part, race relations remained positive in American combat units. The dogs also served as sentries at U.S. bases and helped drag wounded American soldiers to safety in medical units. "Pogo" Hunter who died in 1995. Shortest US soldier in Vietnam War was not short in courage When he graduated from high school, Flaherty was 4 feet, 9 inches tall three inches too short to meet the Armys height requirement at the time. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. The majority of draftees serving in Vietnam happened post-1965 (generally, 1967-1970) - that is, the profile of a US soldier in Vietnam prior to 1966 was very significantly different than post-1966. Two high ranking By WWII, an American soldier could Burkett and Glenna Whitley, Verity Press, Inc., Dallas, TX, 1998. They usually started firefights by ambushing U.S. combat patrols. As part of 1967's Operation Cook in Quang Ngai Province, PFC Michael Mendoza fires his M16 Rifle to conduct reconnaissance. ", There is no doubt that some American soldiers committed atrocities during the Vietnam War. Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: Feb. 26. "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.". Despite this, a wounded US soldier in Vietnam could expect to be evacuated within an hour of sustaining their injuries. A friend of his from high school told me he had fond memories of watching Richard breaking boards with his hands when he walked past the Flahertys garage. Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. We believe that the Huey along with the Huey Cobra have more combat flight More realities about war: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - it was not invented or unique to Vietnam Veterans. The mortality rate among injured soldiers in Vietnam was less than 1 in 100 casualties compared with 2.5 in 100 during the Korean War. What is the average weight of a roman soldier? Unfortunately, the poor treatment the South Vietnamese people received from some American soldiers led to greater support for the Viet Cong and NVA. Some used drugs or alcohol to help them cope with their experiences. In the bush, though, nothing kept us apart. story building where the CIA station chief and many of his officers lived, located at 22 Ly Tu Trong St. No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. Thousands of villages were destroyed by U.S. bombing missions or American combat patrols. 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. According to newspaper files, her grandparents operated a restaurant in Milton. What was the avreage age of a soldier killed in combat in Vietnam? 86% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasians, 12.5% were black, 1.2% were other races. In some cases, racial tensions exploded into violence. Lewy, Gunter. Myth: The fighting in Vietnam was not as intense as in World War II. For example, some refugees sorted through dumps near U.S. military bases and carefully saved scraps of food, metal, or wood. There are 23,300 troops in Vietnam. "In all the years we've been working on this we have found that's not the case." From 1957 to 1973, the National Liberation Front assassinated 36,725 South Vietnamese and abducted another 58,499. As military dogs, they were trained to sniff out booby traps, land mines, tunnels, snipers, and hidden stashes of weapons and other supplies. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. New York: Knopf, 1978. If you ask people who live in these countries that won the war in Vietnam, they have a different opinion from the American news media. Capt. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Regionally, Asia and Europe accounted for 70% of the U.S. active-duty military presence worldwide in 2016. [CACF] (Combat Area Casualty File) November 1993. 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. But it wasnt until 2015 that Flaherty first spoke of his time as a platoon leader and Green Beret in Vietnam. (February 22, 2023). Richard Flaherty, who was raised in Connecticut, had to obtain a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War. North Vietnam The Geneva Accords of 1954, which ended the First Indochina War (194654), divided the nation of Vietnam into two sections. http://www.air-america.org. https://www.vhpa.org. RELIGION: Confucianism; Taoism; Buddhism, Roman Catho, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), The American Film Industry in the Early 1950s, The American Dream in the Twentieth Century, The American Dream in the Nineteenth Century, The American College: Distance Learning Programs, The Ancestral Puebloans and the Cliff Palaces at Mesa Verde, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/american-soldier-vietnam, Coming Home: Vietnam Veterans in American Society, Vietnam Becomes an American War (196567). The voting age in the United States changed from twenty-one to eighteen in 1971. About 100,000 U.S. soldiers were discharged from the military for such offenses. He used to spend all day at a movie theater. increased from 2 percent of American soldiers to 22 percent. See answer (1) Best Answer. Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison - only 1/2 of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. In fact, mines and booby traps accounted for between twenty and twenty-five percent of U.S. casualties (killed and wounded soldiers) during the Vietnam War. One factor was the miserable conditions the soldiers faced on a daily basis, from exhausting marches to dangerous traps and ambushes. WebA weighted average gives us a figure of 22.96 (Standard Deviation: 5.85) which is pretty close to the linked information above from the CACF. In some instances, they beat up women, children, or elderly men who refused to give them information. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. Since 1973, when U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam, Americans who have served in the U.S. military have done so voluntarily. Special forces height is never a factor next to your Photo for comments, blog,! Saved scraps of food, metal, or elderly men who entered the service average height of american soldier in vietnam enlisting rather than being received... 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