Without a doubt Helicopter Crews are COMBAT VETS, to fly so low & slow over the most hidden turf below.. On landing at LZ Gold March 19, 1967 we lost 6 Hueys and 7 pilots. Since the fall of Saigon and Operation Baby Lift occurred in 1975, wouldnt an 18 year old at that time be 64 or 65 today ? USA, (Ret.). These numbers have come about due to the extensive research of various mortality indexes and sources by the American War Library which concluded that about one-third of those who served in the Vietnam War are still alive today. 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. We had a lot of support vets near Saigon. A veteran who served in the Vietnam War would be in their early 70s to late 90s today, depending on their birth year. According to Department of Veterans Affairs' projections, Vietnam Veteran deaths will hit 103,890 this year, about 285 a day. Regardless of their MOS or the details of their service, veterans have more in common with each other than they have differences, and ALL deserve to be honored. i said once if you walked , you worked. in ww2 more merchant men were killed than all the services combined until june 6, 1944. and they were civilians. i have read that only one in seven guys that went to Vietnam, were actually in combat. Helicopter crewmen did not receive the CIB, but they fought every day. Merchant Marine officers or crew are not wearing the uniform of the USAs Armed Forces. Then later we were transferred to Camp Red Ball. Good for him! we were all on the same side of the aisle. (There are other locations and occupations also, but lets not muddy the waters in this paragraph.) Check out this post and see if you can figure this out. All others should not be accepted to have served either on land or at sea in Vietnam. But that number will probably go down by at least 50,000 to 75,000 per year. Born: 04/07/1937. I do appreciate what they did, from the hero medevacs to those gun ships who flew into madness to help save our asses knowing that mortar rounds fall from above, RPGs & macjine gun rounds were in mass supply with the moniker attached To whom it may concern. Check your POW list. 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. 7,484 women served in Vietnam, 83.5% being nurses. 1 in 14 men pulled a trigger in Nam. Funny, none of them were called WWII Era Veterans. that conversation has stayed with me. 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. three years on and off in vietnam . 101st Airborne 25th Infantry 82nd Airborne 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. The definition of Combat Veteran is NOT if you have a CIB. Pleiku, Dak To, An Khe. Using the 2.7 million and assuming one hundred thousand did two tours, I would use the six hundred thousand as the amount still living, due mainly to the delays in Agent Orange treatments and PTSD delays with the sucides from 1970 approx. Ive reached the age of truth telling, and have grown sick of pretending, and giving trophies to the undeserving I saw good men die, and their loved ones dont deserve this dishonor any longer. I Never got to Korea but I have friends who got a medal for service in Korea. nothing exists or will exist in another time. . A few people were killed. 997 soldiers997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam . He signaled a repeat, and the second rocket impacted on target. The truth is that until Vietnam veterans can agree amongst themselves what constitutes a real Vietnam vet, the debate may continue. About the same number of draft dodgers.or so I was told. I knew what my death would mean to my mother, my father, and the rest of my family and friends. I wouldnt trust the New York Times study, regardless of their Sources! I would hope they are considered Vietnam combat Vets. As well, those who served in Thailand in late 1973-1975 are often looked down upon as not being real Vietnam Veterans. We are, as we helped conduct many support missions in the region, helped with draw assist during the fall of Cambodia, S. Vietnam and Laos. Sgt. The other number of significance is the number of Viet Nam veterans killed by Dow chemical. i do not remember the moss but the went on quite a while. It seems like you are looking at a very narrow view of the division of experiences of those who served in Vietnam. About 12 out of every 100 Gulf War Veterans (or 12%) have PTSD in a given year. 2.4 million man who served in Nam approx. and i abhor those who say they served when they were plumbers in texas and talk of medals they never earned. I used this experience and we cut down the Helicopter replacement time from about 2 1/2 weeks to 2 to 4 days. And yes I was sprayed with Agent Orange. Divarty (how ironic), and with my DEROS (Date I returned to the States) in the end of May boarding The BIG Bird, flying across the Pond and back to the World! I was a Pilot, Licensed Aircraft Mechanic and Maintenance Inspector before going into the Army. My spirit was above my body and I was looking down at myself bouncing around in the drivers side. That is exactly what I was going to post. But often, it does. It takes military personnel to support the troops on ground or ships in war territory waters. 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. But to me, Nam is my whole universe i.e. Youll have to look for it, but a long time ago I posted the most recent VA numbers I could find. 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. That means bullets where flying at me and I killed people in combat. for most of it i listened but not wanting to interfere. Current Status of Unaccounted-for Americans Lost in the Vietnam War. The jungle sat still except for the dirt road with my truck speeding along. If you served at all, anywhere, during WWII, you are a WWII vet. Were you at Saigon firebase when guys set off grenade in APC ? I had a Swedish citizen in AIT, with orders to go to Vietnam. There is no definitive answer to this question as the number of World War 2 veterans who die each day varies depending on the specific situation. That is correct, Dow Chemical is responsible for three times as many Viet Nam veteran deaths as the NVA and the VC. Im 75 and served in South Vietnam (30 Dec 1967-68) A/504th MP Bn. That number stands around 306,000 killed by agent Orange (and other colors). 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. Check out this post and see if you can figure this > out. Dear Mr. Hutson Jr Serious danger along those river banks. How were WWII veterans & Korean War Veterans accounted for? How many Vietnamese citizens died in the Vietnam War? I will have to disagree with the CIB being the only combat veterans The Battle of Soui Tre 3-21-1967 at Fire Support Base Gold Operation Junction City, the 2/77 Artillery 18 105s and the 3/22 Infantry A & B Cos the enemy lost 881 KIA and UNK WIAs, we lost counting the landing in the 19th 55 KIA & 287 WIA, within an hours Westmorland and other Stars were there claiming this Victory (14 Stars on the battlefield) The Artillery are every bit combat veterans with the infantry and many other FSB battles as well I have a CIB and did 22 months in country late including TET. Smokey Platoon. i went to dong ha several times. One count should be those Vietnam Veterans who had feet on the ground. Canandaigua, NY How old are Vietnam vets now? The average age of our Vietnam veterans is now over 70. Why cant you be just a proud Veteran. The remaining 6.5 million were serving either at-home or abroad but not in Vietnam. Some, like myself did not serve a full 12month tour. We, the U.S. have lost over 158,000 American lives to the Vietnam war and that count is still rising. These numbers are probably as good as any well ever find and are from 2019 and 2021 respectively. Granted, most of them were deployed for the durationa WWII vet I knew was gone 4 years without coming back to the states. My cousin was with the 82nd and was there when the TET offensive happened. All who served In Country and the those outlying areas in support should be considered Vietnam Vets. 1 How many American soldiers died in Vietnam in 1975? But having spent a little time thinking about it, I go with the 2m figure. I do not like pretenders but do not want to take on the duty of Valor Police. I was only there 9-months but others served multiple tours, so I tend to believe the 2.7 3.0 million is probably an accurate number. (LogOut/ Div., 67-68. But I didnt beat him he just left. If you served in country on a ship in the gulf or dropped 2000 pound bombs you are a vietnam vet. ooops !!!! It should be duly noted that these numbers do not include the 2500 to 3000 US Air Force troops stationed in Guam, Thailand, and other countries that were involved in the Vietnam War effort. a few years ago i was flying from rome to possibly germany or holland on the way back to montreal. I am not sure how it can be calculated, how to distinguish actual combat veterans, as that reality is a risk factor for contact with an enemy force. https://www.americanwarlibrary.com/personnel/vietvet.htm we both served and i think that is what distinguishes us from draft dodgers or people that claimed bone spurs or kept getting deferments those are the people i despise. 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. Those were the prime draft years, but of course there were a few older guys over there too.This does not include other American men there who are not covered by the A, like civilian contractors. Which Statement Best Describes How Americans In The 1960S Felt About The Vietnam War? When were the last Vietnam POWs released? I think The NY Times has conflated he number of Viet Nam veterans with those who served in the military during the years 1960-1975. The report is based on national death certificate data currently available through 2020. The now call them Vietnam era veterans. Assuming were talking solely about U.S. Vietnam veterans, all I would add is that anyone who served in the military and entered the war zone is technically a Vietnam veteran. Our 2003 NJAOC Desk Guide to the unique health issue of Nam vets and our children is still the Gold Standard. I struck a tree and rebounded into the open again still a sitting duck. We were sitting ducks to support our artillery & infantry troops, so talk your trash! I was also at LZ Bayonet. yep I wonder also. According to the American War Library website, it was concluded by the Department of Defense that their best estimate is that between 2,709,918 and 3,173,845 GIs served in Vietnam and its surrounding waters between the years 1954 and 1975. I flew several hundred sorties in a gunship. 100,000 or more to suicide and most of those occurred after the men came home. I went on about 500 missions. These numbers do not include the Americans who served in Vietnam during World War II. Anyone suggesting that only a CIB award means you were a combat veteran is very uninformed The Battle of Soui Tre March 21, 1967 the men of the 2/77 Artillery were every bit infantry as well as Arty that day and many many other FSB battles.