But if the 800,000 number is right then it has to be out of the 9,000,000 and not out of the 2.6 million. CIB. Kenneth, your definition of combat veteran is so wrong on so many levels that it would be funny if it did not besmirch the service of so many good men, alive and dead. for the sake being more realistic, I served from June 1962 to April 20 1970, and was always told it will vary from 1 in 7 to 1 in 10. Alternatively, to transfigure my destiny. Are these all American vets. Another 2,000,000 were in country but worked supply or support [based on 10% rule]. I was on a boat floating up and down rivers for 19 months. 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 opted for love! According to the Pentagons Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, there are currently 83,204 unaccounted for U.S. personnel, including 73,547 from World War II, 7,883 from the Korean War, 126 from the Cold War, 1,642 from the Vietnam War, and six from Iraq and other recent conflicts, including three Defense. An overwhelming number are buried by family and friends. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 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. to Ken Drombosky If you served in any other places you are a Veteran, ERA is an embellishment of your service. He arrived on Yankee Station, Vietnam in early May, 1972 when he was still 17 years of age. one yearA tour of duty in Vietnam for most ground forces lasted one year. this exclusiveness does no one any credit. Everything slowed down, and I was alone, above my body that was thrown into the dashboard hitting with my left side. We all started getting heart attacks around the same time. Seems there are a lot of phony ones out there trying to scam the system which takes away from the true Vietnam Vets. There are still a lot of us left by some miracle! Everyone knows this. Vince. The VA conducts the largest national analysis of Veteran suicide rates each year. . I managed to stand again, stepped, and hurled myself into the jungle. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. I served a second tour and know quite a few Marines that did also. So it only makes sense that for those very few of the 9+ million in the service during those years so be able to distinguish themselves. It could be a Yard, Don Porier, or a sapper. I went into shock and lost conscienceless. Not 499 days between dec 67 & april 68? A few times Id meet a group of guys claiming they were all Nam Vets. My government murdered me. If we arent able to determine WHO is a Vietnam Vet, then how can one determine how many of us are still alive today? Most of the time as a grunt without a map. 11B20 and proud of it. ago. how would you define a clerk typist who stayed in saigon and never went into the field. 2 tours I volunteered and my 3rd I re-enlisted. Posted in these groups: Vietnam War American History Posted >1 y ago The trucks grill was a few feet away should I crawl underneath or try to hide in the nearby jungle? We need a better more definitive for VIETNAM Vet. I wonder how many vets died of one of the cancers on the list before it made the list? He showed me his DD214 and low and behold it says he was in Vietnam. Im going with 2.9 and saying the person who wrote 9.2 has the seing disease whereas they see everything in reverse. 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. Look up the military definition of combat. Very true One of those is my younger brother. In addition 18 US AF Security Police personnel and their 5 person aircrew were killed responding to the incident (the seizure of the USS Mayaquez), some do not recognize them as combat related deaths either. Thats sad and should stop. 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. i do not remember the moss but the went on quite a while. We had a 10,000 gal balloon full of gas while we watched for someone shooting at us or placing a bomb on the bottom of our boat. I remember that the minute we came around the coast and headed up for Vung Tau, as merchantmen on American Export LInes ships, we got a sizeable war zone increase in our pay. The 25th Infantry Division, in III Corps, issue two different Malaria Pills. So do not throw stones at some who got to lay in the same bunk night after night, just because we slept in a dirty hole night after night. Lol. 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. The first advisors were sent in country much earlier than 1962. His Engineer company was tasked to fight as Infantry, and they did. He never did ,Thank god ,because I ended up marrying a beautiful woman and we have the most precious and beautiful daughter. The total goes up every day. The truth is that until Vietnam veterans can agree amongst themselves what constitutes a real Vietnam vet, the debate may continue. That means bullets where flying at me and I killed people in combat. ahead of me in the next row was a man conversing with another man about two rows ahead of him. Era vets are important but dont count. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. Vietnam Vet_combat. April 1st was my day to rejoin 4th. My brother was stationed in the Air Force in 1975 and flew missions over Vietnam. Then upon returning I would be stationed in Camp Enari, away from most of the intense fighting, and protected by the whole 4th. Please respond! (52. years later) All with the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Air Borne Division. It was difficult for me to move. Estimating the number of suicides among Vietnam veterans Unconfirmed reports that 50,000 or more Vietnam veterans have committed suicide give the impression that these veterans are at exceedingly high risk of suicide compared with other veterans and nonveterans of the same age. ARP. Combat veterans will share their experiences with other veterans especially combat veterans (CIB). I was in Nam in 1968 and 1969 as a combat Marine. Chester/Gordon, If you served in country on a ship in the gulf or dropped 2000 pound bombs you are a vietnam vet. We did what we felt needed doing. Who is the oldest living Vietnam veteran? Based on data through September 30, 2020, VetPop2020 provides a projection of the Veteran population at each fiscal year end from 2020 to 2050. I knew I was dying, but I struggled with all my might to stay alive. I think there about 250,000 Virtnam Vets that saw actual combat. These numbers do not include the Americans who served in Vietnam during World War II. my larger point is that , in my opinion, they were veterans. Last one left was about 15 to 20 years ago. I do not doubt that it occurred, but can anyone cite a reliable source for this? and by the way, they never got benefits after their time at sea. While every GI serving around the world was important to securing our Cold War victory over Communism just as the Vietnam conflict was also, those who served in uniform in the SEA War Theater are the true veterans of the Vietnam War. In my book, they are all Vietnam Vets, just like the guys back home who never went overseas are WWII or WWI veterans. Hazardous duty pay was $65 and overseas pay varied by rank $8 to $ 16. I Never got to Korea but I have friends who got a medal for service in Korea. They lost about 20 men KIA in late January, many captured. I then did a 12 month tour in RVN in 5th SFG. Bien Hoa & Phu Bai, two badly polluted areas! A total of 9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the Vietnam era, with over 2,709,000 Americans serving in Vietnam, about 9.7% of the generation. Were you at Saigon firebase when guys set off grenade in APC ? We all figured it was a Combat death. Now 69 years/old. The average annual payment was $18,100. It was hot that day; the mosquitoes were going through my mind, and the sun was again brilliant. We have been betrayed by all Globalists. The VVA Veteran boils it down to a totally different conclusion that the American War Library drew. Wiki User. Be content with your service, and leave it there. There he was wearing my dress uniform jacket SSG, CIB, BS three rows of ribbons 8 years service, 10 overseas hash marks and he had 3 very underage teeny boppers girls smoking weed telling them war stories and bragging about his combat exploits. Check out this post and see if you can figure this out. There was a huge difference between tours of duty also. In the enormity of the cosmos, Vietnam is inconsequential, covered over by days dust! 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. When were the last Vietnam POWs released? Finally got all the right stuff together; received benefits couple months ago. go to the top of this article and choose the magnifying glass and search for Canadians in Vietnam to read an article on this website about them. What Was It Like To Hump The Boonies in Vietnam? my point is that they were shot at and in country. even when i went out with the airforce on resupply to fire bases. A half century after serving in Vietnam, hundreds of veterans have a new reason to believe they may be dying from a silent bullet test results show some men may have been infected by a. We had it good compared to grunts..tdy pay, flight pay, combat pay plus side gigs. they did not get metals. The last veteran who served in the trenches was Harry Patch (British Army), who died on 25 July 2009, aged 111. wounded evaced) then Am 3/21 196th LIB. (Mar 1969-Sep 70) 2/23, 196 LIB & 1/23 MP Co, 11 LIB, AMERICAL DIV. NO REAL VET FAILS TO REMEMBER HIS MOS. Sgt. I have always rounded up to 3,000,000 served in Vietnam..and I read someplace where of that number, only 10% were actually in combat. makes no diff, if you were a grunt or cook. I was all over in 7 years. Agreed. I think I know the answer but like youjust being picky. How were WWII veterans & Korean War Veterans accounted for? Depends on where you were. Vietnam Veteran ages range from 55 to 97 years old. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. The Vietnam Nam Veteran and the Vietnam Era Veteran is defined by law ,, am I correct???? Unless they kept track by service or SSN, how many Vietnam Veterans are there ? 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. Again, I see a jumbled view of jungle and sky, and vaguely see a solitary soldier standing over me. More than 300,000 Veterans were wounded during the Vietnam War. There were 7000 Canadians that joined the US military to fight in Vietnam. Canada did not enter the war so many Canadians joined the americansThey wanted to put a memorial in Ottawa and were refused the built it someplace on the Canadian side I beieve near Detroit, The monument is on the Canadian side of the Detroit River (Windsor). SFC Chester D Carpenter, I liked it very much this war was up close and personal to me I first thought if the French were there for over twenty years what could we do from the beginning this was a war about money and troops paying the high price in blood I will not name names but Agt Orange was used in Korea they knew how harmful it was I had two personal losses my Navy pilot and my best friend a Marine he came home but never could come to terms with life again, John, I need to talk to you about this article. DamnIll be 76 in March. 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. You were in Combat!!! i was a merchant marine officer, technically a civilian. Bob ONeal, Lt.Col. Im a 1967-68 Vietnam combat veteran. We just hoped the pilot put us where we were supposed to be. I knew I had to stand up again, even though I made a better target; my staying in the open road would be a death sentence. i went to dong ha several times. Then later we were transferred to Camp Red Ball. Not affiliated with any government agencies.All Rights Reserved. Those of us on the battlefield who bled and many died would take issue with your opinion. young men and woman who were there and did get fired on, or were in danger, should be recognized . Dec. 5, 1967 to April 28, 1968 is 144 days. I have read about Canadians coming south to fight in Vietnam but have never seen any real authority to support this. My number one issue is running into a FAKE. The average age of our Vietnam veterans is now over 70. none more than the ERA Vets. All others should not be accepted to have served either on land or at sea in Vietnam. (Operation Ranch Hand) that were loaders and used no protection. so the cia men who changed from suits were not vietnam veterams when they went into laos and cambodia? (There are other locations and occupations also, but lets not muddy the waters in this paragraph.) Far as Im concerned, they are all Vietnam Vets and this devisiness should STOP! How old are Vietnam vets now? The commander of the sapper ambush signaled the weapons man to fire the first RPG, and it impacted behind the target. next with 1st of 12th cav. There is a statistic that has been widely quoted in the veteran community that highlights an estimated 22 veterans a day are committing suicide. Hell no. it eas a very loud high pitched, not human and the sound was fuck you. three years on and off in vietnam . If they reply that they do not talk about their experiences They are not Combat Veterans maybe not even Vietnam Veterans. Those an in the Era the we were in Vietnam but they are not Vietnam Vets by any stretch of you imagination. We had a lot of support vets near Saigon. My mos was 11B and the army in its great wisdom sent me to an aviation unit in the Mekong delta. And a number of Navy in ships, bombing communist. So, with the lower estimate of 610,000, over 2.1 million VN vets have died since 1975 thats an average of 44,000/year. Yes, Vietnam War veterans are still eligible for various benefits and compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs, including disability compensation, health care, and education benefits. 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. Infantry Division. Why the Shame? Which Statement Best Describes How Americans In The 1960S Felt About The Vietnam War? All opinions graciously welcomed. i said once if you walked , you worked. So, I must be a VN Vet and VN Era Vet and Cold War Era Vet but not a Cold War Vet because I never got anywhere near the USSR. Im 75 and served in South Vietnam (30 Dec 1967-68) A/504th MP Bn. So I was in the Army National Guard during the Iraq War, So I guess I am An Iraq War Veteran. 1 How many American soldiers died in Vietnam in 1975? I served in Vietnam from Jul 68 to Jul 69. They were smokers. Helicopter Units and losses in the Vietnam War, The Story behind the famous Saigon Execution Photo, https://open.spotify.com/show/5Th7BCpIKDE1hVTqNL3u0Q. The oldest living Vietnam War veteran is believed to be a man named Larrivee Ronald A , who was born in Feb, 24, 1935. Now Iv had five and 10 % works. I have read that One in Seven that went to Vietnam were in actual combat CIB. Merchant Marine officers or crew are not wearing the uniform of the USAs Armed Forces. He objected, and was assigned as an interpreter attached to the American Embassy in Sweden. He is absolutely obsessed with military and different men who have served, The definitive statistics come from the VAs Million Vietnam Vets database, which will continue until we are all gone. And, if you think 75% of actual Vietnam Vets (especially after Covid, and more than 50 years of time) are still alive, youre kidding yourself. I agree Vietnam vets are fewer. If you have any doubts, take a closer look at your DD-214. Thank you..Its been many years sinice I left, needed answers, read the 1987 pulitzer prize book on Vietnam, A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan, and later Secrets by Daniel Ellsberg a Marine who worked at the pentagon cable room.both left me so shaken I couldnt finishe either but Ilearned so much.