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. After all, every spot where they stepped or sat might lead to injury or death. See answer (1) Best Answer. He's dead. The American military was not defeated in Vietnam. No community in Click here to stay informed and subscribe to the Mountain States Trusted News Source. I knew nothing about the culture, nothing about the religion, nothing about the village community. For me, at least, Vietnam was partly love. "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 U.S. military reported 730 fragging incidents between 1969 and 1971, which resulted in 83 officer deaths. They believed that the military offered opportunities for training and career advancement that were not available to them in civilian society. . Although he is the subject of a new documentary available on Amazon Prime and iTunes and a soon-to-be-released book, the full story of Capt. . It was a "civilian" (Air America) Huey not Army or Marines. 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. Christian Appy writes in his book Working-Class War. You love your friends in Alpha Companya kid named Chip, my buddy. Myth: The domino theory was proved false. 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. He indicated that while Flahertys survivors had planned on the burial taking place at Arlington National Cemetery, they honored his wish to be buried in West Virginia. He agreed to cooperate, but said that once we got started, I had to promise to finish the project, Yuzuk said. In addition to exposing himself to enemy fire while leading the charge on the bunker, Flaherty displayed extraordinary heroism while engaged in close combat with a well dug-in enemy force, in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.. The number of U.S. soldiers who left their units for more than 30 days without permission increased from 15 per 1,000 in 1966 to 70 per 1,000 in 1972. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. U.S. soldiers felt toward the Vietnamese people. In the early years of the war, some U.S. soldiers expected the South Vietnamese people to greet them as heroes. Choose wisely! 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 domino theory was accurate. The average age of American troops in Vietnam was nineteen, compared to an average age of twenty-six for U.S. soldiers in World War II (193945). Another problem associated with the decline in morale of U.S. soldiers was increased drug use. Vo Nguyen Giap Some of these displaced villagers survived by collecting and using the garbage left behind by American forces. How many US soldiers were in Vietnam at one time? They were Kim's cousins not her brothers. "Black and White," we were called. Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in. Quang Binh Province, Vietnam It turned out to be a lot. Of the 40 percent that did serve in the military in the late 1960s and early 1970s, only about 2.5 million went to Vietnam. For some American combat soldiers, the constant anxiety and tension of their time in Vietnam served to heighten their senses and emotions. Capt. Some of these men were career military officers. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. In some cases, racial tensions exploded into violence. What as the average height of US SOldier in Vietnam? Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. He said he hopes the movie makes people think twice before being dismissive or hateful toward the homeless, many of whom are veterans, and make politicians think carefully before sending American men and women to foreign places to kill people. Yuzuk used his own funds and a crowdsourcing campaign to produce The Giant Killer, an 80-minute documentary available on Amazon Prime and iTunes, released late last year. Sometimes it would take an entire day to move two miles. Over the ten years of the war, Operation Ranch Hand sprayed about eleven million gallons of Agent Orange on the South Vietnamese landscape. This destruction left many Vietnamese people homeless and forced them to live as refugees. Capt. Another villageand nothing there. After a few brushes with law enforcement, Flaherty reportedly worked as a confidential informant for the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in the early 1980s before becoming homeless in Aventura by 1990. Fact: Assuming KIAs accurately represented age groups serving in Vietnam, the average age of an infantryman (MOS 11B) serving in Vietnam to be 19 years old is a myth, it is actually 22. For example, some refugees sorted through dumps near U.S. military bases and carefully saved scraps of food, metal, or wood. After a while, whenever Id see him, Id give him a little head nod and hed do the same. Free shipping for many products! Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/american-soldier-vietnam. many people from Harvard won Pulitzer Prizes [a prestigious award for journalism] in Vietnam as died there.". Most Agent Orange contained .0002 of 1 percent of dioxin. Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: Feb. 26. [Westmoreland], 97% were discharged under honorable conditions; the same percentage of honorable discharges as ten years prior to Vietnam [Westmoreland], 85% of Vietnam Veterans made a successful transition to civilian life. Here are some facts to clear up that poor job of reporting by the news media. [1996 Information Please Almanac], POW-MIA Issue (unaccounted-for versus missing in action), Politics & People, On Vietnam, Clinton Should Follow a Hero's Advice, In comparison, forty-five percent of the generation that reached draft age during the Vietnam War attended college. In all, a very scary time for our country. But since it was often difficult to tell friends from enemies, the emphasis on body counts led to many civilian deaths. They also had to deal with swarms of mosquitoes. The movie and a book the movie was based on contend that the CIA condoned a drug trade conducted by a Laotian client; both agree that Air America provided the essential transportation for the trade; and both view the pilots with sympathetic understanding. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984. Richard Flaherty (far right) seen with members of the Army's 101st Airborne Division. The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. Marijuana use peaked at 58 percent of U.S. forces during this period, while heroin use As a result, many American soldiers became increasingly frustrated with the war and the U.S. strategy. And after the war is over you don't remember the monotony and the boredom and the mosquitoes and the heat. What as the average height of US SOldier in Vietnam? Over 900,000 patients were airlifted (nearly half were American). one of 42 pictures of this helicopter that UPI photographer, Hubert Van Es took As they marched through the rice paddies and jungles, U.S. combat units never knew when enemy forces would suddenly appear. But it wasnt until 2015 that Flaherty first spoke of his time as a platoon leader and Green Beret in Vietnam. "How can you defeat an enemy who knows the land intimately, who has every reason to regard it as his own backyard, and who has fought for decades, even centuries, to rid it of foreign invaders?" "Why didn't they get behind us? The final third enlisted because they expected to be drafted soon. Vietnam War Reference Library. MacPherson, Myra. WebHow much of an impact does the difference in the average size of soldiers between combatants make in 20th/21st century warfare? Only two percent of officers in the U.S. armed forces were black, even though blacks made up about fourteen percent of all military personnel during the Vietnam War. Soldiers who resented or distrusted their officers sometimes refused to follow orders or even resorted to violence. A cemetery employee said the appropriate relatives have been contacted and a marker has been ordered and is expected to be set in place early next year. Chance of rain 100%.. By WWII, an American soldier could From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. About 60 percent, or 16 million, of these draftable men avoided service in legal ways. Flaherty took Yuzuk to a storage locker he rented to pull out photos and documents that might be useful in the documentary, and they returned several times in the following weeks until May 9, 2015 the date Flaherty was struck and killed by a hit and run driver near his palm-shaded campsite. Specifically, as it relates to western troops vs. Japan/North Korea/North Vietnamese forces. Which made up only about 10% of the total American soldiers in Vietnam. [VHPA Databases] Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association Databases. You have permission to edit this article. [1996 Information Please Almanac], There were almost twice as many casualties in Southeast Asia (primarily Cambodia) the first two years after the fall of Saigon in 1975 then there were during the ten years the U.S. was involved in Vietnam. After a while, some U.S. soldiers began to feel like the purpose of their endless patrolling was to serve as bait for attacks by enemy forces. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Web38.8% (6,332,000) of U.S. servicemen and all servicewomen were volunteers 61.2% (11,535,000) were draftees Average duration of service: 33 months Overseas service: 73% served overseas, with an average of 16 months abroad Others grew angry that the South Vietnamese did not seem to appreciate American efforts to save their country from a Communist takeover. Richard Flaherty returned from war and studied at the University of Miami in Florida. You love the miracle of your own enduring capacity for love. Myth: Agent Orange poisoned millions of Vietnam veterans. LOCATION: Vietnam According to Myth: A disproportionate number of blacks were killed in the Vietnam War. 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. As an example, heavy bombers and were always exposed to hostile fire even in their base camps. "Here's a woman of twenty-two or twenty-three. 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