Astonishing! Many soldiers and Marines with support MOSs have received the CIB and CAR. Age: 75. I work with veterans all the time and thought you might find it interesting (if you didnt know already) that any Vietman Vet who served in country and who develops Parkinsons Disease, Lou Gehrigs disease, or a number of other illnesses is assumed tohave been exposed to Agent Orange and AUTOMATICALLY qualfies for Service Connected Disability. I am a Marine Vietnam Vet (6/67-7/68) & a MarineDesert Shield/Storm Vet. god bless america,and our veterans. When I first went to Vietnam in Nov. 1967 about 90% of the unit were made up of I showed this to a non vet to see if I was not clear (PTSD) and he was shocked at the number of Nam Vets who were passing away. For a decade, as one person was shipped off to fight, another was returning. at the time i wasnt concerned, though, some of the guys working as fos, who were planning on a military career, were trying to get cibs. Thank you. You couldnt believe that people were cheering you.. No 'Welcome Home' parades for Vietnam vets. please pardon the French. Originating from New York City, Tom Selleck. The VA rejected 80 percent of the requests, but decisions often appeared to be haphazard or contradictory, depending on what desks they landed on, the AP found. We can only pray that the current generation of young men and women who are the current targets of a cottage-industry of professionals who thrive on making them all impaired will fare better than we did. (LOL) What amazes me however is that so many of my comrades who served in Vietnam and who suffer from many of the maladies associated with this war would serve again. (Reuters Health) - Higher than average death rates among Vietnam War veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggest that combat trauma may still be affecting veterans' health even decades after the war, according to a new study. -----In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. I may be able to help you with your claim. THERS IS ONLY ONE KIND OF COMBAT VET..ONEWHOWAS IN COMBAT. One last ramble. At your next response, should you be so kind, I will tell you of a career U.S. Navy hero who died alone, broke, unsung in a Trailer park in Oregon. Rather than being greeted with anger and hostility, however, most Vietnam veterans received very little reaction when they returned home. Although the war was considered cold, that didnt stop those crazy DDR Volkspolizei Border Guards from taking more than a few potshots at us when we ventured too close to their border fence to retreve one of our over-flightdrones. We spent more forward deployed time than the WW2 vets, we never lost a major battle, we were greeted with the most abuse and disdain from the country we had served than any previous generation of veteran, and we were the genesis of all war-fighting doctrine today. INTERESTING CENSUS STATISTICS. Call me next week sometime, and I will help you with the stressor stuff. Btln. Born: 04/07/1937. THOSE TO CLAIM TO HAVE been there: "I was in a state of shock," he said. Especially if you are happily married. It is not BS. If you fought in Vietnam you were watching your . Most Vietnam Veterans are in their 60s and the average lifespan for a male in USA is 74. Guy C. Lamunyon Twenty-one-year-old Steven A. Wowwk arrived as an infantryman in the Armys First Cavalry Division in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam in early January 1969 to fight in an escalating and increasingly unwinnable war. Over time, swelling and inflammation of the bile duct can lead to cancer. This was partly due to the logistics of the never-ending conflict. i just learned, they are going to give me 40% for a couple things. By then, patients are often in tremendous pain, with just a few months to live. returned from Vietnam , the clock has been ticking. "But until further research, a recommendation cannot be made either way.". James Ward was one of at least 18 juvenile soldiers killed at Vietnamfive were 16, like him, 11 others were 17, and one was 15 and had forged his birth certificate to join. Base, then to NY. As for the CAR, that might be another story. I knew how to get more than enough for everything I needed. Today the list still grows in our local newspaper, I came back from nam in January of 70.Got out September remember being called a baby killer,monster etc ,was not spit on ,but had I been would have given back a proper response.When I came back was wearing my medals and CIB etc. Was an 11B grunt with the First Air Cav (C1/7) in 71/72. Like our Vietnam Brothers, who followed a decade after us, there is a bond that can never be broken between us. According to figures provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs of the United States, 530 Vietnam veterans pass away every single day. And yet our government which is one of the best in the world scares the crap out of me. Thanks Jim, that was very thorough. Anyone can use no. for years, all I asked for was a good nights sleep. December 21, 1953 Goldsboro, North Carolina, U.S. I took her to Punchbowl and then she understood. "You didn't have to go fighting.". Jim and I flew from Da Nang, to Kadena Okinawa, and then after an attempt to fly out of Kadena in a Flying Tiger Line plane one of the 4 engines quit in mid-air, and we made an emergency landing back at Kadena, we stayed overnight and flew out in the same repaired airplane on to Travis A.F. Dan Bullock (December 21, 1953 June 7, 1969) was a United States Marine and the youngest U.S. serviceman killed in action during the Vietnam War, dying at the age of 15. Do you mean more information on the claim process? American soldiers returning home from Vietnam often faced scorn as the war they had fought in became increasingly unpopular. Check out the VA web-site and your local Vet Center. Might any of our readers speculate about why this may be? Wished I knew who implanted it. He was the youngest American service member to be killed in the Vietnam War. V.F.W. I am not sure anyone will ever quantify the exact number of suicides. )to be with the forward observers that were attached to e-troop. So, lets say there were not more, just, alot. It is still tragic. There are currently 83,204 unaccounted for U.S.personnel, and the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office at the Pentagon reports that this number includes 73,547 service members from World War II, 7,883 service members from the Korean War, 126 service members from the Cold War, 1,642 service members from the Vietnam War, and six service members from Iraq and other recent conflicts, including three Defense Department personnel. In 1982 Vietnam veterans march down Constitution Avenue toward the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which would be dedicated later that day. Of the 50 blood samples submitted, more than 20 percent came back positive or bordering positive for liver fluke antibodies, said Sung-Tae Hong, the tropical medicine specialist who carried out the tests at Seoul National University in South Korea. As of this date The American War Library estimates that approximately 610,000 Americans who served on land in Vietnam or in the air over Vietnam between 1954 and 1975 are alive today. As a combat veteran of Marine Corps having served in Vietnam, I have always known that we seem to have a mortality clock that ticks a bit faster than then that of the standard for insurance actuaries. Vietnam Veterans of America/ Vietnam Veterans Die Early/ Epidemiology for Vietnam Veterans/ Agent Orange Deaths, http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-22.pdf, http://edschultz.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=63544, http://web.mac.com/rthorne2/Site/TRUTH_REVEALED_MINISTRY.html, Transcendental Meditation Retreat At Picture Rocks Retreat House, Veterans Across America Black Out Walmart Black Thursday. civilian world and create a new life for ourselves. VA said not related to Agent Orange. Both are unlikely to life to 70, and both have suffered life-threatening diseases already which they are lucky to have survived. More over 8 million people served their country in some capacity during the Vietnam War, and those veterans who are still alive now are often in their 60s and 70s. And before we ate our food they came from the beach and were to be sprayed along with everything else that the VA is making this presumption for having boots on the ground for even one minute. A group of amputee Vietnam veterans talk together at a hospital in San Francisco, California, 1967. The Vietnam War lasted from 1964-1973the longest war in American history until it was overtaken by the one in Afghanistanand servicemen typically did one-year tours of duty. Check with your local VA claims agent. information Im used to reading about WWII and Korean War vets. 1969 most of the unit were draftees, with a few old hands returning for a 1/3rd of all the U.S. Vets who served in VietNam ?!?!? Starting to live with zest at 60 aint so bad. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Two things I have to add, one is that many Viet Nam Veterans died in the line of duty as Law Enforcement Officers (odmp.org) and that as a police officer I was not prone to PTSD , I hope more were like me. Mike Baughman holds a 1971 photo of himself in his U.S. Army uniform at his home in Danville, California on Aug. 2, 2016. Jerry Engel/New York Post Archives/NYP Holdings, Inc./Getty Images, The society really was ill-prepared to give these guys what they deserved, says Christian Appy, professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of three books on Vietnam. Still, it seems to me that Vietnam veterans who were junior enlisted men or junior officers have died in larger than average numbers already compared to their non-veteran peers, and are likely to continue to do so. second tour. Dear Friends abd fellow vets, I may have some choice words to express as well. Thanks to our Editor, Mark Evans, I have some raison de etre. Bill Ray/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images, The Vietnam War claimed the lives of more than 58,000 American service members and wounded more than 150,000. Glamunyon@aol.com. that 6 months after I left everybody rotated back to the states, say reminds me of You must be at least 17 years old (17-year-old applicants require parental consent). Yes indeed the TAPS Section of the Veteran, published by VVA, is a bit sobering. As of the last Census taken during August, 2000, the surviving U.S. NO I was stationed on Hill 55 for 6 months, and stationed at Da Nang Air Base (Rocket City as you know) with 1st L.A.A.M. In the United States 17-year-olds may join the armed forces with the written agreement of parents. We flew to Okinawa, and during the flight on Flying Tiger airlines from Okinawa one of the four engines stopped, we had to make a emergency landing back at Okinawa. What was the average age of a US combat soldier in Vietnam? He would not comment on the findings, but said everyone who tested positive was notified. didn't know who they were fighting and dying for. We are not dying off that fast. For the family whose son is just coming back, you arent going to have a public welcoming home ceremony when someones son just down the road was just sent off to Vietnam., As the war ground on and became increasingly hopeless, the military personnel put through this kind of revolving door of service came to represent something many Americans would rather not accept: defeat. Of course we have to consider how long it will take them to contract and automate the system. Im always looking around at whats going on. I don't know about you guys, but it kind of gives me the chills. The collective emotion of the country was divided, says Jerry Lembke, a Vietnam veteran, sociologist and author of The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam. Age: 78. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Quick Answer: What Can I Learn From A Veteran? 1 killed in the Nam, 2 dead by their own hand. I had them look at my VA narrative pointing out stressors and stressor events in the Nam. We saved a lot of people and seen some bad stuff. Sleep well brother. Born: 09/15/1946. and were sometimes in more combat during their tour than the actual grunts they supported they still werent awarded the CIB. Mike. I just got my crystal ball back from the shop. During the Vietnam War, a total of 9,087,000 military people were on active service, with over 2,709,000 Americans serving in Vietnam. Weve used them up we need young ones. "I didn't think it would be me.". This was met by skeptisim by most Veterans groups. have similar data. I was never a prisner but could relate to some of the tings the men talked about.I can also relate to the tinngs you talk about,, Any time Im around a crowd (large or small) I like to be where I can keep up w/everything going on around meUse to have panic attacks really bad if I had to be in publicWith help from VA mental health and medication Im now a lot better off.. How long did a soldier have to serve in Vietnam? I do not know or care, where your stats came from. Pu u Owaina in Hawaiian. In my mind they were throwing out a SWAG. Where is the museum and website referred to as the source of the figure 850,000 living Vietnam veterans? Like I always said .we died in Nam , just havent fallen over yet.Too bad all the imposters dont die just as quick or quicker. Everytime there is a major airline crash in the news, we email it to each other and joke that would have been US if we kept flying. 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