On February 21, 2000, a memorial was dedicated in Riverside, California, to honor the American military dogs who served in Vietnam and other wars. Enrolling in college. . Some American soldiers reacted to their situation by lashing out violently against the Vietnamese, while others took out their anger on U.S. military leaders. March 1, 2023, 4:22 PM. If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address. Rather than following orders and trying to achieve military goals, some soldiers focused only on staying alive for those 365 days. 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. The American military did not lose a battle of any consequence. For example, wealthy young men could afford to remain in college full-timeand even pursue advanced degrees following graduationin order to qualify for student deferments. The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. As American soldiers grew more frustrated with the war and how it was being conducted, some began to take out their frustrations on officers. Others grew angry that the South Vietnamese did not seem to appreciate American efforts to save their country from a Communist takeover. vvmf.org Social Makeup of Forces in Vietnam The US soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War were different in many ways from those who had fought in earlier wars. Many soldiers became ill from drinking dirty water or developed painful sores on their feet. WebBelow are two tables which report the average adult human height by country or geographical region. "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.". Many other U.S. soldiers came from small rural towns or farming communities. Vietnam: A History. South Vietnamese military officer and political . The constant threat of triggering a hidden explosive caused some soldiers to become paralyzed with fear and indecision. Richard Flaherty, who was raised in Connecticut, had to obtain a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War. For example, black soldiers often found themselves passed over for promotions. The building is the Pittman Apartments, a 10 Novato, CA: Presidio, 1986. [McCaffrey]. For example, the weather in Vietnam tended to be very hot and humid. THE UNITED STATES DID NOT LOSE THE WAR IN VIETNAM, THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE For some American combat soldiers, the constant anxiety and tension of their time in Vietnam served to heighten their senses and emotions. 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. 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. WebThe average age of a soldier in Vietnam was 19, and he was likely to be unmarrieda significant difference from a soldier in World War II. From 1957 to 1973, the National Liberation Front assassinated 36,725 South Vietnamese and abducted another 58,499. The average age of U.S. troops in Southeast Asia was 23, and more than 80 percent had a high school diploma, twice as many as the World War II generation. Myth: The media have reported that suicides among Vietnam veterans range from 50,000 to 100,000 - 6 to 11 times the non-Vietnam veteran population. 1969 The atmosphere back in the United States caused many American soldiers to question their involvement in Vietnam, and to resist the orders of U.S. military leaders. The voting age in the United Recent reports in the news media that an American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc are incorrect. Vietnam seldom flew above 1,500 feet which is traffic pattern altitude for 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. After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. About 100,000 U.S. soldiers were discharged from the military for such offenses. The two began meeting more frequently, and Yuzuk became so fascinated with Flahertys story that he asked permission to tell it in the form of a documentary. Capt. who is now retired in Arizona. Here are some facts to clear up that poor job of reporting by the news media. Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in. Which made up only about 10% of the total American soldiers in Vietnam. But during the Vietnam War, individual combat soldiers were rotated into and out of the country on a one-year schedule. Yet undoubtedly every plane in Laos carried opium at some time, unknown to the pilot and his superiors. 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. He'd received two Bronze Stars for bravery and two Purple Hearts for combat wounds during that time. In the following passage from his book A Rumor of War, former Marine Philip Caputo describes the emotional toll these hidden explosive devices took on the troops: The foot soldier has a special feeling for the ground. They also had to deal with swarms of mosquitoes. Appy, about two percent of Americans lived in towns with populations smaller than 1,000 in the 1960s. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. Approximately 5'8" average height. In the mountains, they exhausted themselves by marching up and down steep hillsides. WebFind many great new & used options and get the best deals for JXK1/6 North American Gray Wolf Model LXF2209 12" Soldier Accessory Decor Gift at the best online prices at eBay! evidence of enemy activities. More than fifty-eight thousand American soldiers and an estimated two million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians were killed in the Vietnam War (1954, Westmoreland, William C. Hed traveled a lot, read a lot and was interesting to talk with.. At first, many U.S. soldiers felt sympathy for the South Vietnamese people. Updated: 7 February 2018 New York: Penguin Books,1997. . Some of these men were career military officers. During the time they spent on patrol, they rarely had an opportunity to bathe or enjoy a hot meal. The death squads focused on leaders at the village level and on anyone who improved the lives of the peasants such as medical personnel, social workers, and schoolteachers. Myth: The United States lost the war in Vietnam. "I didn't know the language. Others begged for handouts from passing soldiers. 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. This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. After a while, whenever Id see him, Id give him a little head nod and hed do the same. How many US soldiers were in Vietnam at one time? An automobile accident or other traumatic event also can cause it. G.Huested/The Vietnam Slide Project 12 of 40 WebThis oft-repeated fact comes from the 1985 Paul Hardcastle song "19. [Parade Magazine]. In the last decade, 69 nations have held multi-party elections for the first time in their histories. Why didn't they care that we were dying for them?" The South Vietnamese people were very poor, and they suffered great hardships during the war. Instead, the local farmers and villagers usually viewed the Americans with distrust or even hostility. Over time, however, American troops' view of the Vietnamese began to change. And you were sort of walking that tightrope the whole time," veteran James Webb recalled in Working-Class War. You love the musty morning air. Specifically, as it relates to western troops vs. Japan/North Korea/North Vietnamese forces. Low 54F. Richard was involved in martial arts long before anyone else knew much about them, Yuzuk said. Appy, Christian. U.S. soldiers felt toward the Vietnamese people. 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. Antiwar groups claimed that the increasing numbers of desertions proved that the American combat troops opposed the war. He wrote letters to my sister, I wrote letters to his sister. America in Vietnam. The final third enlisted because they expected to be drafted soon. POPULATION: 70-80 million previous wars, American military leaders hoped to use bombing attacks and combat forces to break the enemy's ability and willingness to fight. In fact, antiwar organizations often held meetings on college campuses to inform potential draftees about their options. But nothing could be further from the truth. [Houk]. Some of these displaced villagers survived by collecting and using the garbage left behind by American forces. No Victory Parades: The Return of the Vietnam Veteran. The valleys were surrounded by steep hills and rugged mountains that were covered by a thick jungle of trees and tropical plants. With regards the first table, original studies and sources should be 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. Rarely have so many people been so wrong about so much. Some of these animals were pets that were donated to the armed forces by American owners. Flaherty led his platoon in a flanking assault on the enemy position, during which an NVA bunker was spotted. The war claimed between 2.5-4 million lives, the vast majority Vietnamese civilians plus more than 58,000 Americans. Web1. of fuel, ammunition and other supplies because of a lack of support from [CACF] (Combat Area Casualty File) November 1993. Vietnamese where among those taken that day to Tan Son Nhut airport, General troop numbers peaked in 1968 with President Johnson approving an increased maximum number of U.S. troops in Vietnam at 549,500. Myth: Agent Orange poisoned millions of Vietnam veterans. Over time, as mines and booby traps killed and injured more American soldiers, U.S. combat patrols grew angry that the villagers did not warn them of nearby dangers. Yuzuk said it was not long after he moved to Florida in 1999 and joined the Aventura Police Department that he noticed Flaherty. [Parade Magazine] August 18, 1996 page 10. "Viewing all Vietnamese as less than human released American boys from their own humanity.". How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? What as the average height of US SOldier in Vietnam? When a man's name was drawn, he was required to report to his local draft board for evaluation. It was if he was hardening himself up for some special task.. Item Height: 14.5 cm. [VHPA Databases] Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association Databases. Polner, Murray. He also fell below the Army's weight requirement of 100 pounds. Many of the ways in which draft-age men received deferments favored those who were wealthy and well-educated. Dan Bullock was born on December 21, 1953, in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Many officers who commanded U.S. troops in Vietnam were good leaders who earned the respect of their men. It changed Richard, he said, adding that he had found letters in his locker explaining why he needed help to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder. What as the average height of US SOldier in Vietnam? 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. Some gave candy to the children and tried to help in other ways. Combat troops spent much of their time patrolling the countryside in small groups, searching for Viet Cong guerilla fighters or North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces. The Washington Post on how to fix freight rail. Yuzuk said none of the relatives or companions of Flaherty or Anness he has spoken with was aware of a relationship between the two. In addition, black soldiers often received less desirable housing and duty assignments than white soldiers in the same unit. American-owned airlines never knowingly transported opium in or out of Laos, nor did their American pilots ever profit from its transport. March 1, 2023, 4:22 PM. The United States sought to minimize and prevent attacks on civilians while North Vietnam made attacks on civilians a centerpiece of its strategy. ", As they traveled through the countryside looking for enemy forces, American combat patrols routinely entered and searched South Vietnamese villages for hidden weapons, extra supplies of food, young men of military age, and other possible signs of Viet Cong activity. 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. At the time, Yuzuk was a police officer and Flaherty was a member of Aventuras homeless community, camping under a palm tree off one of the citys main boulevards. You love your mom and dad, the Vikings, hamburgers on the grill, your pulse, your futureeverything that might be lost or never come to be. You remember those few moments of real terror. "Vietnam was a place where the elite went as reporters, not as soldiers," reporter David Halberstam noted. rsteelhammer@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5169 or follow. . But such attitudes began to change as black soldiers faced discrimination in Vietnam. ." After one tour in Vietnam, Capt. Flaherty enlisted late that year. These carefully hidden explosive devices caused a great deal of death and suffering among the American troops. "The problem is that those who think the Vietnamese haven't cooperated sufficiently think there is some central repository with answers to all the lingering questions," notes Gen. John Vessey, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Reagan and Bush administration's designated representative in MIA negotiations. Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/american-soldier-vietnam. Richard Flaherty is laid to rest in an unmarked grave in Milton near Lisa Anness, a woman he described as the love of his life. [1996 Information Please Almanac], POW-MIA Issue (unaccounted-for versus missing in action), Politics & People, On Vietnam, Clinton Should Follow a Hero's Advice, Over 900,000 patients were airlifted (nearly half were American). The domino theory was accurate. [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. Fact: Assuming KIAs accurately represented age groups serving in Vietnam, the average age of an ", in which he states that the average age of the American combat soldier in Vietnam was 19.. Besides looking for enemy troops, they had to watch out for tiny trip wires that caused hidden hand grenades to explode, and for signs of digging that might indicate a landmine or a dangerous pit. Most awards are earned, not won. Just a suggestion. This is Audie Murphy. Murphy earned every single award the United States could give including t They also hid in villages or dense jungles and fired upon U.S. troops as they passed by on patrol. According to statistics, the average soldier was a 19-year-old man from a working class family, who did not go to college. of equipment, including a ten-pound musket. [The Wall Street Journal]. Richard J. Flaherty may never be known. American soldiers knew that the war was unpopular at home. "In all the years we've been working on this we have found that's not the case." Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison - only 1/2 of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978. 36. Capt. Jokes are funnier, green is greener. You love the miracle of your own enduring capacity for love. "Here's a woman of twenty-two or twenty-three. time than any other aircraft in the history of warfare assuming you count actual This was notable, as the financial compensation itself was more than what the average unskilled laborer earned a year. [Nixon]. ", There is no doubt that some American soldiers committed atrocities during the Vietnam War. Which made up only about 10% of the total American soldiers in Vietnam. ed. One-third were volunteers who had chosen to join the military. As they marched through the rice paddies and jungles, U.S. combat units never knew when enemy forces would suddenly appear. In the bush, though, nothing kept us apart. We won't share it with anyone else. The Washington Post on how to fix freight rail. There are 23,300 troops in Vietnam. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Peak troop strength in Vietnam was 543,482, on 30 April 1969. Banks recalled to Stanley Karnow in Vietnam: A History. Shortest US soldier in Vietnam War was not short in courage Starr, Paul. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. [McCaffrey] Speech by Lt. Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, (reproduced in the Pentagram, June 4, 1993) assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Vietnam veterans and visitors gathered at "The Wall", Memorial Day 1993. The final Other times, they burned down huts and destroyed food supplies. The number of combat soldiers in Vietnam rose to from their family doctors. In this way, many young men ended up serving in Vietnam whether they wanted to or not. [McCaffrey], 87% of the American people hold Vietnam Vets in high esteem. Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password. In some instances, they beat up women, children, or elderly men who refused to give them information. What is the average weight of a roman soldier? 9 1965: President Johnson increases troops to 184,300. 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. When sprayed on dense jungle foliage, less that 6 percent ever reached the ground. "The American Soldier in Vietnam As a result, many American soldiers became increasingly frustrated with the war and the U.S. strategy. What as the average height of US SOldier in Vietnam? leader; premier of South Vietnam, 196567 In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans' group." In addition, wealthy young men could obtain deferments for physical problems more easily than poor or working-class men. 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. Capt. designed as a helipad. No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. MacPherson, Myra. What is the average weight of a roman soldier? Many pieces. Copy. While many draft-age males of that era sought ways to avoid being among the 385,000 troops sent to the beleaguered Southeast Asian nation that year, Flaherty was working the angles to find a way in. By that time, Flaherty had been promoted to captain and awarded two Bronze Stars for bravery and two Purple Hearts for combat wounds, in addition to the Silver Star. story building where the CIA station chief and many of his officers lived, located at 22 Ly Tu Trong St. 91% of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served [Westmoreland], 74% said they would serve again even knowing the outcome [Westmoreland], There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non veterans of the same age group (from a Veterans Administration study) [Westmoreland]. The ten percent of the draft-age generation that ended up serving in Vietnam consisted of three groups of relatively equal size. Richard Flaherty returned from war and studied at the University of Miami in Florida. one of 42 pictures of this helicopter that UPI photographer, Hubert Van Es took 1967: LBJ increases U.S. troops to 485,600. LOCATION: Vietnam (February 22, 2023). Soviet Union. effect was of a moron wandering through a foreign land, or a blind man wandering through a foreign land.". Even the AP photographer, Nick Ut, who took the picture was Vietnamese. For example, the Viet Cong might tie a piece of grass into a knot, with the loop end pointing toward the hidden explosive. Asian countries had the highest share of overseas troops (38%), while around a third were deployed to Europe (32%). Americans were tall because Innocent people get killed. In the early 1970s, the American public was shocked by a series of news reports about atrocities (acts of extreme cruelty or brutality) committed by U.S. soldiers in Vietnam. But about eight percent of the U.S. soldiers who died in Vietnam came from towns that size. Others resorted to drugs when they could not cope with the violence they witnessed. The dogs also served as sentries at U.S. bases and helped drag wounded American soldiers to safety in medical units. "But she watches your men walk down a trail and get 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?" "Perhaps the best single image with which to synthesize [combine "Where were the sons of all the big shots who supported the war? Bringing the War Home: The American Soldier in Vietnam andAfter. Altogether, 27 million American men came of draft age during the Vietnam War years. In the early years of the war, many African American men viewed military service as a positive thing. 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. At the same time, some white soldiers in base camps made racist comments or displayed racially insensitive symbols, like the Confederate flag (the symbol of the slaveholding South during the American Civil War). (Westmoreland quoting Douglas Pike, a professor at the University of California, Berkley a renowned expert on the Vietnam War) [Westmoreland] This included Tet 68, which was a major military defeat for the VC and NVA. Over the ten years of the war, Operation Ranch Hand sprayed about eleven million gallons of Agent Orange on the South Vietnamese landscape. After all, such attacks gave American military leaders information about the size and location of NVA troops. 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. For troops in the field, this strategy placed a strong emphasis on "body counts," or the number of enemy soldiers killed. "The CDC Vietnam Experience Study Mortality Assessment showed that during the first 5 years after discharge, deaths from suicide were 1.7 times more likely among Vietnam veterans than non-Vietnam veterans. With regards the first table, original studies and sources should be consulted for details on methodology and the exact populations measured, surveyed, or considered.With regards the second table, these estimated figures for said countries and Scientific research has shown that dioxin degrades in sunlight after 48 to 72 hours; therefore, troops exposure to dioxin was infinitesimal. Meanwhile, Flahertys burial spot, just behind Lisa Davis Annesss grave, remains unmarked as another Veterans Day approaches. Such incidents contributed to the overall decline in the performance of American troops in Vietnam. Statements in the storage unit showed that he had several thousand dollars in bank accounts, while a passport and receipts from a travel agent indicated that during the time he was homeless, he had made trips to such countries as Jordan, Venezuela, Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia. Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam. He worked for a while as a confidential informant for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the 80s but he was homeless in Aventura, just north of Miami, by 1990. But many other American soldiers conducted themselves honorably throughout their time in Vietnam. Drug use became a severe problem between 1969 and 1971, when the U.S. government was beginning to withdraw American troops from Vietnam. For the most part, race relations remained positive in American combat units. [Burkett] Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation was Robbed of its Heroes and its History by B.G. For me, at least, Vietnam was partly love. https://www.vhpa.org. Id known him for 15 years, and this was the first time he ever mentioned the military. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. 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. South Vietnamese military and political leader; president of the Republic of Vietnam, 196775 Partly due to their young age and working-class backgrounds, the U.S. soldiers in Vietnam did not tend to be well-educated. During the spring "monsoon" season it would rain nonstop for days at a time. As a result, the morale of American troops was fairly highat first. Only a third of Vietnam vets were draftees. webmaster@vhpa.org Instead, the dogs were classified as "surplus armaments" (extra military equipment) and either put to sleep or left with the South Vietnamese army when the U.S. troops were withdrawn in 1973. He carries the M16A1 Armalite rifle, which the small-statured Vietnamese found ideally suited to their needs. While his allies came, fought, and left, the ARVN soldier had to live with his Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand stayed free of Communism because of the U.S. commitment to Vietnam. Facts to clear up that poor job of reporting by the news media Purple Hearts combat... 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