Notes from Dave Barker, AMVETS State Service Officer Department of Ohio July 20, 2007

VIETNAM WAR FACTS:
-- 9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam era from 5 AUG 64 to 7 MAY 75. Vietnam is the only war with 2 separate start dates for veterans. December 22, 1961 is the other.
-- 2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam which represented 9.7% of their generation.
-- 240 men were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War
--58,148 were killed in Vietnam. The first man to die was James Davis, December 22, 1961. He was with the 509th Radio Research Station. Davis Station in Saigon was named for him.
-- 75,000 were severely disabled of which 23,214 100% were disabled
-- 5,283 lost limbs & 1,081 sustained multiple amputations
-- Average age of men killed: 23.1 years. Of those killed, 61% were younger than 21, 11,465 of those were younger than 20 years old, and 17,539 were married
-- Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. The oldest man killed was 62 years old.
-- As of 15 JAN 04, there are 1,875 Americans still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War
-- 97% of Vietnam Veterans were honorably discharged
-- 91% of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served
-- 74% say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome
-- Vietnam veterans have a lower unemployment rate than the same non-vet age groups.
-- Vietnam veterans’ personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18%.
-- 87% of Americans hold Vietnam Veterans in high esteem.
-- There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam Veterans of the same age group (Source: Veterans Administration Study)
-- Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison. Only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes.
-- 85% of Vietnam Veterans made successful transitions to civilian life.

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Just to let you know, our generation is pretty doggone group of people. To top it off we are gracefully aging!

Amazing isn't it! Good post.

How many were drafted?

Excellent Post Dave. Start reading those stats a few times and they really start to amaze you. They did for me anyway. Thanks again Dave. And God Bless Our Vietnam Vets.

yea salute...

Thanks for the info dave, good post!

That certainly fits my father pretty well. Good post.

Thanks for the post Dave, it is good to review the statistics once in a while, since I am one.
Something I have never seen is a breakdown of deaths and wounded by job classification. I think it would be cute to furnish this to the VA since they seem certain that only infantrymen with a CIB saw any type shooting action over there. I have searched, but apparently this information was not kept.

quote:

To top it off we are gracefully aging!

Are you being polite or sarcastic?
Actually, I think it has a lot to do with going back and living their life B4 they went on Active Duty. Several of my friends still wear pony tails or long hair, have low stress jobs, and still smoke weed.

quote:

Something I have never seen is a breakdown of deaths and wounded by job classification. I think it would be cute to furnish this to the VA since they seem certain that only infantrymen with a CIB saw any type shooting action over there. I have searched, but apparently this information was not kept.

Its out there. At least for the Marines it is. I saw a post on the MODF years ago before it went belly up that listed the deaths by MOS for VN.

And guess who leads the pack by a wide wide wide margin? 0311's and the rest of the 0300's. And the other MOS's that finished close to the top were MOS's (like radio guys) that served with the Grunts. Just exactly what you would expect.

There is a good reason many folks have no desire to be a Grunt. They get killed far quicker and in greater numbers than the rest.


.

quote:

Originally posted by FBoehm:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by gcoulter:
How many were drafted?

During the period Aug 1964- Feb 1973, government statistics indicate 1,857,304 Americans were drafted.

http://www.sss.gov/induct.htm

Those who were inducted still might not be sent to fight; over the course of the entire Vietnam War, draftees stood only a 38 percent chance of serving in Vietnam.

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/13/the.draft/

Thanks Dave from a Viet Nam Vet. A very good post.

Dave you have come thur for us old viet nam vets yet again i want to thank you for all the help you have given me over the years ,you are the best, i will be forever grate ful to have had the time to chat with such a fine veteran as yourself . we can all be as grateful many times over. best wishes Dave

Finally a post from Dave that I agree with.

I HAVE WRITTEN MANY TIMES ON THE HACKWORTH FORUM THAT THE PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENT OF MY LIFE IS BECOMING A VIETNAM VETERAN...

AND SO THESE NUMBERS YOU HAVE PROVIDED ARE PROOF THAT MY PRIDE IN SERVING WAS, AND IS, WELL FOUNDED...

SALUTE TO YOU, DAVE... AND ALL MY FELLOW VN VETS

PS: IT IS NO ACCIDENT THAT THE ALL-VOLUNTEER PROFESSIONALS OF TODAY'S MILITARY ARE THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF VIETNAM VETERANS...WE CAN BE VERY PROUD OF THAT FACT!

I would really love to see the VA's definition of a machine gunner since they seem to have felt it was non-combat. Man shoots you, you return fire, combat last time I checked. I guess there was too much government double speak for them to get it right the first time around.

quote:

Originally posted by HONOLULU58:
I would really love to see the VA's definition of a machine gunner since they seem to have felt it was non-combat. Man shoots you, you return fire, combat last time I checked. I guess there was too much government double speak for them to get it right the first time around.

these people at the va that are making this call more than likely dont have a clue what a machine gun is and chances are have never been in the service!!!!

Hono I went through the same thing with those yoyo's even sent them my pay slips with HFP, RNA and COLA...I lived, ate and fought with the RVN, everyday 24/7!

They would not know a live round from a thunderclap or loud fart! Don't feel bad you are in good company. It takes forever to get it across to those azzholes.

On my days off I would fly side gunner on slicks (HU1B's) just to get out of the ****. I went on combat assaults while on those rides and have no idea where that information went.

My CO threatened to courts martial me if I was hurt while volunteering... That was one crazy damn place!

this is kind of a topic on the mos while in nam ,i went over with a mos of 36k20 a field wireman, ended up attached to a artillary unit in chu lai several of us wireman ended up doing patrols weekly, was only in 2 fire fights, done several chopper patrols as a door gunner also but then again was told by the v.a. since my mos was not combat i was not intitled to any recogntion for what i done over there.even tho i came home with shrapnel scars from fire we took from the ground. since our sarg. in charge didnt see the necessity to have it put on my record from the shrapnel wounds, even the corpsman that patched me up.i came home with only my scars, and when i applyed at the v.a. the doctor stated while looking at the scars said it sure looks like shrapnel wounds too bad it wasnt put on my medical record while in nam so that was as far as i pursuied the attempt. but i know what i did and would do it again in a heart beat, i was one of the volinteered for the draft for 2 years guys serveral of us high school grads done it together. dito's to all you viet nam vets im proud of what we done for our great country