OT - Vietnam Stats

[Bruce (VA)]

I came across this a few days ago. I know I'm not the only V-N vet around here & thought some of you might appreciate this.




Viet Nam Veteran Statistics

A little history most people will never know.

Interesting Veterans Statistics off the Vietnam Memorial Wall

SOMETHING to think about - Most of the surviving Parents are now Deceased.

There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.

The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties.

Beginning at the apex on panel 1E and going out to the end of the East wall, appearing to recede into the earth (numbered 70E - May 25, 1968), then resuming at the end of the West wall, as the wall emerges from the earth (numbered 70W - continuing May 25, 1968) and ending with a date in 1975. Thus the war's beginning and end meet. The war is complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angle's open side and contained within the earth itself.

The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth , Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.


· There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.

· 39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.

· 8,283 were just 19 years old.

The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.

· 12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.

· 5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.

· One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.

· 997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam .

· 1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam .

· 31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

· Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

· 54 soldiers on attended ThomasEdisonHigh School in Philadelphia . I wonder why so many from one school.

· 8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.

· 244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

· Beallsville , Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

· West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

· The Marines of Morenci - They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the ApacheNational Forest . And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.

· The Buddies of Midvale - LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam . In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

· The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.

· The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.


For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.

 

[36 Coupe]

No account of those veterens who died from suicide or agent orange after the war.

 

[hippie1st]

Thanks for posting.Myself did not serve in Nam.I did spend 10yrs in A.F.I belong to some sites that may like to share this.If its ok.
Hippie

 

[Bruce (VA)]

The AF squadron that sprayed the Agent Orange flew C-123's out of Da Nang. They had a picture of Smokey the Bear on the side of their aircraft & the logo "Only we can prevent forests".

 

[GB in MT.]

(reply to post at 17:42:59 10/15/11)

b:a33461be0f][i:a33461be0f]
Great post Bruce;
Reminds me of the days, and long yrs....(a little over three for me)..sadness, horror, and downright Fear, for those times!!
I especially bow to your last statements, of this post.......

" We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors."

Gary [/i:a33461be0f][/b:a33461be0f]

 

[Bruce (VA)]

Sure, attach the link.

 

[duey]

Was there August 1966 - September 1967 3rd Bn 7th MARDIV...

Glad my name isn't in the black stone.

duey

 

[Del Huebner]

Thanks for posting Bruce.Have a good friend on the Wall.I went to Viet Nam in 1965 with the 1st Infantry Division. We had no idea what we were in for and it was worse than we could have imagined anyway. God Bless our fallen commrades.

 

[WV8N]

Interesting stats, just buried my brother 2 weeks ago at age 63, he served in Vietnam 68 and 69 I was only 10 when he left but I remember being so proud of him in his uniform. He never talked much about his service but spent time as a tunnel rat that he would mention on occasion after a few drinks, he later put 38 years in the coal mines in which black lung made him leave this world way to soon.He served his country in younger years and The Lord as he got older I am still as proud of him today as I was when I was 10.

 

[Jerry/MT]

There were a lot more heros that those with there names on the Wall. Unfortunately, we may never know about their heroism because of the political situation here at home when they returned.

God Bless them all for their service and lets remember the sacrifices of all our veterans, especially before we put a new generation of them in harms way. Freedom ain"t free!

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 20:32:14 10/15/11) There were a lot more heros that those with there names on the Wall. Unfortunately, we may never know about their heroism because of the political situation here at home when they returned.

God Bless them all for their service and lets remember the sacrifices of all our veterans, especially before we put a new generation of them in harms way. Freedom ain"t free!

men, Jerry. And Bruce thank you for your service & glad your name didn't make it to the black wall. I was in USAF from '65 to '69, but I was in the states the whole time. Already had my EE sheepskin, so they made me a radar school instructor at Keesler. I didn't think that was a good assignment at the time (no travel, adventure, et al), but have since come to think it was truly a good thing. I appreciate the sacrifices of all those who did get the "adventure, travel, et al".

 

[Anonymous-0]

Thanks for the info Bruce. Much of that I did not know. I was in VN:
Jan-Dec '68 3rd Bn 21 Inf 196 LIB ,later
Mlitary Assistant Team with MACV. All in I Corps area. When the Marines pulled out and went south to DaNang it got lonely.
1971-72 Cam Rahn Bay

 

[shaun wallace]

I have seen the traveling wall. My youngst son is in Marine bootcamp at San Diego. Graduates in December and who knows whats next. Supposed to get aircraft school in Fl.

 

[old]

Neat info. What is to bad is that all the guys who came back and died because of agent orange and other such things are not and pretty much can not be listed. Had a good friend who died because of agent orange cancer and his wife is now my wife. He asked me to take care of her. Long story there. I to am listed as a vet from Nam but due to the fact I was Navy never saw action there. Lot of guys from that war who never got there dues and many are even homeless right now and many sick because of action there

 

[36 Coupe]

Its time to send the politicians to war, at least make sure their sons go first.

 

[oldtanker]

(quoted from post at 03:42:53 10/16/11) Its time to send the politicians to war, at least make sure their sons go first.

At one time politicians did go to war, their kids too. Now the political elite think that they and their families are too important to risk.

Harry Truman was a Col (artillery) in the National Guard who had served during WWI. Others talked him into keeping his seat and not going to fight WWII claiming that his work exposing corruption in military spending with the "Truman Commission" would contribute more to the war effort than being just one more overage officer. Others (not many but some) in congress and the senate did in fact resign and went to war.

I was a little late in joining the Army but am still classed as a Nam era vet. I was an Army brat before that. Some claim that the guys who fought in WWII were our greatest generation. I do believe that they were indeed a great generation but so were the men and women who went to fight an umpopular war with little or no thanks. A war that had recieved bad press and had they had lots of peer pressure to refuse to go or to run away.

Rick

 

[elmersooner]

Bruce my father was drafted in 64 or 65 by the army-but he had already volunteered for the air force. he was originally trained to fix electronics--unfortunately found out he was color blind which is pretty important when you count on wire colors to fix things. he was retrained as a medic and flew around in hueys with red crosses on them. I only remember seeing that man cry once in my life and it was at the vietnam memorial. thank you for your service and a good reminder that freedom isn't free and is unfortunately taken for granted.

 

[R Geiger]

I served in the US Army 1964 to 1967. I had never heard of Viet Nam before, I was sent to Korea in early 65 for 13 months, so missed VIet Nam. I don.t feel like I missed anything. Two brothers were there, One a marine sniper the other an AF medic. Lost a cousin in in combat. School mates came back with drug addictions. I am glad I did not go and feel for those that did and grieve for those that never returned.

 

[old]

Have to sort of agree with you there. Send them to war but then we would lose and speak German or some other such thing. Also I figure if the president is in for 4 years and get a life long pension then a guy who got shoot at and did 4 years should also get a pension. What is good for the goose is good for the gander

 

[Bob In Missouri]

Wow Bruce, Those numbers sure puts things into a perspective I had not realized. I married at 17 in 1974 and went to work. Guess I was lucky in that regard. My Dad did serve in Korea. He has passed and is buried in a Veterans Cemetary. I go every year to the ceremony they have for Veterans Day. They keep that place spotless and take care of our lost. Shame they don't take as good a care of the ones who come back but are not doing well. All who serve and who served are my heroes and get my full respect. Freedom is not free indeed. Thanks to you and all who served our country. Bob

 

[Tim Barnes]

Thanks Bruce for posted this here, it's been circulating among the Viet Nam veterans forums and through emails for a couple of weeks. I served there in the Air Force 67-68. This information needs spreading considering our schools fall short in teaching it. I have family and friends names on The Wall but they are all brothers to me.

 

[DRCA]

Thanks for the post--lots to remember and reflect on. When my Mom told me I got my draft notice i had no idea what was coming......my lucky number is still 12.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I was at quantri province 14th engr.battn.69-70. Jim

 

[JerryS]

As the years have gone by I've had periodic touches of something like guilt that I didn't serve in Vietnam. After all, this was my generation and therefore "my war".

Actually, my high school/college best friend and I did sign enlistment papers when the draft board started sending us letters, but our deal was to go into Officer Candidate School. Passed all the psych and IQ tests with flying colors; I had already given notice at work and they had hired my replacement when the recruiting sergeant notified me that a bum knee disqualified me for OCS (still 1-A though!) I said "No, thanks", and signed up for Army Reserve.

My buddy went on in, finished OCS and became an FAO in Vietnam. He got busted up, permanent back pain; became an alcoholic (cause and effect?), and after some years moved in with his momma and daddy and drowned in their bathtub a few years ago. Thinking about that helps ease my guilt, but still I wonder.....

 

[Sean Feeney]

There were 2 presidents during WWII and Millions shot
that's a lot of pensions

 

[old]

Ah but your not really seeing what I am saying. I do not believe the president or congress should get a life long pension just for spending 4 years up there and if they do deserve it then ALL military guys also deserve the same thing. Your looking at what I am saying backwards of what I am meaning. But that is like the budget cuts. If people can not get raises like the V.A.V guys then the president and congress should be the first ones that do not get a raise but no they got there raises for the last 2 years but those on S.S and VA pension did not again the goose and gander thing. If one get all should get