The Wall (Viet Nam) A little history most people will never

[katrina]

The Wall (Viet Nam)
A little history most people will never know.

Interesting Veterans Statistics off the Vietnam Memorial Wall

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.

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 attended Thomas Edison High 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 Apache National 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.

 

[mwj]

I was drafted in 1968 and went in in 1969. I was lucky enough to not end up in SE Asia. For this I am thankful!!

 

[littlejoe]

I was there, 68-69. 82nd Abn.

A horrific legacy. I live in sparsley populated area--which is good, as i don't like crowds.

Three of my vn vet friends have shot themselves.

Another--when i finally caught up with him in oregon--answered phone

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU WANT!!??" over and over and over.

Took me a half hour to convince him of who i was. Learned he was a recovering meth addict---altho our most common drug of choice was alcohol. V.A. has him on about a dozen meds for various issues.

My oldest and best childhood friend (173 combat medic, 12 mo's of lrrp team) helped me for a bit last yr---super equipment operator. But--he left me in a real bind--been diagnosed with ptsd and parnoid schizophenic----havn't seen him since--

Found my former CO's wife---the guy had gone on to finish career in military, then govt job---till some rare form of brain cancer did him in.

Many health issues are showing up in us. And some in our kids. Forty yrs ago, one of my best buds first kid was born w/o an anus. Cost about 80,000$ in various operations. Eventually was traced to agent orange, V.A. eventually paid up, after yrs. Lotta stress in that marriage--it failed.

Can't find most of my friends---used to stay in touch with many, but kinda went on an emotional and alcoholic 'walkabout' for a long time. CO's widow said most are dead anyhow.

 

[andybob]

The Nam vets who joined us in Rhodesia were a good group of very professional soldiers, it was both a pleasure and a privilege to serve alongside them. We had many discussions on the war there compared to the one we were fighting against the CT's in Africa.

 

[littlejoe]

The Nam vets who joined us in Rhodesia were a good group of very professional soldiers, it was both a pleasure and a privilege to serve alongside them. We had many discussions on the war there compared to the one we were fighting against the CT's in Africa.

U.S. Army would give you about a week worth of 'vietnam/jungle' training here, when we got orders for v.n.

An introduction to m-16, which felt like a mattel toy, after m-14. (I eventually became very fond of it)

Then got another week or 10 days with the 101st airborne, after arriving in v.n. as 82nd had one division over there and worked with 2 div of 101 to make up a brigade. This was done by guys with lots of experience and pretty good.

The U.K. did it differently---newbies spent mos in malaysia, got training by guys who had been there.

I interacted with some of them (a very limited sample!) The brits i met kinda hadn't quite got up to speed on the fact that 'Rule Brittania" had peaked out quite a while ago. The Aussies were a total kick, they liked to scrap and if nobody else wanted to play, they'd fight with each other. The Kiwi's were my favorite---as good of troops, fun loving but somehow less baggage---but all of them and the whole deal was a way better approach than the u.s.'s 'short block of instructions for lotsa cannon fodder' ---I'm not even sure if England had an official prescence---but some of them guys were English.

 

[Denny]

They shipped my uncle to Viet Nam from Minnesota in January he said talk about shell shock he said it was so hot he did'nt catch his breath for a year. Then they sent him home same deal middle of a Minnesota winter he said he was cold for 2 years after getting home.

 

[andybob]

We wre fortunate to have had 3 months specialist training plus we were fighting on home ground. Our officers had served in Malaya (3 Sqn SAS (Rhodesia). Our history has been mostly "bush warfare" starting with the Boer War, the Africa campaign in both world wars with those going to Europe in the first ww being split up between other British and Commonwealth units. We had troops in the commonwealth component of the Korean campaign, all of these added to the knowledge and experience that was fine tuned into the system of which the fireforce (rapid reaction) was central to. Of interest, Rhodesia offered SAS troops to the USA to operate in Vietnam in a similar role to the Aussies, but Pres Lyndon Johnstone rejected the offer outright despite the military being keen to accept. We had a share of Aussie and NZ ex Nam troops as well. The Rhodesian Light Infantry was almost a Foriegn Legeon by the end of the war!

 

[RBT]

My hat's off to all who have served. Thank you!