Some interesting
statistics from the Vietnam War.
From the Vietnam
Veterans Association:
In case you
Vietnam Veterans haven't been payig attention these past few decades after
you returned from Vietnam
, the clock has been ticking.
The following
are some statistics that are at once depressing yet, in a larger sense,
should give some a sense of pride.
"Of the
2,709,918 Americans who served in Vietnam ; less than 850,000 are
estimated to be
alive today, with the youngest American Vietnam veteran's
age approximated to be
54 years old."
So, if you're
alive and reading this, how does it feel to be among the
last 1/3rd of
all the U.S. Vets who served in Vietnam ? Don't know
about
you, but feels a little
strange considering this is the kind of information we are used to reading
about WWII and Korean War vets.
So the last 14 years we
have been dying at a faster rate then most. Too fast, only a few will
survive by 2015...if any.
Every day, 390 Veitnam
Veterans die. So in 2190 days from today you will be lucky to be alive.
These statistics
were taken from a variety of sources to include: The VFW
Magazine, the
Public Information Office, and the HQ CP Forward Observer -
1st Recon, April 12,
1997.
STATISTICS FOR
IN-COUNTRY VIETNAM
VETERANS:
A total of 9,087,000
military personnel served on active duty during the Vietnam Era (August
5, 1964 - May 7, 1975).
A total of 8,744,000
GIs were on active duty during the war (Aug 5, 1964-March 28,1973).
A total of 2,709,918
Americans served in Vietnam
, this number represents 9.7% of their generation.
A total of 3,403,100
(Including 514,330 offshore) personnel served in the broader Southeast Asia
Theater ( Vietnam , Laos , Cambodia
, flight crews based in Thailand
, and sailors in adjacent South China Sea
waters).
A total of 2,594,000
personnel served within the borders of South Vietnam (Jan. 1,1965 -
March 28, 1973). Another 50,000 men served in Vietnam between 1960 and 1964.
Of the 2.6
million, between 1M and 1.6 M (40-60%) either fought in
combat, or
provided close support or were at least fairly regularly exposed
to enemy attack.
7,484 women (6,250 or
83.5% were nurses) served in Vietnam
.
Peak troop strength in Vietnam :
543,482 (April 30, 1968).
CASUALTIES:
The first man to
die in Vietnam
was James Davis, in 1958. He was with the
509th Radio Research
Station. Davis Station in Saigon was named
for him.
Hostile deaths:
47,378
Non-hostile deaths:
10,800
Total: 58,202
(Includes men formerly classified as MIA and Mayaguez
casualties). Men
who have subsequntly died of wounds account for the
changing total.
8 nurses died --
1 was KIA..
61% of the men killed
were 21 or younger..11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old.
Of those 47,378
hostile deaths in Vietnam
:
29,869 were
single
17,509 were
married.
Average age:
23.1 years
Enlisted
Personnel: 30,274.
Officers: 6,598
28.43
Warrant
Officers: ,2,724
E1(Private):
12,520.34
11B (Infantry,
Rifleman) MOS: 18,465
Five men killed in Vietnam were
only 16 years old.
The oldest man killed
was 62 years old.
Highest State
death rate: West Virginia
- 84.1% (national average 58.9%
for every 100,000 males
in 1970).
Wounded: 303,704
153,329
hospitalized
150,375 injured
requiring no hospital care.
Severely
disabled: 75,000,
23,204: 100%
disabled;
5,283 lost or
severely impared limbs;
1,081 sustained
multiple amputations.
Amputation or
crippling wounds to the lower extremities were 300% higher
than in WWII and 70%
higher than Korea
. (Expanded use of land mines)
Multiple
amputations occurred at the rate of 18.4% compared to 5.7% in
WWII.
AT THE END OF
THE WAR
58,338 - Missing
in Action
POWs: 766 (114
died in captivity)
As of January
15, 2004, there are 1,875 Americans still unaccounted for
from the Vietnam War.
DRAFTEES VS..
VOLUNTEERS:
25% (648,500) of
total force in country were draftees.
66% of U.S. armed
forces members were drafted during WWII
Draftees
accounted for 30% (17,725) of combat deaths in Vietnam .
Reservists:
5,977
National Guard: 6,140
served: 101 died.
Total draftees
(1965 - 1973): 1,728,344.
Army
Draft: 1,685,711
Marine Corps
Draft: 42,633
Last man drafted: June
30, 1973.
RACE AND ETHNIC
BACKGROUND:
88.4% of the men
who actually served in Vietnam
were Caucasian
10.6% (275,000)
were black
1% belonged to
other races.
Killed in Action
86% Caucations
12% (7,241) were
black;
2% Hispanic
1% belonged to other
races.
70% of enlisted
men killed were of North-west European descent.
14.6% (1,530) of
non-combat death were among blacks.
34% of blacks who
enlisted, volunteered for the combat arms.
Overall blacks
suffered 12% of the deaths in Vietnam
at a time when the
percentage of blacks of
military age was 13.5% of the total population.
Religion of
Dead: Protastant -- 64.4%; Catholic -- 28.9%; other/none --
SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS:
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
percent.
76% of the men
sent to Vietnam
were from the working class
75% had family
incomes above the poverty level
50% were from middle
income backgrounds.
Some 23% of Vietnam vets
had fathers with professional, managerial or
technical occupations.
EDUCATION
79% of the men
who served HAD a High School education or higher.
63% of Korean
War vets
45% of WWII vets had
completed High School
DEATH BY
REGION
South -- 31%
West --29.9%
Midwest
-- 28.4%
Northeast -- 23.5%.
DRUG USAGE &
CRIME:
There is no
difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and
non-Vietnam
Veterans of the same age group. (Source: Veterans
Administration Study,
1995/National Association of Chiefs of Police)
Vietnam Veterans
are far 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.
82% of veterans
who saw heavy combat strongly believe the war was lost
because of lack
of political will.
75% of the public
agrees it was a failure of political will, not of arms.
HONORABLE
SERVICE:
97% of
Vietnam-era veterans were honorably discharged.
91% of actual
Vietnam War veterans
90% of those who
saw combat say they were proud serve their country.
74% say they
would serve again, even knowing the outcome.
87% of the public now
holds Vietnam
veterans in high esteem..
INTERESTING
CENSUS STATISTICS
THOSE TO CLAIM
TO HAVE "Been There": (Census Figures)
1,703,823 of
those who served in Vietnam
were still alive as of August,1995
9,492,958 Falsely claim
to to have served Vietnam
(Census Stats., 2000)
1995 Federal
Census
Vietnam Veteran
population estimate is: 1,002,511. This is hard to
believe, losing
nearly 711,000 between '95 and '00.
Vietnam Veterans
are dying at a rate of 390 per day.
During the most recent
Federal Census (yr. 2000), the number of Americans falsely claiming to have
served in-country is: 13,853,227. (This means that FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM
TO BE Vietnan vets are not.)
The Department of
Defense Vietnam War Service Index officially provided by The War Library
originally reported that 2,709,918 U.S. military personnel as having served
in-country (Corrections and confirmations to this erred index resulted in the
addition of 358 U.S. military personnel confirmed to have served in Vietnam
but not originally listed by the Department of Defense. All names are
currently on file and accessible day and night.)
Isolated
atrocities committed by American Soldiers produced torrents of
outrage from
anti-war critics and the news media while Communist
atrocities were
so common that they received hardly any media mention at all. The United States sought to minimize and prevent
attacks on civilians while North Vietnam made attacks on
civilians a centerpiece of its strategy.
Americans who
deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences
while Communists who
did so received commendations.
From 1957 to
1973, the National Liberation Front assassinated 36,725
Vietnamese and
abducted another 58,499. The death squads focused on
leaders at the
villige level and on anyone who improved the lives of the peasants such as
medical personnel, social workers, and school teachers.
( Nixon Presidential
Papers)
