Axes were useful, but not all men in the squad needed to carry one. Besides being painful blisters could easily lead to infections. During the winter sleeping bags were issued. Ha Ha always enjoyed being a volunteer! I know this is a standard cliche, but it is so true, All gave some. They endured the monotonous rations, lack of hygiene, bombardment by the enemy, accidental bombardment by their own artillery, constant tension, and the constant loss of friends because they were there to protect themselves and their fellow squad members, finish the job and go home. Thanks for posting! * Basic training and advanced job training are combined into a single course. Never knew they had life expectancy stats. I was also told that the Radio did put a target on my back. That same day, I along with 3/4 others was transported to Long Bhin Post. Infantryman must know how to receive and implement combat orders, direct deployment of personnel in a number of different operation types (offensive, defensive, retrograde, etc). BS but ia a way you are correct. The future being unknown, the possibility of hours of sleeplessness was always present, and catnaps were a necessary precaution against hours of exhausting activity. HOOAH!!! Toothbrushes and tooth powder were included in ration packs, and the teeth could be brushed using water in canteens, except for during the colder periods of the winter of 1944-45 when the canteens froze solid. Happy to Know on Twitter: "RT @starsandstripes: New York Army National Also, it would mean the killed RTOs died within seconds of the fight (it doesnt distinguish between ambush or regular fight, eg. All the comments and replies are of absolute truth, I was only 18 when I got to Nam ,Im a country boy from NC so here I am My first tour was as an advisor to the VN Abn. I couldnt disagree. The most common trade items were cigarettes and chocolate, both of which Americans were amply supplied with, and the French civilians were not. Like you, I carried a PRC-25 for about 5 months and never got hit. During combat, soldiers need to request, observe, and adjust direct supporting fire. Like all military branches, the Army pays soldiers according to rank and time in service. To cut the Ho Chi Minh Traila week after the mission endedthe trail was booming with business from the north.. But it was my jobso I tried not to think about it much. Some of my men didnt. A documentary about our company and our 1st Sgt was made. It was mostly used by specialty units rather than infantry. Second Lieutenant was the most junior commissioned rank in the Army and experienced squad leaders often had to make up for their commanders lack of experience in the field, and with the Army overall. National Archives. By February 1944 the US Army discontinued purchasing the Thompson, after approximately 1.5 million units had been obtained by the Army and Marine Corps. One went back to headquarters to notify them of the death, the other remained at the grave so that the body could be identified. Assigned to HHC 1/77 Armor, 1st, BDE 5th Inf. RIP KOOKIE forever young, Thank god you are still alive, I am age 77. All Rights Reserved. Those who arrived during actual combat received a warmer welcome than those arriving while the squad was resting. So I guess I defied the odds. It is an important role of MOS 11B and just one of their many responsibilities. There is also training provided on advanced land navigation (day and night) as well as opportunities for leadership positions that are extremely beneficial both in the Army, and with future civilian opportunities. Originally I went to the 543d TC. It was a daily challenge to know who your real enemy was. Needless too say I depended on Sgt. The key may be the word initial since we became more savvy with successive combats and had improved survivability. Life of the Civil War Soldier in Camp | American Battlefield Trust I was to have that experience two more times before it was over. I applaud your courage as I know an RTOs job is essential, difficult (carrying the weight of his radio transmitter, his rifle, his ammo, and his rucksack), and dangerous as the enemy surely wanted to knock out any communications for support. Then we learned, appx: 1 mile to our North was, an American AMMO storage area. Before you get started, it is important to determine right off the bat if you want to become a U.S. Army Infantryman 11B or Indirect Fire Infantryman 11C. The BAR man carried a weapon which weighed over 20 pounds loaded, and he carried another 20 pounds in ammunition. It was the infantry which carried the fight to the infantry of the enemy, battled the elements while out in the open, and carried on the grunt work of the advancing army. He also carried a weapon. The American lines in the Ardennes were thin when the Germans attacked there in 1944 in part because the troops stationed there were there to rest. See my calculation below in the comments bogus indeed. The first thing my platoon sgt. Correctable vision must be 20/20 in one eye, and 20/100 in the other eye. Army Giving Robotic Combat Vehicles More Firepower Ground Combat | American Soldier in WWII Depending on the season in which they arrived, the camps could be pleasant or miserable; for example, Mediterranean fall sunshine or the bitter Mistral winds of winter. We observed the rules of the Geneva Convention while the bad guys had no interest in doing so. It is Honor in the Valley of Tears. Its just (bad) luck, fate, randomness theres no right or wrong, no justice or fairness, no reasoning. In Vietnam 70% 0f the casualties were Infantry BUT it might be 70% of ALL the Infantry that served in Vietnam. Just to show that its hard to get an accurate number, note my typo of 56,220. He said fighting was especially deadly in the war-torn city of Bakhmut, dubbed "the meat. If you have other information let me know. I was over there twice serving as a Hospital Corpsman with a marine unit. These men were first loaded onto railcars from the French rolling stock which was called 40 and 8s. by John A. Haymond 2/7/2023. Learned a lot from him. Gotta say I think you hit it on the nose. Although the men were usually informed of such a move, their immediate officers and non-coms remained in place, as seldom was a transfer of less than company strength. From Cam Rahn, we kept flying north to, a Landing Zone near QUANG TRI. At age 55, World War 2 Veterans I am proud to have fought alongside of them. OSUT training takes place at Fort Benning in Georgia. If it was your day to get hit or die, it happened. The infantryman ate, slept, marched, fought, and died with his squad. For the most part, the members of the squad had no idea of the overall strategic situation or even the local tactical situation. In the case of a night attack, the men could not exit the bags quickly, and most infantrymen quit sleeping in them, preferring to stay on top of the bag and cover themselves with their overcoat or blanket. The Thompson .45 caliber submachine gun was sometimes carried by a non-com to give a squad more firepower in the field, but it was not deployed as heavily as films and television depict due to its poor penetrating power and its weight. Because if only 1 RTO fought for say only 10 or 15 minutes before being killed, that would up the AVG for the total war! Their war was a personal one, with the enemy when engaged in plain sight, and the casualties inflicted by themselves and their unit revealed before their eyes. The first six or seven months I walked point for our platoon and led many ambushes and green eye patrols. As of July 2019, the Army had 19,820 11B Infantryman on active duty. And dug Berms, in the area. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thank you for both articles: (1)Going up river to port and (2) the flight from Italy back to Nam. The shortfall, on the other hand, is over 7.9 and 3.3 life-years for male and female in U. S. population, respectively. I was one of the many others I rode river boats in the Mekong Jan 68 to 69. Impressed with this secrecy and their implied importance, many of the soldiers discovered that civilians in Boston knew of the camp, its purpose, and the fact that the soldiers being temporarily held there were on their way to Europe. I kept the radio because I understood the power of having the first communication with the support mechanisms of the military. What was the average life expectancy for soldiers during World War 2? The average age of the 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years (Although 58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and birth date. I never thought of it that way before but have many times since. I was a helicopter pilot As an Infantryman, you may be listed as an MOS 11X. When elements of the 276th Infantry Division were moved from their consolidation camp to the front it took a journey of four days, in freezing conditions, with many unplanned stops due to conditions on the railroad and at the front. Most of us have memories of these kind of experiences. They run into the fire to help the wounded and many get wounded or killed. Operation Military Kids was founded to be a resource for teens and young adults who are interested in joining the military, but don't know where to begin. It goes without saying that battle could claim a soldier's life and soldiers enlisted anywhere from 10 to 25 years, depending on their rank. I sure feel for all you guys that went outside the wire. You have to earn it, so hard work during your education and training is extremely important. What was the average life expectancy for soldiers during - Answers I applaud the courage and difficult and all so dangerous job of Roger Herforth when he served as an RTO for the Hawk Recon Platoon of the 101st airborne division in Vietnam.. Sure but so was everyone else who went 12 months without getting killed or wounded. In our spare time we did medevacs and medcaps for the local communities and when required inserted SEALs . Some very close calls but I am alive at age 74. Thanks for the reply. In winter this included wearing underwear, long johns, woolen pants and shirt, one or two heavy sweaters, woolen socks, an overcoat, a rain poncho, a woolen cap, a helmet and a liner, gloves, boots, and galoshes. Access to the field kitchens provided the men not engaged in combat with hot meals, though complaining about the food in all situations was a time-honored tradition, as in all armies. At this time- senior Army leadership ordered us all to read the Geneva Convention to our troops because of the My Lai debachle. Each rifle squad had one man assigned to carry a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) while the rest of them carried rifles, usually the Garand M1 rifle. Training to become MOS 11B is open to both men and women. There are a number of standards and qualifications you need to meet to become MOS 11B, especially since the Army expanded its OSUT training in 2019. When Roeski got hit, I took over the M-60. They also had a 12 gauge, and a M 79 grenade launcher and M 16. Absent an opportunity to prove themselves, these arriving infantrymen found the squad wary of them, and sometimes almost hostile. While waiting for their orders for deployment the food was at least usually hot and plentiful, opportunities to fraternize with the welcoming French were frequent, and the mail arrived regularly bringing news from home. What were the life expectancies of soldiers during the Vietnam War I was stationed on 2 FSBs (8 & 175mm guns) west of Tay Ninh on the Cambodian boarder in the Ho Chi Minh trail and was wounded but nothing as bad as he was. I was an Artillery Forward Observer 13F20 E-5 at that time. A much better approach would be/have been: of all the combat-casualties, what was their We were like sitting Ducks. As they approached and entered the Alsace region this welcome became less enthusiastic. They didnt know it, but they were about 60 miles from the Rhine River, which lay to the North, and less than one hundred miles east of Stuttgart, Germany. Life was seemingly grand for Napoleon's army, but reality told a far different story. The trailer for Fury claims that the average life expectancy of an I carried the PRC-25 Radio most of that time. There is a demand to know how to operate in an NBC contaminated area as well as construct field expedient firing aids. The 276th was not going into combat as a division, but as a task force, meaning that it was used to plug gaps in the line in response to fluid conditions during the German attack in Belgium. He encountered the open fields and farmlands of France, the dense woods of the Ardennes, the mountainous terrain in Italy, Les Voges, and Alsace, in all weather conditions. Different strokes for different folks in war fer sure. Was a door gunner and crew chief for just shy of 18 months (I extended to get out early). When in close proximity to the enemy smoking at night was forbidden, as were cooking fires or open flames. You just do the best job you can and if you got hit, so be it! If you would like to get a copy, and cant find it, let me know, and I will make sure you get one. It featured a reduced recoil, allowing an infantryman to more readily keep it on line with the target when firing multiple shots, and offered a simple range adjustment. Thank You General Vessey for the almost 53 years I have lived since that day. Both served in A 2/18 1st Infantry Division. located on the South End of, the Post. My shit got weak and a sniper popped three rounds in my young ass. One result of combat is dealing with prisoners of war, with Army Infantrymen being the first means to process POWs. Theres 58,276. It was a lull before the storm, since more and more infantrymen were needed at the front. Five RTOs. In some instances, American troops received a type of chocolate which had been made for use in the tropical climate of the South Pacific, and which due to a typical Army error in administration ended up in Europe. Interesting, I carried a Prick 25, for 2 months. My dog and I walked point my whole tour in Vietnam. There is no guarantee that recruits going through 11X Infantry Enlistment Option will become MOS 11B. Take out the power center, youve got the edge. Learn more about 11B MOS, including what the requirements are, the training, day to day life, and more. Remember he wanted to reenlist for one more year in Vietnam. For an infantryman, the Expert Infantry Badge is the gold-medal standard. For his actions, he was awarded the Congressional Medal if Honor. The infantrymen of World War 2 slogged across Europe from the spring of 1944 through the early spring of 1945. It was on the Job Training ! They served in squads, led by a junior officer and experienced sergeants, slogged through and slept in mud and snow, maintaining contact with the enemy, taking and holding ground. It was always quick/quick, load the bodies in and get the hell out. Infantry OSUT is 22 weeks. Others were encampments such as Camp Myles Standish, outside of Boston, Massachusetts. I was told my life expectancy was about 45 secs during a fire fight because of the weapons and demo I carried.
Sean Murray Teeth,
Chief Medaria Arradondo Wife,
Mobile Homes For Rent In Marion, Il,
Articles L