A dying breed

[charlie8137]

Of 2.5 million brothers and sisters who served in Vietnam, an estimated 850,000 are still alive today (34%). I read somewhere that 390 of us are dying each day, and at that rate we will all be dead in 6 years. (if you believe in statistics) I hope and pray that we all make what's left in our life remembered by those we touched.

Semper Fi

[Dale A Riley]

The last thing I read said there were " 7 million " guys around the country who said they were there too

[charlie8137]

Many Vietnam era veterans claimed they we "in Country" but were not. I remember years ago talking to a guy who claimed he was with the 2nd Marine Division in Vietnam. I just walked away. 9th Marines landed in Danang, but was reassigned to the 3rd Marine Division

[emckinnie]

Some research on THE WALL . Something to think about and Remember..

Veterans Day. Will you remember those from Viet Nam? I lost
friends and school mates there.

A little history most people will never know.
Interesting Veterans Statistics off the Vietnam Memorial Wall

"Carved on these walls is the story of America, of a continuing quest to
preserve both Democracy and decency, and to protect a national treasure that
we call the American dream." ~President George Bush

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 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.

Note:
I have two cousins on the wall, one received the Medal of Honor, the other received the Silver Star.

Ed McKinnie

[pm3777]

While I was in Vietnan also WW2 & Korea. Not so great being the last of your old Brothers !! My WW2 reunion group ended about 4 years ago. My last close Brother from WW2 passed on in June this year. Old Corp jokes are not funny anymore !!! Semper Fidelis PM

[Larry Zok]

Paul

You may be old breed, but you are still young at heart and living in paradise!! CYA in Orlando