Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Grayeagle on April 12, 2012, 11:50:01 AM
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Sobering is a bit of an understatement.
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.
The largest age group, 8,283 were just 19 years old
3,103 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 Vietnan.
31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.
Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.
54 soldiers on the Wall 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.
That's 2,415 dead in a single month.
Lest we Forget.
-GE aka Frank
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Nice post Frank.
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:salute
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:salute
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Always remember..................... ..
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:salute
:pray
:cheers:
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How many Vietnamese died and/or are missing?
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:salute
Lest we forget
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See Rule #4
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See Rule #4
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See Rule #6
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See Rule #4
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My earliest memorys of 'Nam, besides the nightly head counts, were my cousins letters to my old man. He was airborne and while he wouldnt write the truth to his parents, aunt and uncle, he told my dad everything. My old man left the letters in his sock drawer and I read them when he was at work. They were terrible letters.
John, "we call him LittleJohn", won the Silver Star for leading a group of volunteers to rescue a bunch of medics freshly captured. He got shot up doing it and refused the big one cause he felt he didnt deserve it cause he survived and a few brothers didnt.
He was drafted by the then expansion LA Kings hockey team but instead chose service. He got a Hockey scholership after but was never the same player after the war.
:salute To all Vets of Vietnam.
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Very powerful post GE. :salute
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Nice post GE.
As for those of you crapping in here, I hope you are banned tomorrow.
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I know it is a 'one sided' post.
As far as I know the VC do not have a memorial with names and dates of who spent their lives.
It is one of the many differences between our cultures.
Personally .. I got my draft notice while I was in USAF Basic training.
Timing *is* Everything.
I enlisted .. then volunteered for Southeast Asia as soon as I made my 5 level.
Ya.
Volunteered.
In my opinion, it was the right thing to do.
Not burn my draft card or weasel out by runnin to Canada or Mexico like people I used to know did.
My dad (who served as forward radio observer for Patton's 3rd ..and was there on D-day and VE Day)
..told me he would kill me himself if I joined the Army and I beleived him.
I literally flipped a coin to decide tween Navy or USAF .. USAF 'won' .. LOL.
It was my honor to be part of the 'Mig Killers' of the 432nd Tac Recon Wing ..
I learned to trust my judgement, that there is no substitute for doing it right the first time.
I also learned there are no easy days on the flightline.. it was where I spent most of my USAF career.
-Frank aka GE
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See Rule #4
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We just lost another one this past Sunday to cancer his doctors believe were the direct but delayed result of exposures he endured while in Nam
Ron Koranivitch 101st airborne 68-69
Bronze star winner
Customer turned friend over the years as I'd done much work for he and his wife.
Gave me his black powder guns I'd always admired a couple months ago
Good a man as one can get. He will be missed
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See Rules #4, #14
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Not trying to hijack, but I feel very strongly about this.
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,304339.0.html
I remember standing in a crowd of thousands of Nam vets in Chicago. Never seen so many C.I.B.'s in my life.
Many Men wept for the losses.
Many Men wept because they lived.
Vietnam Vets are my principals. I will drink and salute them at any time of the day, any day of the week.
Anybody that doesn't like it can get bent.
EDIT: Sorry GE. I forgot to thank you for the original post. Thank You.
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See Rule #14
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997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam.
That sucks.
1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnan.
That sucks even harder.
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Rule #14...what?! Sheesh! Fine
Boo
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My dad dropped out of college after the spring semester in 1967. His father (my grandfather), was a "jeep jockey" for an arty unit in the ETO in WWII and strongly suggested dad volunteer for the Air National Guard so he wouldnt get drafted and sent to Vietnam as an infantryman, and hopefully not have to go to Vietnam at all. So dad went to USAF basic training in the fall of 1967 and in April of 1968 the 185th Fighter Wing of the Iowa ANG was activated. He set foot in Vietnam at Phu Cat AFB and served for 368 days in a very dreary place as a supply clerk. He will be the first to admit that he has it easy compared to a lot of people, but his experience was still rather stressful. His base was sniped at and mortared by the VC 2 out of of 3 nights, and in general things were just "spooky".
His biggest "survival" story involves him and his captain going to and from the port 30 miles away without escort in a 2 1/2 ton truck over a "highway" built by the French. They went to the port to retrieve a shipment and arrived back at the airbase without problem, only to find out that a much larger convoy that came after him and his captain was ambushed and a few US soldiers/airmen were killed. Yeap... my dad was in the sights of the VC as he drove by but they waited for bigger fish. My dad was 22 years old at the time. Other than that, during one of the many raid sirens he made it to his "bunker" and was able to fire a mag or 2 of ammo in to the treeline "just for fun", nothing much happened other than his bunker taking some shrapnel from mortar fire. Or so he says. :)
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The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.
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Amen, Tet II when the NVA came south to Saigon where they had left it to the VC Jan 31st 68 to take Saigon, but the Redcatchers were instrumental in kicking the VC heinies out. May 68 found the 273rd NVA regiment dug into Tan Thanth south of Saigon and 4th btn 12th inf. of the Redcatchers 199th Light Infantry 97 men of B company were walked into an ambush of an NVA battalion strength dug in force of the NVA 273rd regiment. We took heavy casualties in the first hour of battle but in the next 36 hours, eliminated almost the entire NVA battalion. A lot of these grunts 'kids' were in their teens, but fought like tigers.
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note
It was only 8 months since my 18th birthday on May 8 68 and got a million dollar wound taking me out of the battle of Tan Thanth, I was pissed wanting to stay with my 'men' of the Redcatchers. More PO'd since I lived thru the Tet I battles in Bien Hoa/Saigon in February without a scratch.
:salute to all my Vietnam brothers in arms :salute
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redctchr
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my father was in vietnam, he never talks about it. but if you see him you know he died there many years ago. I know it's the anger of him surviving while his friends died that killed his spirit.
semp