Veterans Day 2017 .. some history about the Vietnam War
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 61 years since the first casualty.
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 ca-pita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.
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.
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 ca-pita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.
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.
posted by Jim Pillsbury @ 1:23 PM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
Sad but important statistics. How soon we forget! I went to the moving wall numerous times, but a trip to the wall in DC was not something I was expecting to be so difficult. I did not go to Nam, luck of the draw, but many of my age group are listed on that wall. I sometimes wonder what the world would be like today if all of those names on the wall had not gone to war and given their lives. Would one of them have found the cure for cancer; or invented the first self propelling car? Could we have had the first american Pope if someone on that wall had survived; or would one of them have fathered our first female president? Would one of those names on that wall have found a way to make peace the goal, instead of winning a war? So many futures snuffed out by war, and yet we continue to fight them. Our young disproportionately die in war, thereby irrevocably altering our future. We see the same behavior today with a president who threatens to use nukes on North Korea. When will we learn that war is not the answer?
War has never been and will never be the answer yet we continue to fight amd we forget those who have made the ultimate scarifice. I was at the Veterans Day thing at town hall were there were only about 100 people there. On the 1 day of the year we honor our veterans no one can bother to show up. Disgraceful. I saw a former mayoral candidate trying to sneak in very late and a new councilor who showed 5 minutes before it was over. What were they doing that was more important than honoring the dead soldiers? Oh yeah, they had to get coffee at DD.
Thanks for always remembering vets Jim
It's my hope that whomever is selected to be the next VSO, broadens his or her horizon regarding ALL Veterans from ALL wars. Our Temp VSO had no idea of the 50th commemorative pins for Nam Vets.
For those of you who attended the ceremony t the Town Hall, the guest speaker was Lt. Col. Ingrid Centurion. She made a good speech, but when recognizing the women in wars, she failed to mention that 83 k women served during the Korean War and 11K who served during Vietnam. On a day when we honored women in the military with a plague in the hall. And what about all the women who now serve?
What gives with that?
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