[Gimpy]

Lots of good information here -- interesting, especially for those folks unlike ourselves who were there.
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> *We do not live in Vietnam, Vietnam lives in us.*
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> *Vietnam** Facts vs. Fiction.*
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> I found this article very interesting. The most notable fact is that 2.7
> million Americans actually served in the Vietnam Theater of war.
>
> In the last census nearly 14 million Americans claimed they served in
> Vietnam.
>
> *Four out of five are lying. I wonder why. *
>
> *
> ** Vietnam Facts vs. Fiction *
>
>
> For over 30 years I, like many Vietnam veterans, seldom spoke of Vietnam,
> except with other veterans, when talking to other soldiers, and in public speeches.

> These past five years I have joined the hundreds of thousands who believe it is high time the truth be told about the Vietnam War and the people who
> served there. It's time the American people learn that the United States
> military did not lose the War, and that a surprisingly high number of people
> who claim to have served there, in fact, DID NOT.
>

> Below are some assembled facts most readers will find interesting. It isn't
> a long read, but it will....I guarantee....teach you some things you did not
> know about the Vietnam War and those who served, fought, or died there.
> Please share it with those with whom you communicate.

> Capt. Marshal Hanson, U.S.N.R (Ret.)
> Capt. Scott Beaton, Statistical Source
>


> Vietnam War Facts:
> Facts, Statistics, Fake Warrior Numbers, and Myths Dispelled
>


> 9,087,000 (Million) military personnel served on active duty during the
> official Vietnam era from August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975.
> 2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam
> Veterans represented 9.7% of their generation.
> 240 men were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War
>

> *1. * 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.
>
> *2. * 58,148 were killed in Vietnam
>
> *3. * 75,000 were severely disabled.
>
> *4. * 23,214 were 100% disabled.
>
> *5. * 5,283 lost limbs.
>
> *6. * 1,081 sustained multiple amputations.
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> *7. * Of those killed, 61% were younger than 21.
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> *8. * 11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old.
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> *9. * Of those killed, 17,539 were married.
>
> *10. * Average age of men killed: 23.1 years.
>
> *11*. Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old.
>
> *12. *The oldest man killed was 62 years old.
>
> *13. *As of January 15, 2004, there are 1,875 Americans still unaccounted
> for from the Vietnam War.
>
> *14. *97% of Vietnam Veterans were honorably discharged.
>
> *15. * 91% of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served.
>
> *16. *74% say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome.
>
> *17. *Vietnam veterans have a lower unemployment rate than the same non-vet
> age groups.
>
> *18. *Vietnam veterans' personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age
> group by more than 18 percent.
>
> *19. *87% of Americans hold Vietnam Veterans in high esteem.
>
> *20. *There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and
> non-Vietnam Veterans of the same age group (Source: Veterans Administration
> Study)
>
> *21. *Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison - only one-half of
> one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes.
>
> *22. *85% of Vietnam Veterans made successful transitions to civilian
> life.
>
> *23. *Interesting Census Stats and "Been There" Wanabees:
>
> * a. * 1,713,823 of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as
> of August, 1995 (census figures).
> b. During that same Census count, the number of Americans falsely
> claiming to have served in-country was: 9,492,958.
>
> *24. * As of the current Census taken during August, 2000, the surviving
> U.S. Vietnam Veteran population estimate is: 1,002,511. This is hard to
> believe, losing nearly 711,000 between '95 and '00. That's 390 per day.
>
> *24. *During this Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to
> have served in-country is: 13,853,027. By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE Vietnam vets are not.>
> *25. *The Department of Defense Vietnam War Service Index officially
> provided by The War Library originally reported with errors that 2,709,918
> U.S. Military personnel as having served in-country. Corrections and
> confirmations to this erroneous 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 24/7/365).
>
> 26. 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.
>
> *27. *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 village level
> and on anyone who improved the lives o f the peasants such as medical
> personnel, social workers, and school teachers. - >
>
> *Common Myths Dispelled:>
> *#1. Myth: Common Belief is that most Vietnam veterans were drafted.
> Fact: 2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers. 2/3 of the
> men who served in World War II were drafted. Approximately 70% of those
> killed in Vietnam were volunteers.
>
>
> #2. Myth: The media have reported that suicides among Vietnam veterans
> range from 50,000 to 100,000 - 6 to 11 times the non-Vietnam veteran
> population.
> Fact: Mortality studies show that 9,000 is a better estimate. "The CDC
> Vietnam Experience Study Mortality Assessment showed that during the first 5
> years after discharge, deaths from suicide were 1.7 times more likely among
> Vietnam veterans than non-Vietnam veterans. After that initial post-service
> period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than
> non-Vietnam veterans. In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the
> rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans' group.
>
>
> #3.Myth: Common belief is that a disproportionate number of blacks were
> killed in the Vietnam War.
> Fact: 86% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasians, 12.5% were black,
> and 1.2% was other races. Sociologists Charles C. Moskos and John Sibley
> Butler, in their recently published book "All That We Can Be," said they
> analyzed the claim that blacks were used like cannon fodder during Vietnam
> "and can report definitely that this charge is untrue. Black fatalities
> amounted to 12 percent of all Americans killed in Southeast Asia, a figure
> proportional to the number of blacks in the U.S. Population at the time and
> slightly lower than the proportion of blacks in the Army at the close of the
> war."
>
>
> #4 Myth: Common belief is that the war was fought largely by the poor and
> uneducated.
> Fact: Servicemen who went to Vietnam from well-to-do areas had a slightly
> elevated risk of dying because they were more likely to be pilots or
> infantry officers. Vietnam Veterans were the best educated forces our
> nation had ever sent into combat. 79% had a high school education or
> better. Here are statistics from the Combat Area Casualty File (CACF) as of
> November 1993. The CACF is the basis for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The
> Wall): Average age of 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. Event date is used instead of declared dead date for some
> of those who were listed as missing in action) Deaths Average Age Total:
> 58,148, 23.11 years Enlisted: 50,274, 22.37 years Officers: 6,598, 28.43
> years Warrants: 1,276, 24.73 years E1 525, 20.34 years 11B MOS: 18,465,
> 22.55 years
>
> *#5 Myth:* The common belief is the average age of an infantryman fighting
> in Vietnam was 19.
> Fact: Assuming KIAs accurately represented age groups serving in Vietnam,
> the average age of an infantryman (MOS 11B) serving in Vietnam to be 19
> years old is a myth, it is actually 22. None of the enlisted grades have an
> average age of less than 20. The average man who fought in World War II was
> 26 years of age.
>
> *#6 Myth:* The Common belief is that the domino theory was proved false.
> Fact: The domino theory was accurate. The ASEAN (Association of Southeast
> Asian Nations) countries, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and
> Thailand stayed free of Communism because of the U.S. commitment to
> Vietnam. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of America's
> commitment in Vietnam. Without that commitment, Communism would have swept
> all the way to the Malacca Straits that is south of Singapore and of
> great strategic importance to the free world. If you ask people who live in
> these countries that won the war in Vietnam, they have a different opinion
> from the American news media. The Vietnam War was the turning point for
> Communism.
>
> #7 Myth: The common belief is that the fighting in Vietnam was not as
> intense as in World War II.
> Fact: The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw
> about 40 days of combat in four years. The average infantryman in Vietnam
> saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the
> helicopter. One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a
> casualty.. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who
> served. Although the percent that died is similar to other wars,
> amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II
> ...75,000 Vietnam veterans are severely disabled. MEDEVAC helicopters flew
> nearly 500,000 missions. Over 900,000 patients were airlifted (nearly half
> were American). The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization
> was less than one hour. As a result, less than one percent of all Americans
> wounded, who survived the first 24 hours, died. The helicopter provided
> unprecedented mobility. Without the helicopter it would have taken three
> times as many troops to secure the 800 mile border with Cambodia and Laos
> (the politicians thought the Geneva Conventions of 1954 and the Geneva
> Accords or 1962 would secure the border).
>
> *#8 Myth:* Kim Phuc, the little nine year old Vietnamese girl running naked
> from the napalm strike near Trang Bang on 8 June 1972.....shown a million
> times on American television....was burned by Americans bombing Trang Bang.
>
> Fact: No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that
> burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. The planes doing the bombing near the village
> were VNAF (Vietnam Air Force) and were being flown by Vietnamese pilots in
> support of South Vietnamese troops on the ground. The Vietnamese pilot who
> dropped the napalm in error is currently living in the United States. Even
> the AP photographer, Nick Ut, who took the picture, was Vietnamese. The
> incident in the photo took place on the second day of a three day battle
> between the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) who occupied the village of Trang
> Bang and the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) who were trying to force
> the NVA out of the village. Recent reports in the news media that an
> American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc are
> incorrect. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. "We
> (Americans) had nothing to do with controlling VNAF," according to
> Lieutenant General (Ret) James F. Hollingsworth, the Commanding General of
> TRAC at that time. Also, it has been incorrectly reported that two of Kim
> Phuc's brothers were killed in this incident. They were Kim's cousins not
> her brothers.
>
> #9 Myth: The United States lost the war in Vietnam.
> Fact: The American military was not defeated in Vietnam. The American
> military did not lose a battle of any consequence. From a military
> standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. General
> Westmoreland quoting Douglas Pike, a professor at the University of
> California, Berkley a major military defeat for the VC and NVA.
> FACT: THE UNITED STATES DID NOT LOSE THE WAR IN VIETNAM, THE SOUTH
> VIETNAMESE DID. Read on........
> *The fall of Saigon happened 30 April 1975, two years AFTER the American
> military left Vietnam*. The last American troops departed in their entirety
> 29 March 1973.
> FACT: How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? We fought to
> an agreed stalemate. The peace settlement was signed in Paris on 27 January
> 1973.
>
> * It called for release of all U.S. prisoners, withdrawal of U.S. forces,
> limitation of both sides' forces inside South Vietnam and a commitment to
> peaceful reunification.
>
> *The 140,000 evacuees in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon consisted
> almost entirely of civilians and Vietnamese military, NOT American military
> running for their lives.
>
> *There were almost twice as many casualties in Southeast Asia (primarily
> Cambodia) the first two years after the fall of Saigon in 1975 then there
> were during the ten years the U.S. was involved in Vietnam.
>
>
> *As with much of the Vietnam War, the news media misreported and
> misinterpreted the 1968 Tet Offensive. It was reported as an overwhelming
> success for the Communist forces and a decided defeat for the U.S. Forces.
> Nothing could be further from the truth. Despite initial victories by the
> Communists forces, the Tet Offensive resulted in a major defeat of those
> forces. General Vo Nguyen Giap, the designer of the Tet Offensive, is
> considered by some as ranking with Wellington, Grant, Lee and MacArthur as a
> great commander. Still, militarily, the Tet Offensive was a total defeat of
> the Communist forces on all fronts. It resulted in the death of some 45,000
> NVA troops and the complete, if not total destruction of the Viet Cong
> elements in South Vietnam. The Organization of the Viet Cong Units in the
> South never recovered. The Tet Offensive succeeded on only one front and
> that was the News front and the political arena. This was another example
> in the Vietnam War of an inaccuracy becoming the perceived truth. However,
> inaccurately reported, the News Media made the Tet Offensive famous.
>
>
> Please give all credit and research to:
> Capt. Marshal Hanson, U.S.N.R (Ret.)
> Capt. Scott Beaton, Statistical Source

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Gimp