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Snipersnest
04-09-2013, 11:03 AM
Received from a friend.
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 36 years since the last casualties.



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 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.

JimF4M1s
04-09-2013, 11:24 AM
Xxxxx

Roverron
04-09-2013, 12:03 PM
Statistics, sadly many do not know of or remember them.

Thanks for posting it.

How true.

ronpaul50
04-09-2013, 12:36 PM
19 young men from my hometown of Kent, Washington are on that wall. I knew a few of them. But I will always remember a young man I went to Basic training, Leadership school and 2 AITs with. We wrote for almost a year after training. Then my letters were returned to me. I later got a very nice letter from his mother. She was given his belongings and found my letters. She offered them to me but I sent her the letters he had written to me. We kept in touch until she passed in 1980.

Please thank any active or veterans that you know for their service. RIP to all of our fallen comrades.

sdmc530
04-09-2013, 01:44 PM
this has been passed on...how truley sad...

NAMVET72
04-09-2013, 02:16 PM
Yes Very Sad, and how when we came back Not Many People Said Thank You.
And still MIA's there ,with Families Wondered what happened to their Loved Ones.........

I remember alot of the Marines no matter what age they were................

Clyde

Riverpigusmc
04-09-2013, 09:55 PM
Yes Very Sad, and how when we came back Not Many People Said Thank You.
And still MIA's there ,with Families Wondered what happened to their Loved Ones.........

I remember alot of the Marines no matter what age they were................

Clyde

Where you been, Doc? You've left me to guard the perimeter all by my damn self.

we miss ya

Boats
04-10-2013, 03:12 PM
Not just statistics. Part of a story, or maybe a summary of the dark part of a story.

Thanks for posting.

Tom

skosh69
04-10-2013, 03:31 PM
Brought a tear to my eye thinking about what I was reading....

Riverpigusmc
04-10-2013, 09:43 PM
I graduated high school in 75...just missed the draft. Lot of my friends went to 'Nam. Joined the Corps in '79...lots of my Staff NCO's served in 'Nam. Part of my life, part of my history

Boats
04-11-2013, 08:53 AM
I passed this along to my best friend - retired Ranger Colonel, three tours. He said:

May 1968, highest monthly, was the month before I graduated. A year later, the US had actually pulled in its horns. The casualties were too high. 39996 age 22 or younger. Lots of long, sad memories. Most people don't give it a thought and never will. The gays and the girls must participate more. Tell all young white boys to avoid it at all costs; they are pawns.

Not a glowing tribute from a guy that has most certainly been there and done that.

He, like me, is not happy with current events.

Tom