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IN UNIFORM AND IN COUNTRY
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Vietnam Veterans represent 9.7% of their generation
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The
United States had 9,087,000 military personnel serve on active duty
during the Vietnam era (Aug. 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975)
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8,744,000 GIs were on active duty during the war (Aug 5, 1964 - March
28, 1973)
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3,403,100 (including 514,300 offshore) personnel served in the Southeast
Asia Theater (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, flight crews based in Thailand,
and sailors in adjacent South China Sea waters)
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2,594,000 personnel served within the borders of South Vietnam (Jan 1,
1965 - March 28, 1973)
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Another 50,000 men served in Vietnam between 1960 and 1964
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Of the
2.6 million, between 1 - 1.6 million (40-60%) either fought in combat,
provided close support or were at least fairly regularly exposed to
enemy attack
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7,484
women (6,250 or 83.5% were nurses) served in Vietnam
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Peak
troop strength in Vietnam: 543,482 (April 30, 1969)
CASUALTIES
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Total
deaths: 58,202 (includes men formerly classified as MIA and Mayaguez
casualties)
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Hostile deaths: 47,378
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Non-hostile deaths: 10,800
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8
nurses died - only 1 was KIA
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Married men killed: 17,539
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Average age of men killed in Vietnam: 22.8 years old
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More
21-year-olds were killed than any other age group
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Highest state death rate: West Virginia - 84.1 for every 100,000
(national average 58.9 for every 100,000 males in 1970)
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Wounded: 303,704 - 153,329 hospitalized + 150,375 injured required no
hospital care
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Severely disabled: 23,214 were 100% disabled; 5,283 lost limbs; 1,081
sustained multiple amputations
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Amputation or crippling wounds to the lower extremities were 300%
higher than in World War II and 70% higher than in Korea.
Multiple amputations occurred at the rate of 18.4% compared with
5.7% in WWII
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Missing in action: 2,338
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Prisoners of War: 766 (114 died in captivity)
DRAFTEES VS. VOLUNTEERS
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27 million men came of draft age from 1964 to 1972
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Total
draftees (1965-1973): 1,728,344
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Actually served in Vietnam: 38%
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25%
(648,500) of total forces in country were draftees (In WWII, 67% were
draftees; 33% were volunteers)
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Draftees accounted for 30.4% (17,725) of combat deaths in Vietnam
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National Guard: 6,140 served; 101 died
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Last
man drafted: June 30, 1973
RACE AND ETHNIC BACKGROUND
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88.4% of the men who actually served in Vietnam were Caucasian: 10.6%
(275,000) were African-American; 1% belonged to other races
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86.3% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasian (includes Latinos);
12.5% (7,241) were African-American; 1.2 percent belonged to other races
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170,000
Latinos served in Vietnam: 3,070 (5.2 percent of total) died there
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70%
of enlisted men killed were of Northwest European descent
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86.8%
of the men who were killed as a result of hostile action were Caucasion;
12.1% (5,711) were African-American; 1.1% belonged to other races
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14.6%
(1,530) of non-combat deaths were among African-Americans
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34% of
African-Americans who enlisted volunteered for the combat arms
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Overall, African-Americans suffered 12.5% of the deaths in Vietnam at a
time when the percentage of African-Americans of military age was 13.5%
of the total population
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Religion of Dead: Protestant - 64.4%; Catholic - 28.9%; other/none -
6.7%
SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS
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26% of combat deaths came from the families in the highest third of
income levels
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76% of the men sent to Vietnam were from middle/working class
backgrounds
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Three-fourths had family incomes above the poverty level; 50% were from
middle income backgrounds
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Some
23% of Vietnam veterans had fathers with professional, managerial or
technical occupations
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79% of
the men who served in Vietnam had a high school education or better when
they entered military service (63% of Korean War vets and only 45% of
WWII vets had completed high school upon separation)
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Deaths
by region per 100,000 of population: South - 31; West - 29; Midwest -
28.4; Northeast - 23.5
HONORABLE SERVICE
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97% of Vietnam veterans were honorably discharged
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91% of
actual Vietnam War era veterans and 90% of those who saw heavy combat
are proud to have served their country
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66% of
Vietnam veterans say they would serve again if called upon
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As of
1985, only 9% of Vietnam veterans had not graduated high school as
opposed to 23% of their non-military peers
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As of
1985, a Vietnam veteran was more likely to have gone to college than a
man of his age who did not serve: Vietnam veterans - 30%; non-military
peer - 24%
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In
1985, 8 of every 10 Vietnam veterans were married to their first spouse
and 90% had children
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In
every major study of Vietnam veterans where the military records were
pulled from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis and the
veterans were then located, an insignificant number had been found in
prison.
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In
1994, the unemployment rate for all males over 18 was 6%; for Vietnam
veterans - 3.9%
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In a
study conducted by the Labor Department and Department of Veterans'
Affairs - more African-American Vietnam veterans work in white-collar,
public-sector jobs than do African-American males who never served.
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