Rewind the Fifties
Veterans
Page
My small tribute to America and Veterans
WW II Korea Vietnam
" He died far away,
before his time, but as a soldier
and for his country."
-- from the poem Clifton Chapel, by Henry Newbolt
This page is dedicated to the men and women who have
served or are currently serving in the Armed Forces of The United States of America. No fifties web site would be complete without a mention of these Veterans, primarily WW II Veterans who without them the 1950's might have had a entirely different outcome. These men and women fought and suffered gravely, men like my Father, men who were not career soldiers but simply freedom loving individuals who saw the threat and answered the call to arms.
Such has been the case throughout American History.
Freedom is never easy or free. Many have accepted the
responsibility and suffered and died to preserve a way of
life like no other on the face of the world. This then is a reflection and
remembrance
of the brave souls who have insured that the Stars and Stripes may proudly fly
over the Land of the Free, as a symbol to all freedom loving people everywhere.
"No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. Rarely have so many people been so
wrong about so much. Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so
tragic."
~Nixon
1st Field Force ASA motto ASA Patch
ABOUT ME: I served in the Army for four years. I served one year in Pleiku, Vietnam 1968-69 with the
330th RRC.(Radio Research Company) and two and a half years with The National
Security Agency at Ft. Meade, Maryland. I was with what was known then as the
Army Security Agency. (Military Intelligence) I had a Top Secret Security Clearance. I celebrated my 21th. birthday in
Siagon while waiting my assignment.
My job in Vietnam was interception and decryption of hostile radio communications between Hanoi to the NVA (North Vietnam Army) regulars and the Viet Cong forces. We had our "ears" everywhere,
even "unofficially" Cambodia. We worked 12 hours on, 12 hours off, 7 days a week. Little time to think about much else. Once messages were decoded, they were relayed on to the Command HQ of the areas affected. Some messages were relayed further to Siagon HQ, or Stateside to the NSA or Pentagon. Our unit received several unit citations, for advance warnings to
friendly military convoys of possible attack. We were one of the first units to spot NVA Tanks pushing in from Cambodia during the TET offensive.
I like to think that through our efforts we saved many American lives. Sadly not all of them. Too many were lost due to unclear goals and policies which are still being debated today. None of this
diminishes
the fact the Soldiers (men and women) who served in this conflict were outstanding in every way.
Throughout my travels on the Internet I have run across
many Military and Patriotic
sites. Nowhere is the feeling of patriotism
more alive then here. I'm not sure why that is, maybe it's because it's easy to link like minded souls on the internet. I have listed several sites below. These links will take you to many more.
One of these sites is
Laura's Veterans for a Change. Laura teaches kids and spearheads others to teach kids what it means to be a Veteran and what a Veteran is.
This is something that can be done right now today.
The MIA/POW issue will not go away and I salute those
who keep fighting this issue. However I reflect here that
there are still MIA's from both WW II and Korea. What about those? Is it even possible to have full accounting?
I for one don't believe there are any American POW's still being held, this would serve no purpose, unless those responsible were to make this fact known. I may be
alone in thinking this way. Forgive me for saying that it is possible that a few of the MIA's left SE Asia
years ago and are possibly living in Switzerland, Denmark or Canada. This would not
be that hard to do. I don't understand why no one is talking about this
possibility. Many G.I.'s were not at all happy about being there. Sorry to bring it up here but it's something I think about a lot. If you think otherwise feel free
to email and explain why I'm wrong, but please, no cover-up or conspiracy theories. You need to defend
your position with a few facts. I will listen to all viewpoints.
"What it means to me to be a Veteran
and an American.
The first thing you need to know is that a soldier does not go to war because he likes to fight.
He goes to make sure peace and freedom remain.
People have always desired peace and freedom.
Some desire control and power.
A soldier is a representative of those who
desire peace and freedom.
A soldier's job is to insure that peace and freedom prevail.
Being a Veteran means to me that I have honored those who were with me,
those who have gone before me,
and those who will follow me.
Freedom is never easy or free, there are many who would like freedom to end.
A soldier's job to make sure this doesn't happen.
The desire for freedom is so strong in most people that they would struggle,
suffer and die fighting for it.
This is what makes a Veteran special.
He has accepted the responsibility and the struggle to secure the freedom for all.
The next time you see the flag of the United States of America,
think of the men and women who have struggled, suffered and died
to make sure it continues to fly.
A symbol of freedom for all people everywhere.
God Bless you all and God Bless America!"
(Don Dean, Vietnam Veteran Aug 1997)
| The Price of The Vietnam Conflict: |
8,744,000 Americans served in the four branches of the U.S. Military
during the main period of hostilities 1964-1973, which makes the
Vietnam war second only to World War II in number of personnel
involved.
Typical tour of rotation was one year.
The average age of U.S. combat personnel was 19 compared to
26 in World War II.
15,000,000 eligible American youth avoided the draft by gaining student
or other deferments.
An estimated 250,000 simply didn't register for the draft.
1,000,00 committed draft offenses.
25,00 were indicted for draft-related charges.
Only 3,250 spend any time in prison.
The U.S. military lost 47,253 in combat and another 10,449 died in Vietnam.
There were 313,616 wounded, of whom 153,300 were classified as seriously wounded.
76 percent of all personnel in Vietnam were targets of enemy mortars or rockets.
56 percent witnessed their comrades being killed or wounded.
Due to use of helicopters for evacuation 82 percent of those seriously wounded were saved
(compared to 71 percent in World War II and 74 percent in Korea).
2.6 percent of those who reached hospitals died.
10,000 lost at least one limb (more then all those in WW II and Korea combined) due to use
of enemy bobby traps, mines, and other guerrilla tactics.
81 were killed in Laos and Cambodia.
South Vietnam reported 185,528 of it personnel killed and 499,026 wounded.
North Vietnam reportedly lost 924,048.
Vietnam is estimated to have had 415,000 civilians killed and 935,000 wounded.
South Korea lost 4,407 combat troops.
Australia lost 475.
1,340 Americans were listed as missing in action when the war ended. Most are still
listed as MIA.
Roughly $150 billion in direct costs and twice that in indirect expenses.
On the average day, US artillery expended 10,000 rounds at $100 a round.
Typical sortie by a B-52 cost $30,000 in bombs alone. There were hundreds of sorties.
4,865 US helicopers were lost at $250,000 each.
3,720 other aircraft were destroyed.
Total tonnage of bombs dropped was 8 million, four times what was used in all of WW II.
2,236,000 tons of bombs were dropped on infiltration routes in Laos between 1965-1971
LINKS for all Veterans
This is just a small list, more will be added over time.
This will get you started and
each link has more links.
|
Titusville
Veterans Memorial |
Titusville Veterans Memorial
dedicated to all veterans
of all wars located on the Indian River in Forida.
Information dedicated to the ill fated 66th
Infantry Division and providing
what happened on Xmas Eve 1944. Info about a special CD produced
about the division & more...
|
|
|
The
only complete discography of all the music of the Vietnam war.
Andresen teaches history at Lake Superior College and is considered one
of the most knowledgeable authorities on war music in the country |
| My name is Ken
Hughes, and I was in the ASA (32G) from Sept. '65 to May '72.
Served in Korea, Germany (Augsburg) and Fort Hood. Tried to forget
it a long time because of the pukes for whom I had to work at times.
Now I have changed and try to reach out and touch some of the memories I
have of then. |
USS
HOGA YT-146 ASSOCIATION |
Laura's Veterans for a Change.
Military and Patriotic Graphics:
Free Patriotic and Military Graphics by Doc
Free Patriotic and Military Graphics by Ron Fletcher
World War II:
WW II, D-Day
WW II U.S. Veterans Website
Honor Our World War II Veterans
Korea:
The Forgotten War...Korea
Korean War Reference Library
Korean War Project Homepage
Vietnam:
Vietnam Veterans Homepage
Vietnam Veterans WWW Resources
Gunny's-The Meadow Years
Chucks Dedication and Military Page
Go
Home
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Rewind the Fifties and all related pages Copyright
1997 - 2004
