VIETNAM VETERANS

VIETNAM COMMON MYTHS:
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 WW II were drafted. Approximately 70% of those killed
in Vietnam were volunteers.

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 the rate of suicides is less.

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, 1.2% were other races. Black fatality figures were 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.

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.

Myth: The Common belief in the U.S. 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. The Vietnam
War was the turning point for Communism.

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% 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.

Myth: Kim Phuc, the little nine year old Vietnamese girl running naked
from the napalm strike near Trang Bang on 8 June 1972 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. Reports in the
news media that an American commander ordered the air strike are
incorrect. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. The Commanding
General of TRAC at that time said Americans had nothing to do with
controlling VNAF.

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
said the war was a major military defeat for the VC and NVA. The
United States did not lose the war in Vietnam, the South Vietnamese did.
[Source: NM e-Veterans News 9 Jan 06 - Research accredited to Capt.
Marshal Hanson, U.S.N.R (Ret.) & Statistical Source Capt. Scott Beaton]