More than 1,100 medics and 680 corpsmen were killed in action and many more were wounded during the Vietnam War. Fifteen Army medics and four Navy corpsmen received the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroic actions they performed in this conflict. Ten of these citations were awarded posthumously.
The life expectancy of a combat medic during a firefight was 6 seconds.
Tran Van Lu-Y told the World Health Organization in Geneva that more than 200 doctors and medical workers in South Vietnam had been victims of the VC in the previous ten years.
During the Vietnam War 10,000 Navy Hospital Corpsmen served with their Marine brothers. 645 of them were killed in action (KIA) and 3,300 were wounded in action (WIA). In modern times, most combat medics carry a personal weapon, to be used to protect themselves and the wounded or sick in their care.
During the Vietnam War, accidents, illnesses, and hostile fire claimed the lives of 20 military physicians and 10 military nurses. If a medical team determined that a patient required hospitalization for more than 30 days, then they transported the patient to bases in Hawaii, Japan, Okinawa, and the Philippines.
5 James C. McCloughan distinguished himself during 48 hours of close-combat fighting against enemy forces, May 13-15, 1969. At the time, then-Pfc. McCloughan was serving as a combat medic with Company C, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, in the Republic of Vietnam.
Tiger Force (Recon) 1-327th was a highly decorated small unit in Vietnam, and paid for its reputation with heavy casualties.
Charles Benjamin "Chuck" Mawhinney (born 1949) is a former United States Marine who holds the Corps' record for the most confirmed sniper kills, having recorded 103 confirmed kills and 216 probable kills in 16 months during the Vietnam War.
The Army suffered the most casualties, 38,179 or 66% of all casualties. As a branch of the US forces, however, the Marine Corps lost the highest percentage of its own men (5.0%) which in turn accounted for 25.5% of all casualties.
Tough, battle-hardened South Korean troops were justly feared by Vietcong and North Vietnamese regulars alike during the Vietnam War.
In earlier wars, field medics wore a bright red cross on their helmets and didn't carry weapons. But Vietnam's jungles and small-unit ambushes made that cross a bull's-eye for snipers. So it was dropped and replaced by a sidearm.
Unlike their predecessors in previous wars, medics and corpsmen in Vietnam fought alongside their fellow soldiers and Marines — many carried rifles, sidearms, even hand grenades along with their medical kits.
Overall, the U.S. military used nearly 12,000 helicopters in Vietnam, of which more than 5,000 were destroyed. To be a helicopter pilot or crew member was among the most dangerous jobs in the war.
On October 12, 1945, US Army medic Desmond Doss became the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
Today, Vietnam Veterans range in age from 61 to 103 years old.
Known as the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history, Navy Seal Chris Kyle, who served during the Iraq War, has become renowned as the American Sniper. Chris Kyle was born in 1974 in Odessa, Texas. He graduated from Midlothian High School in 1992 and attended Tarleton State University for two years.
William Nolde, the last American casualty of the Vietnam War. Army Col. Bill Nolde was killed by North Vietnamese artillery or rocket fire just hours after the peace treaty marking a formal end to the Vietnam War was signed on Jan. 27, 1973.
Dan Bullock (December 21, 1953 – June 7, 1969) was a United States Marine and the youngest U.S. serviceman killed in action during the Vietnam War, dying at the age of 15. Goldsboro, North Carolina, U.S. Elmwood Cemetery, Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina, U.S.
The Mỹ Lai massacre (/ˌmiːˈlaɪ/; Vietnamese: Thảm sát Mỹ Lai [tʰâːm ʂǎːt mǐˀ lāːj] ( listen)) was a war crime committed by the United States on 16 March 1968, involving the mass murder of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians by the United States Army in Sơn Tịnh district, South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
The largest sweep of 1966 took place northwest of Saigon in Operation ATTLEBORO, involving 22,000 American and South Vietnamese troops pitted against the VC 9th Division and a NVA regiment. The Allies defeated the enemy and, in what became a frequent occurrence, forced him back to his havens in Cambodia or Laos.
The Vietnamese parachute units advised by the Americans were among the best fighting units in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), with a long tradition of service with the French Army.
James Lockhart, born and raised in northwest Ohio, worked during summers as a Wabash Railroad telegrapher while in college. He enlisted in the Army in 1961 and was quickly promoted to sergeant. Deciding on a military career, he volunteered for officer training and became an Infantry second lieutenant in July 1967.
Desmond Thomas Doss (February 7, 1919 – March 23, 2006) was a United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic with an infantry company in World War II. Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S. Piedmont, Alabama, U.S. He was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal for actions on Guam and in the Philippines.
In the U.S. armed forces, service members in line units often refer to their assigned combat medic or hospital corpsman as "Doc."