07-31-14, 05:55 PM #6 Old Marine Marine Free Member Join Date Aug 2004 Posts 5,258 Credits 53,952 Savings 0 There were almost twice as many casualties in Southeast Asia (primarily Cambodia) the first two years, after the fall of Saigon in 1975, than there were during the ten years the U.S. was involved in Vietnam. [3] The Vietnam War saw the highest proportion of African-American soldiers in the US military up to that point. The earliest casualty record contains a date of death of . Yes, I experienced the "The Sixty's"! [5], While at the start of the war the vast majority of African American soldiers "believed America was protecting the sovereignty of the democratically constituted government in South Vietnam and halting the spread of communism in Southeast Asia" King's opposition to the Vietnam War and death saw disillusionment and anti-war rhetoric grow among African American soldiers. The death squads focused on leaders at the village level and on anyone who improved the lives of the peasants such as medical personnel, social workers, and school teachers. National Guard: 6,140 served; 101 died. The average age of the 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years (Although 58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and birth date. [8] It further remarked, "No command or installationis entirely free from the effects of systematic discrimination against minority servicemen. Vietnam Veterans were the best educated forces our nation had ever sent into combat. By the end of World War I in November 1918, roughly 24 million men had registered and 2.8 million were drafted into the armed forces. The Davis Station in Saigon was named for him. Isolated atrocities committed by American Soldiers produced torrents of outrage from anti-war critics and the news media while Communist atrocities were so common that they received hardly any media mention at all. President Woodrow Wilson signed the Selective Services Act on May 18, 1917, in preparation for U.S. involvement in World War I. By lowering the education standards of the draft, an estimated 40% of the 246,000 draftees of Project 100,000 were Black. Resistance to the draft, as managed by the Selective Service in the United States, reached a historic peak during the Vietnam War. Answer (1 of 7): I didn't serve in Vietnam but I grew up right next to a marine who did. Men must register with the Selective Service System within one month of their 18th birthdaywomen are excluded from the draft (though they may volunteer for military service). Deserters, however, were not given amnesty. The calculator, of course, does not use your birth year because many of us were born well after the Vietnam War. NBC journalist Frank McGee, who spent nearly a month living with soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division recalled that "Nowhere in America have I seen Negroes and whites as free, open and uninhibited with their associations. 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[16], According to Daniel Lucks, African American soldiers hold a "nightmarish remembrance of the war." We fought to an agreed stalemate. Military history of African Americans in the Vietnam War, Slavery in the colonial history of the United States, Historically black colleges and universities, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, National Black Caucus of State Legislators, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, List of African American MoH recipients from the Vietnam War, African Americans in the Revolutionary War, Military history of African Americans in the American Civil War, "African-Americans In Combat | History Detectives | PBS", "50 Years Ago This Week: Vietnam and the Black Soldier", "Black GI resistance during the Vietnam war", "The Forgotten History Of A Prison Uprising In Vietnam", "In 1969, The Military Thought It Had Eliminated Racism In Its Ranks. [9], Several Black troops deserted their posts. A similar poll in 1969 saw the number rise to 47%. Of that number, 2,215,000 men were drafted into military service. With no end to the war in sight, the prediction of a Vietnamese soothsayer would come true: 1966 would be a year of a lot of fighting and killing.. The registration of men between the ages of 21 and 36 began one month later, as Secretary of War Henry L. Stimsona key player in moving the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt away from a foreign policy of neutralitybegan drawing draft numbers out of a big glass bowl. I am a living, breathing Marine draftee. Black troops were also more likely than White troops to relate to the Vietnamese people as an impoverished, non-white group. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers. The New York Draft Riots occurred in July 1863, when the anger of working-class New Yorkers over a new federal draft law during the Civil War sparked five days of some of the bloodiest and most destructive rioting in U.S. history. After the United States entered World War II, it expanded the draft ages to include men 18 to 37. Conditional amnesty for Vietnam draft dodgers and military deserters, The New York Times. To counter it, the North Vietnamese conducted numerous attacks to destroy it in its infancy, all supported by heavy artillery fire. However, as 1968 approached, there were ominous indications of an even larger enemy invasion. But by the end of 1970, more Marines were leaving than arriving as replacements. Marine Corps History Division, College of Distance Education and Training (CDET), Active Duty Command Sponsored Corporals Course, Reserve Command Sponsored Corporals Course, Research and Sponsored Projects Policy and Procedure, Brute Krulak Center for Innovation & Future Warfare, How Do We Learn? Following the failure of the Communists Easter Offensive and an intensive bombing campaign of North Vietnam, a peace treaty was finally signed in Paris on 27 January 1973. Almost 200 Black troops who were imprisoned at Long Bnh Jail staged a work strike for more than a month following a riot. The draft was specifically designed to trigger volunteer enlistments before age 18 1/2 had been reached. It is well chronicled that this decade was a very turbulent time with the various movements and world shaping events happening all . [3] Following the assassination, some White troops at Cam Ranh Base wore Ku Klux Klan robes and paraded around the base. Despite augmentation by the Armys Americal Division, III MAF remained stretched in both men and material. The military draft brought the war to the American home front. [8], According to journalists Wallace Terry and Zalin Grant by 1968, racial incidents in Danang, Cam Ranh Bay, Dong Tam, Saigon, and Bien Hoa happened on an "almost daily basis" and had become "commonplace". Did the Marines draft during Vietnam? Please do not send samples. Some 13,000 were killed and 88,000 wounded (51,392 badly enough to be hospitalized). "[5], Some activists in the US speculated that the uneven application of the draft was a method of Black genocide. Marine infantry, transported by helicopters, cleared out enemy positions in the rugged Happy Valley and Charlie Ridges areas, all supported by effective Marine fixed-wing aircraft. 1,713,823 of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as of August, 1995 (census figures). All the while Marine air played a pivotal role in providing fire support, CH-46 and UH-34 helicopters remained the workhorses for logistics support, augmented that year by the first squadron of CH-53 Sea Stallions. By the summer of 1968, correspondent Deckle McLean reported that few African-American soldiers supported the war. A 1997 paper noted that, of almost 400 such memoirs by participants in the Vietnam War, only seven were by African American veterans (less than 2%):[16]. They were the first American combat troops on the ground in a conflict that had been building for decades. How many Marines were drafted during the Vietnam War? From 1957 to 1973, the National Liberation Front assassinated 36,725 Vietnamese and abducted another 58,499. However, inaccurately reported, the News Media made the Tet Offensive famous. WATMis made in Hollywood by veterans. For Marines it had been a long and especially costly war. The 3d Marine Division engaged in heavy conventional fighting around the former Special Forces camp at Khe Sanh in the northwestern I Corps, to Leatherneck Square in the eastern DMZ. All rights reserved. The Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files contains records of 58,220 U.S. military fatal casualties of the Vietnam War. The month of March saw the first arrival of CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters as a replacement for the aging Sikorsky UH-34, when HMM-46 landed at Marble Mountain, deploying from the USSValley Forge. Hack received the Purple Heart for major combat injuries, and spent the rest of his military career as a recruiter for the US Army in Akron, Ohio. On the USS Constellation, Black sailors organized to investigate the application of non-judicial punishment among White and Black sailors. Between October 1966 and June 1969, 246,000 soldiers were recruited through Project 100,000, of whom 41% were black; black people only made up about 11% of the population of the US. 58,148 were killed in Vietnam, 75,000 severely disabled, 23,214 were 100% disabled, 5,283 lost limbs and 1,081 sustained multiple amputations. In the spring of 1964, Marine Detachment, Advisory Team One, commanded by Major Alfred M. Gray Jr., arrived to collect signals intelligence, thereby becoming the first Marine ground unit to arrive in the country. The Organization of the Viet Cong Units in the South never recovered. Fact: 2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers. A 1981 survey by the House Committee on Veterans Affairs found that only 20% of African Americans thought of their time as positive. [5] It would rise to 66.5% in 1967 but then drop to 31.7% in 1968. Hundreds of people were killed, many more read more, In the summer of 1965, support for the conflict in Vietnam eroded as President Lyndon B. Johnsons advisors recommended sending hundreds of thousands of servicemen over the course of at least five years to win the war. African Americans have always been involved in United States military service since its inception despite official policies of racial segregation and discrimination. As of 2019, the most recent Black Medal of Honor recipient from the Vietnam War was John L. Canley, who received his Medal in 2018. The military draft brought the war to the American home front. An official website of the United States government. Similar reports came from official channels with there being at least 33 incidents of racial violence in the two months between December 1969 and January 1970. Never completed, the McNamara Line drained III MAF of scarce men and materiel. They have in the past, in time of war WW2 and Nam. The year 1968 proved to be the decisive year for the Marines in Vietnam. The United States instituted conscription during the Civil War, which led to a series of bloody draft riots. Fifty years ago, in March 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines landed in South Vietnam. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. [3][6], During the Vietnam War, many black and white soldiers formed close friendships. Video: It resulted in the death of some 45,000 NVA troops and the complete, if not total destruction of the Viet Cong elements in South Vietnam. Drafted directly into the Corps with 5 others in May, '68. The Best Answer To The Question Did the marines draft during vietnam? For Marines it had been a long and especially costly war. Whether American troops in Vietnam were one-third draftees (as the facts dictate) or they were a force of young, poor, uneducated conscripts (As pop culture would have us believe), what is indisputable is what . The Draft in Context The military draft brought the war to the American home front. The last man inducted entered the U.S. Army on June 30, 1973 during the last draft conducted. Some went to college or graduate school or faked medical conditions, while others fled to Canada. Despite operational successes, pacification in the densely populated areas in the Marines AOR remained a difficult process. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. And unlike the Civil War, there was no paying a substitute to take your place. The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. The first date drawn was September 14, followed by April 24, which was assigned to 001 and 002 respectively. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. "[3], African American troops were punished more harshly and more frequently than White troops. We are a woman-owned small business and Veteran-owned incorporated in Ohio. It would take 26 days of dogged house-to-house fighting to expel the North Vietnamese regulars from the city, as Marines, more accustomed to fighting in the steamy jungle, learned the difficult and bloody lessons of urban warfare. [6], The Armed Forces took some action to make Black troops feel more included, including adding more diverse music to club jukeboxes, hiring Black bands and dancers for events, and bringing over Black entertainers to perform, such as James Brown, Miss Black America, and Miss Black Utah. Sociologists Charles C. Moskos and John Sibley Butler, in their recently published book All That We Can Be, said they analyzed the claim that blacks were used like cannon fodder during Vietnam and can report definitely that this charge is untrue. From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. [9] Other groups that formed included Minority Servicemen's Association, the Concerned Veterans Association, Black Brothers United, the Zulu 1200s, the Black Liberation Front of the Armed Forces, Blacks In Action, the Unsatisfied Black Soldier, the Ju Jus, and the Mau Maus. [3] In total, 7,243 African Americans died during the Vietnam War, representing 12.4% of total casualties. During processing he got picked for the Marines. The draft was a way that we would make our troops bigger and better by forcing American men to fight in the war.. American men had to sign up for the draft at age 18. Draft-age men were assigned a number between one and 366, depending on their birthday. This is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000 between 95 and 00. The 3d Marine Division was fighting a more conventional campaign against the North Vietnamese Army near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the north of I Corps while the 1st Marine Division engaged in more counter-guerrilla operations in Southern I Corps. 13,000 were killed and 88,000 were injured (51,392 badly enough to be hospitalized). Many of the rioters were poor Irish immigrants. Impeachment has been used infrequently in the United Statesat either the federal or state leveland even less so in Britain, where read more. US Wings provides aviation apparel to the U.S. Government and commercial customers along with the general public. During this decade I graduated from high school, went off to college, turned 21, and served in the USMC. Some countries require compulsory military service of its citizens. [12][6] In addition to being used in response to King's murder, Confederate flags and icons were commonly painted on jeeps, tanks, and helicopters; bathroom graffiti proclaimed that African Americans, not the Vietnamese, were the real enemy. A 1966 poll from Newsweek found that 25% of African Americans thought of the laws as unfair. During that same Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served was: 9,492,958. On Being Drafted into the USMC. Most of U.S. soldiers drafted during the Vietnam War were men from poor and working-class families. Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations. Only 5% of sailors were Black in 1971, with less than 1% of Navy officers African American. Only one of us ended up a 03. By years end, III MAF had blunted the North Vietnamese push across the DMZ. This was another example in the Vietnam War of an inaccuracy becoming the perceived truth. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of Americas commitment in Vietnam. [13] Ultimately, many of these changes were made towards the end of the war when personnel had been greatly reduced, meaning that a majority of Black troops who served during the Vietnam War did not benefit from these reforms.