Same people who claimed they were at Woodstock ?
In the “Who Claim to Have ‘Been There” department, it’s written in the issue:
• 1,713,823 of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as of August, 1995 (census figures).
• During that same Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served in country was: 9,492,958. (Those who actually served in country amounted to 2.7 million)
• As of the current Census taken during August, 2000, the surviving U.S. Vietnam Veteran population estimate is: 1,002,511. This is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000 between ’95 and ’00. That’s 390 a day.
• During this census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served in country is: 13,853,027. By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE Vietnam vets are not.
“Of the 2,709,918 Americans who served in Vietnam; less that 850,000 are estimated to be alive today, with the youngest American Vietnam veteran’s age approximated to be 54 years old.
“So if you’re alive and reading this, how does it feel to be among the last one-third of all the U.S. Vets who served in Vietnam? Don’t know about you, but kinda gives me the chills, considering this is the kind of information we are used to reading about WWII and Korean War vets.
“So the last 14 years we are dying too fast, only a few will survive by 2015 … if any.
“If true, 39 VN vets die a day, on average. So in 2,190 days from today, you’re lucky to be a Vietnam veteran alive … in only 6 years.”
In my book, by the numbers, those are sobering statistics. And I salute the ones that served.
This was an eMail to me a couple years ago, from a Texas shipmate, Master Chief Deal, who died last year.
USS Taluga AO-62 (63,64,65)Most dangerous service, Olongapo.