The Army Finally Honors 10 Vietnam Veterans After A Half-Century Spent Unrecognized
Nearly a half-century after their unit left Vietnam, 10 former members of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade were honored Friday in a ceremony at Fort Shafter, where the graying veterans were pinned with medals, including Silver Stars, Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts, for service to the nation that went unrecognized years ago.
“It’s never a wrong time to do something right,” said Col. Robert Berg, current commander of the 196th Infantry Brigade.
The 196th saw extensive combat in Vietnam from 1966 to 1972, experiencing 1,004 killed in action and 5,591 wounded in action.
“For one reason or another, many soldiers were not properly presented their awards and medals at the time,” U.S. Army Pacific said in a release. “Some of these decorations just appeared in the service member’s record, while some were delivered by mail.”
https://taskandpurpose.com/army-vietnam-veterans-medal-ceremony/
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88.4% of the men who actually served in Vietnam were Caucasian; 10.6% (275,000) were black; 1% belonged to other races.
86.3% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasian (includes Hispanics); 12.5% (7,241) were black; 1.2% belonged to other races.
170,000 Hispanics served in Vietnam; 3,070 (5.2% of total) died there.
70% of enlisted men killed were of North-west European descent.
86.8% of the men who were killed as a result of hostile action were Caucasian; 12.1% (5,711) were black; 1.1% belonged to other races.
14.6% (1,530) of non-combat deaths were among blacks.
34% of blacks who enlisted volunteered for the combat arms.
Overall, blacks suffered 12.5% of the deaths in Vietnam at a time when the percentage of blacks of military age was 13.5% of the total population.
Religion of Dead: Protestant -- 64.4%; Catholic -- 28.9%; other/none -- 6.7%
http://history-world.org/vietnam_war_statistics.htm
