During the Vietnam War, and in previous wars fought by the United States Army, such as the Korean War, WWII, WWI, Spanish-American of 1898, etc. Leader's have received some of the highest casualty rates. The US Army, as is (or maybe was, there are a lot of untraditional changes taking place within the traditional armed forces; the armed forces "might" be evolving into something different than the way mankind has had armed forces in the past) all or most of other nations, divided into two groups (During the Vietnam War): Enlisted men and officers. The "private" is entry level into the US Army. The "2nd Lieutenant" is the entry level into the officer corps. In Vietnam most 2LT's were promoted to 1LT almost immediately upon arrival "in country", just as new Privates were almost immediately promoted to PFC (Private First Class) as soon as they landed. Just a little incentive & extra pay for getting shot at.
Since both the Private and the Lieutenant are both new; they don't know how to walk (fast or slow), they don't know where to walk (off the trail, is it a trail?), they are inexperienced in using voice and hand/arm signals in the field, and directing a machingun to fire one way, when maybe the experienced '60 gunner knows where to fire because he was in "contact" here yesterday (before the LT arrived). These are some routine daily examples. And if the LT's wearing his rank, or talking on the radio (PRC-25), or giving hand/arm signals...he might be finished, if they're in a fight. In addition, officers are (or were in Vietnam) trained to be "AGGRESSIVE", lead from the front...add this attitude to the rank, signals and radio, and the clock's really ticking now! In many of the so called, "firefights" of the day, towards the ending years, in every "contact" we had, our officers were amongst or the only casualties. So, to answer your question, his survival was not "normally" measured in days or weeks, it was measured in "the first battle", "CONTACT!" as we called it. If the LT survived his first "contact", and it was a "hot" one, then "he's good to go!" (He'll probably survive).
According to all records, the life expectancy was expected to be 16 minutes.
Australian society mirrored American society after the war, on a smaller scale, due to population differences.
They lost their purpose in life.
not good
it was horrible
zero
Not sure about a 1st sergeant but the average life expectancy of a US 2nd lieutenant in Vietnam was a little under four days. That's grossly wrong. About 2.5 million soldiers served "in country" during the Vietnam War. 60,000 were killed. Even if one assumes all deaths were in combat, and only 25% of people "in country" were combat grunts, that means less than a 10% death rate. Put it another way, a front-line, combat soldier in Vietnam had well over a 90% chance of surviving a 1-year tour. Averaged over the 10-year "official" duration of the war, that means there was 1 death about every 41 minutes.
Lieutenant James Magellan was a pilot for the Marine Corp during the Vietnam war. His plane was shot down and he lost hos life during the war.
Answer16 mins.I believe the exact definition of "16 mins" is given in the movie "Rules of Engagement", where Tommy Lee Jones' character "Colonel Hodges", the defense attorney for Samuel Jackson's character "Colonel Childers", challenges the prosecuting attorney Major Biggs (played by Guy Pearce), for an answer to the question for the life expectancy of a 2nd Lt. dropped into a "hot LZ in Vietnam, in 1968".This does not specifically answer the question of the lifespan of a 2nd Lt. in the Vietnam War.
Lieutenant Dan wanted to fight and die in the war, that was his prerogative, it was his life's mission to die for his country. Bubba made plans to be a shrimp boat captain when he was done in the war, his prerogative was that he would go on to better things after serving.
Australian society mirrored American society after the war, on a smaller scale, due to population differences.
South Vietnam was an agriculture based society (a farming life).
bad
The Vietnam War was the second "hot" battle of the cold war. The Korean War was the first "hot" battle of the cold war. The US fought to prevent the communist nation of North Vietnam from conquering the free Republic of South Vietnam. The communists won this second round on 30 April 1975, when communist tanks crashed through the South Vietnamese Capital's front gates, and parked their tanks on the capital's front lawn. They had won, the war was over.
JFK was a lieutenant junior grade. A lieutenant (jg) was the same as first lieutenant in the other branches, paygrade O-2. Kennedy had entered the service as an ensign, the lowest officer rank in the US Navy (O-1), the equivalent of second lieutenant in the other branches. Kennedy was directly commissioned from civilian life, after flunking out of Harvard, due to his father's influence. His father was US Ambassador to Great Britain and he wanted John to serve as an assistant Naval Attache at his embassy.
loser!!get a life
Cold war.
53