What was the age ofthe average US combat soldier in Vietnam?

Answer 1

The Vietnam War has been described as a "kaleidoscope", meaning continuously changing. Examples: up until about 1966, South Vietnam was covered with CH-21 Shawnee and CH-34 Choctaw helicopters and GIs carrying M14 rifles; shoulder patches were bright colored, sergeant strips were bright yellow in color, and the US Army name tag was yellow. White stars and US red white and blue national insignia were on the helicopters and jets. After about '66, M14 rifles were gone, in their place were M16s; name insignia, national insignias, sergeant stripes, shoulder patches...all turned black (called subdued). Only the "white star" remained on the tanks, trucks, etc. CH-21s and CH-34 helicopters disappeared...new men arriving in country saw only UH-1 Iroquois (Hueys) and CH-47 Chinooks into the 1970's. From about 1969 until the end of the war, the average draftee GI tended to be around 19 thru 23. Marines tended to be younger; if the man was 18 he was probably a volunteer (RA), because the draft boards normally only hit the 19 year olds and up. If the man was above 25 he may have re-enlisted when his original service time expired. As noted in the first paragraph, times may have been different prior to '69.