Besides the normal Shot/Shell

To name just a few, in no way all...
Bot Flies
Creeping Nematodes
the "Willie" fish
Parasites, 7 Types, 340 different species...
56 of the skin
107 for openings/organs
197 of the digestive tract
21 of the blood
Mosquitoes...
Encephalitides, Malaria
Dengue, Rift Valley, Yellow Fevers
Fleas...
Bubonic, Pneumonic Plagues
Ticks...Ehrlichitsis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Lyme Disease, Typhis
Lice...
St Ass, Rash Ill, Star
Flies...
Dysentery, Leprosy. Typhoid
Cholera from human waste
Wasps/Bees, Army ants & Fire Ants
Spiders...
Black Widow
Brown Recluse, Hobo, Violin & Funnel Web
Rats and Cockroaches...
1 Rat = 15,000 in one year
1 Cockroach - 200,000 in one year
Snakes...
The Waller Pit Viper (4). Pipe, Cat(4), Reed(4), Python(3), Whip, Water(4), Tree(4), Kukri, Racer, Rat, Brown, Coral, Cobra, & Kaaits.
Other Poisonous ones
In the Sea (2), AustralAisia(4), AfroAsia(22), Europe(4), America(11)
Yaws
Cutaneous Dyptheria
Scrub Typhus
PTSD
CRS, Combat Fatigue, the Clap
FDrom Microbes & Bacteria...Thousands !
Fungi, Archea, Protista, Viruses, Viroids, Prions...13 deadly
On top of the elements, freezing, Starving, Drowning, Dehydration.
Then there are Sharks...
386 Species, and 25 eat people...regularly.

Many enemies, apart from the Political.

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There's one way to find out if a man is honest-ask him. If he says "Yes", you know he's a crook. Groucho Marx

Cheers,
Adam.

Damn, now I want to wash my hands, boil my water, and take a shower.

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""The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his." George Patton" George S. Patton

I'll never forget finding my first case of lice on a patient when I was a new nurse waaayyyy back when. The patient said he was itching and didn't know why. I donned gloves and gave him a looksee. I asked him if he'd ever had crabs, to which he replied, "no" and I said, "Well, you do now."

__________________
Best Regards,
JW

Trench foot and frostbite can be added to the list. Also racial problems can be added to the list. Several black soldiers were killed at Camp Swift during training for WWII. The base commander wrote a book on the base in the 1950's and was proud of it.

I love your monkey poster VP !

__________________
I need a bailout of only $500,000

I reckon SW has hit on an interesting subject here, we tend to focus on the more 'exciting' methods of becoming a casualty and, to a certain extent, disregard that one of the greatest threats to military effectiveness is the very act of living exposed to the elements and natural hazards for months on end. Troops in Jungles may suffer more but living long term in a foxhole in Northwest Europe isn't exactly ideal either.

Interesting (but unsourced) Graph & Quote from about AFRIMS: Military Disease Hazards:
Hospitalisation rate of US forces in previous wars

And then there's the threat to any army, no doubt in every period... VD.
As ever, Psywar has some good stuff on it's propagandic value, Venereal Disease Propaganda





Cheers,
Adam.

In 1861 the Union army had 4,000 casualties from disease for every 1,000 from combat. No specifics on what disease that was, or pertinent numbers after that.

__________________
There's one way to find out if a man is honest-ask him. If he says "Yes", you know he's a crook. Groucho Marx

As well, as VP elaborated upon...

there were between those walking the streets and those in the approximately 450 "Sporting Houses", an estimated 7,500 "Ladies of the Evening" in Washington in early 1862.
No big surprise in any place where many soldiers are located in any time throughout history.

from Civil war Journal
compiled by Alfred A. Nofi

__________________
There's one way to find out if a man is honest-ask him. If he says "Yes", you know he's a crook. Groucho Marx

Paratrooper's chute failing or falling into water or trees.

Dying from a fixable wound because of lack of supplies or doctors overwhelmed with wounded.

I dont recall the title... back in the 1960s there was a comparative study of the men in the Union & Confederate armys. The section on disease noted that sick records showed the men fourty years or older became disease casualties fairly quickly and few lasted more than a couple of months of field service. No suprise there. Another item was a suprise. When the sick lists were sorted by place of enlistment the men from rural areas were much more subject to epidemic diseases like measles, smallpox, ect... and to other disease where immunity from exposure can be had. The usual assumption was that men from the farm would remain healthier due to their previous better diet & general living conditions. The author found this not to be the case. The men recruited from the citys remained just as healty as the rural recruits when exposed to unsantitary military camps.

I could believe that. Disease prevention is in large part the result of prior exposure to the disease causing virus or bacteria, allowing the body to produce antibodies. Living in cities, the boys from there had the opportunity to be exposed to the diseases more or less one at a time, similar to how we are today. An example of this is the rhinovirus. People often get a "cold" every year and blame it on the same "bug". There are over 200 rhinovirus and what is happening is that you get a different bug each year, causing essentially the same symptoms.

Now imagine a country boy living more or sequestered and having little contact with others outside the his family or small group of friends. Yes, he might be better fed or more used to outside living, but he as not acquired the life-time of exposure to illness-causing viruses and thus doesn't have immunity to as a large a number of them as do the city boys. He joins the service and then is exposed to a large pool of agents all at the same time and maybe catches two or three at a time, a super-cold if you wish. He's going to be overwhelmed immulogically and physically, even if he started out better fit.

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Best Regards,
JW

That the reason the author of the book suggested. Wish I could recall the name.

You mean I got lucky just speculating?

__________________
Best Regards,
JW

was drowning on the list? i just finished a book by an Airborne veteran, Donald Burgett, and he talked about many soldiers who drowned in the flooded ditches and fields!

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Scott

Yes drowning would be an excellent one. When they invaded Sicily in 1943 hundreds of paratroopers got dropped in the sea because the transport pilots did not have any experience navigaitating over water at night. Also almost 50 of the C-47 transports got shot down by the US Navy. Makes you wonder how we won the war.

__________________
I need a bailout of only $500,000

While looking for destroyed Stugs I came across some Contemporary words of wisdom from the Adjutant General:
Sex Hygiene & Venereal Disease.

(Nice parent site with some good Veterans photographs -
Soldier's Museum - WW1, WW2, Merchant Marine, American Civil War Image Gallery )

Cheers,
Adam.

In the WW 2 image Gallery, under Sex Hygiene & Veneral Disease, the subtext reads...
"Bone Up" on this important information issued in 1942.
I spit half a drink of my Mojito on the keyboard. Thanks aufly !

__________________
There's one way to find out if a man is honest-ask him. If he says "Yes", you know he's a crook. Groucho Marx