Numbers certainly do not tell the whole story - or all of them - but they certainly paint a picture of lives lost and families devastated. 1968 Tet Offensive - Hanoi failed in its most ambitious goal of producing a general uprising in the South, it suffered more than 45,267 (mainly Viet Cong) deaths but gained a propaganda, political and strategic victory. Colonial France inhabited Vietnam through the end of World War II. In 1939, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam were French colonies organized under a single administrative unit called I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. An addition 3 million Vietnamese were left wounded and around 12 million were refugees. The Vietnam War was a long, deadly . A Korean War era soldier and later an attorney in Hays, Kansas, Richard became aware that the government had not made public a central source of information regarding the servicemen and women who died as a result of service in Vietnam. Both were present at the Battle of Ia Drang, the first large-scale engagement of the Vietnam War. Vancouver's Rob McSorley is one of at least 134 Canadians killed in action fighting for U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. No estimate given for deaths caused by Viet Cong/North Vietnam (195475). [71] The official US Department of Defense figure was 950,765 communist forces killed in Vietnam from 1965 to 1974. We searched NARA's Access to Archival Databases (AAD) and located the following databases pertaining to Vietnam War casualties: Records with Unit Information on Military Personnel Who Died During the Vietnam War database in the Richard Coffelt, Richard Arnold, and David Argabright Collection (COFF) Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the . AIR FORCE * Major Bruce Crandall made over 20 flights into intense enemy fire during a battle in the Ia Drang Valley, South Vietnam, in November 1965, evacuating 70 wounded and delivering ammunition. Vietnam War, Awards and Decorations of Honor, 1965-1972. On February 26, 2007, President George W. Bush presented Crandall with the Medal of Honor for . * From 1956-1964, 417Americans died in Vietnam. The "patrol boat: riverine," or Navy PBR, was the first watercraft built for the so-called brown water navy in Vietnam. In the midst of an intense 3-week fight against the North Vietnamese Army in the province of Kontum, South Vietnam, elements of the U.S. Army 173d Airborne Brigade and the 503d Infantry Regiment assaulted a battalion of North Vietnamese soldiers entrenched on a hill outside the village . Ho Chi Minh was outraged and began to engage his forces in small fights with South Vietnamese troops. Meanwhile, the United States, its military demoralized and its civilian electorate deeply divided, began a process of coming to terms with defeat in what had been its longest and most controversial war. [102] The Red Cross of Vietnam estimates that up to 1 million people are disabled or suffer health problems due to Agent Orange exposure. After 1975. . There was strong pressure to produce body counts as a measure of operational success and enemy body counts were directly tied to promotions and commendation. Grand total of war deaths: Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos (1954-75) 1,450,000: 2,450,000: 3,595,000: Civilian deaths in the Vietnam War . The two countries finally resumed formal diplomatic relations in 1995. These Vietnam War photos taken by U.S. Army photographers reveal a side of the conflict that few people have ever seen. The following general rules are observed: (2) AVIATION UNIT PERSONNEL in the Navy, Marines, and Air Force are indexed at the, (3) NAVAL PERSONNEL, other than aviation personnel, are indexed by, * [68] Per the official Vietnamese history, over 10,000 more PAVN soldiers were killed in the final offensive of early 1975. [24] Benjamin Valentino estimates 110,000310,000 deaths as a "possible case" of "counter-guerrilla mass killings" by U.S. and South Vietnamese forces during the war. The Coffelt Database of Vietnam War casualties has its roots in an effort begun by Richard Donham Coffelt. Statistical Information about Fatal Casualties of the Vietnam War, Records Relating to American Prisoners of War and Missing in Action from the Vietnam War Era, 1960-1994, Electronic Data Records Relating to Military Objectives and Activities During the Vietnam War, Electronic Records of Korean and Vietnam War Casualties, How to File a FOIA Request for Archival Records, Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files, Records on Military Personnel Who Died, Were Missing in Action or Prisoners of War as a Result of the Vietnam War, Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Files, Records of Deceased, Wounded, Ill, or Injured Army Personnel, Including Dependents and Civilian Employees, Records with Unit Information on Military Personnel Who Died During the Vietnam War. Necessarily, more is lost to time than is remembered. flashcard sets. This stemmed from the United States' involvement in the Cold War, which the United States fought to preserve democracy against the forces of Communism springing up in countries such as the Soviet Union and China. The U.S. technically did not lose the Vietnam War, as they withdrew in 1973 to allow South Vietnam to fight their own battles. ARMY * Among other countries that fought for South Vietnam, South Korea had more than 4,000 dead, Thailand about 350, Australia more than 500, and New Zealand some three dozen. In 1976, the Vietnamese government organized Gathering Teams to find the remains of dead soldiers. Regarding killed in action the 1st Marine Division was the unit with the highest . Our aim here is to provide a more credibly data-based estimate of Vietnamese war-related deaths from 1965 to 1975 using the analytical tools of modern demography. They also assert that the U.S. overall suffered fewer casualties than its opponents. Though the Vietnamese army incurred more casualties, it was a . [52] According to a study conducted in 1968 by a Quaker-funded Vietnamese-speaking American couple, Diane and Michael Jones, there were at least 12 mass killings committed by South Korean forces that approached the scale of the My Lai Massacre, with reports of thousands of routine murders of civilians, primarily the elderly, women and children. It is estimated that South Vietnam lost between 200,000 and 250,000 fighters. "UCDP/Prio Armed Conflict Database", Uppsala University, sfn error: no target: CITEREFRummel1997 (. Vietnam emerged from the war as a potent military power within Southeast Asia, but its agriculture, business, and industry were disrupted, large parts of its countryside were scarred by bombs and defoliation and laced with land mines, and its cities and towns were heavily damaged. The following year, in 1976, Vietnam was united as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. 232,000 military personnel were still missing as of 2017, a total of 1,081,000 dead and missing for the American War. The first two names listed on Panel 1, East Wall, at the apex are from July 8, 1959. It granted him broad latitude in handling the struggle against communism in Southeast Asia. 0. The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. The US entered into war with Vietnam because they did not want the spread of Communism to occur in the democratic state of South Vietnam. Data for this series of conflicts includes military personnel killed in the attacks on the USS Cole on October 12, 2000, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and in Afghanistan and elsewhere since those dates. Over 58,000 American lives were lost in the fighting. [42] This might partially explain the discrepancies between recovered weapons and body-count figures, along with exaggeration, although the NVA and VC also went to great lengths to recover weapons from the battlefield. [7], R. J. Rummel's mid-range estimate in 1997 was that the total deaths due to the Vietnam War totaled 2,450,000 from 195475. Many were never directly involved in the fighting, but rather were only caught in the crosshairs of South Vietnamese and North Vietnamese forces. exposed to enemy attack. SOG had a casualty rate of 100 percenteveryone who served in SOG was either wounded, most multiple times, or . The following is a chart of all casualties, listed by race, and in descending order. How to Order a Draft Record. In the United States, the Vietnam War became known as one of the most unpopular wars . The vietnam war Pictures That Moved Them Most . Battle of Hamburger Hill. Against the background of the Cold War, the Vietnam War embroiled the United States, South Vietnam, and regional allies in a long and costly conflict against the regular forces of North Vietnam and the Communist Viet Cong guerillas. The United States lost 58,220 known military personnel. Vietnam War Almanac: An In-Depth Guide to the Most Controversial Conflict in American History. Ronald H. Spector is Professor of History and International Affairs in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. In 1965 alone they comprised 14.1% of total combat deaths, when they only comprised approximately 11% of the total U.S. population in the same year. The war also spilled over into the neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos which also endured casualties from aerial and ground fighting. Of these, more than 13,000 were killed and 88,000 wounded, nearly a . This led to increased racial tension in the military. US Army helicopters pour machine-gun fire into the tree line to cover the advance of ground troops. The former arrives in Vietnam in November 1965, and, soon after, is tasked with leading his 400 men in an effort to take out . Persian Gulf (1988) (Oil Platforms) 2. The 'shameful gamesmanship' practiced by 'certain reporting elements' under pressure to 'produce results' also shrouded the process. [49] The Second Marine Brigade perpetrated the Phong Nh and Phong Nht massacre on 12 February 1968. Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, gives a 1513 reference for military casualty, and an 1844 reference for civilian use. [5], In 1995, the Vietnamese government released its estimate of war deaths for the more lengthy period of 195575. Casualties - US vs NVA/VC. In 2002, an early version of the Coffelt Database was deeded to the National Archives, which made it available on-line as a searchable database. The majority of these soldiers were between the ages of 21 and 28. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. In 1980 Richard set out to determine the unit of assignment for each Army soldier who died in Vietnam. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, Record Group 330: Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 407: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, Collection COFF: Richard Coffelt, Richard Arnold, and David Argabright Collection. When he later read the official tally of dead, he found that it listed them as 130 VC killed. [79], The total number of American personnel who were KIA or died non-hostile deaths, were enlisted personnel with a casualty number of 50,441. History is not a fixed set of facts. [65], According to the Vietnamese government's official history, one of the deadliest years was 1972, where they lost over 100,000 casualties. Not until 1995 did Vietnam release its official estimate of war dead: as many as 2 million civilians on both sides and some 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you However, side effects occurred because of Agent Orange. 2.7 million American troops were sent to South Vietnam. Regarding killed in action the 2nd Infantry Division was the unit with the highest ratio with 7,094 KIA and 16,575 wounded. Get unlimited access to over 84,000 lessons. The United States committed some 550,000 troops to the Vietnam front at the height of the conflict, suffered more than 58,000 casualties, and engaged in battle after battle with communist forces in the region until its withdrawal in 1973. Being killed in action was the leading cause of American casualties. The Viet Cong used the jungle terrain to their advantage both as a means of hiding, as well as a place to bury pressure-sensor explosives to wipe out unsuspecting bands of patrolling enemy forces. Few Marines units were involved in the U.S. military actions in Cambodia or Laos, and while 1. st. . Two further massacres were reported by soldiers who had taken part in them, one north of c Pho in, 426 killed in action, 74 died of other causes, 6 missing in action (all accounted for and repatriated), This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 15:26. Deaths in Cambodia and Laos were estimated at 273,000 and 62,000 respectively. According to the Information Bureau of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam (PRG), a shadow government formed by North Vietnam in 1969, between April 1968 and the end of 1970 American ground troops killed about 6,500 civilians in the course of twenty-one operations either on their own or alongside their allies. More than 8.7 million Americans served on active duty during the Vietnam period (Nov 1, 1955 to May 15, 1975). [25][30], 18.2 million gallons of Agent Orange, some of which was contaminated with Dioxin, was sprayed by the U.S. military over more than 10% of Southern Vietnam[31] as part of the U.S. herbicidal warfare program Operation Ranch Hand during the Vietnam War, from 1961 to 1971. The number of casualties is simply the number of members of a unit who are not available for duty. Civilian deaths caused by both sides amounted to a significant percentage of total deaths. 62. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union and China poured weapons, supplies, and advisers into the North, which in turn provided support, political direction, and regular combat troops for the campaign in the South. Bomb Tonnages Dropped on Laos and Cambodia, and Weighing Their Implications", "Association between Agent Orange and birth defects: systematic review and meta-analysis", "The History, Toxicity and Adverse Human Health and Environmental Effects Related to the Use of Agent Orange", http://ls-tlss.ucl.ac.uk/course-materials/POLS6016_65225, Story of Tiger Force atrocities had to be told, "On War extra Vietnam's massacre survivors", Counter-Revolutionary Violence: Bloodbaths in Fact & Propaganda, "Anatomy of US and South Korean Massacres in the Vietnamese Year of the Monkey, 1968 | Japan Focus", "VIETNAM KILLINGS LAID TO KOREANS (Published 1970)", "The 'forgotten' My Lai: South Korea's Vietnam War massacres", "Citizens' court to investigate Vietnam War atrocities committed by South Korean troops", "Chuyn 4 CNG TC TM KIM, QUY TP HI CT LIT S T NAY N NM 2020 V NHNG NM TIP THEO, datafile.chinhsachquandoi.gov.vn/Qun%20l%20ch%20o/Chuyn%20%204.doc", "Lost Souls: The Search for Vietnam's 300,000 or More MIAs", 300.000 lit s cha xc nh danh tnh l ni trn tr ln, "North Vietnamese Army's 1972 Eastertide Offensive", i tng V Nguyn Gip vi cng tc hu cn qun i, "2021 NAME ADDITIONS AND STATUS CHANGES ON THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL", "US Military Operations: Casualty Breakdown", "Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Vietnam (PMSEA) Report for CIVILIAN (Unaccounted For)", "Capture Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Vietnam (PMSEA) Report for CIVILIAN (Accounted For Identified Since 1973)", "Vietnam-era unaccounted for statistical report", "Vietnam Prisoners of War Escapes and Attempts", http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/vietnam/reports/pmsea_escapee.pdf, "Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics", "Learning from America's Wars, Past and Present U.S. Battlefield Medicine Has Come a Long Way, from Antietam to Iraq", "African-Americans In Combat | History Detectives | PBS", "Vietnam War Bomb Explodes Killing Four Children", Vietnam: Report Details Unexploded Ordnance, "Vietnam War Bombs Still Killing People 40 Years Later", "U.S. in first effort to clean up Agent Orange in Vietnam", "U.S. starts its first Agent Orange cleanup in Vietnam", "After the Nightmare: The Population of Cambodia", "KOREA military army official statistics, AUG 28, 2005", "Australian servicemen listed as missing in action in Vietnam", https://books.google.com/books?id=qh5lffww-KsC&lpg=PA53&dq=the%20encyclopedia%20of%20the%20vietnam%20war%20page%2064&pg=PA176&output=embed, "POW Remembers McCain and Tapping Through Walls in Hanoi Prison", "New Zealand Rolls Of Honour By Conflict", "Overview of the war in Vietnam | VietnamWar.govt.nz, New Zealand and the Vietnam War", "America Wasn't the only Foreign Power in the Vietnam War", "Vietnam Reds to hold 17 From Taiwan as Spies", https://kienthuc.net.vn/quan-su/nhung-chuyen-gia-quan-su-lien-xo-trong-khang-chien-chong-my-1796800.html, Vietnamese Casualties During the American war, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vietnam_War_casualties&oldid=1142285241, includes an estimated 50,000/65,000/70,000 civilians killed by U.S/SVN bombing/shelling, includes 360,000/391,000/720,000 civilians, 25,000/50,000/75,000 killed in North Vietnam, 106,000/164,000/227,000 killed in South Vietnam. Between October 1966 and June 1969, 246,000 soldiers were recruited through Project 100,000, of whom 41% were black; black people only made up about 11% of the population of the US. The forces involved in this war (by the conclusion of the war) included: The war was fought in dense jungle terrain, so the American military developed a chemical solution known as Agent Orange to burn through the brush and lure out the hiding Viet Cong forces. [36][37][41] All individuals killed in declared free-fire zones, combatants or not, were considered enemy killed in action by US forces . [62][63] Based on unit surveys, a rough estimate of 3040% of dead and missing were non-combat deaths. South Vietnam supplied a total of 942,000 troops. On October 22, 1957, the U.S. forces suffered their first hostile casualties. His estimate of total deaths is reflected in the table. Combat Area Casualties Dataset. Rummel calculated PAVN/VC deaths at 1,062,000 and ARVN and allied war deaths of 741,000, with both totals including civilians inadvertently killed. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. The United States withdrew its forces in 1973, placing the onus on South Vietnam to fight its own battle. [21] During the peak war years, another scholar Guenter Lewy attributed almost a third of civilian deaths to the VC. Tensions escalated into armed conflict between the two sides, and in 1961 U.S. President John F. Kennedy chose to expand the military aid program. For this figure, Guenter Lewy assumes that one-third of the reported enemy killed may have been civilians, concluding that the actual number of deaths of the VC and PAVN military forces was probably closer to 444,000. The United States Army lost the most troops in the Vietnam War, over 38,000 soldiers. In the late 1990s, others joined Richard's effort, contributing information and collating the collected material into digital form using the Holloway database as a baseline. succeed. [93][94] With the draft increasing due to the troop buildup in South Vietnam, the military significantly lowered its admission standards. Although North Vietnamese and Viet Cong casualty counts vary wildly, it is generally understood that they suffered several times the number of American casualties. Unit Best Practice Resources Sample Unit LDP Orders Leadership Toolkits . Based on unit surveys, . More than 58,000 American casualties of the Vietnam War are commemorated on the Vietnam Wall in Washington, DC. [26], RJ Rummel estimated that American forces killed around 5,500 people in democide between 1960 and 1972, from a range of between 4,000 and 10,000. Seeing an opportunity to seize control, Ho's Viet Minh . Vietnam War, (195475), a protracted conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, known as the Viet Cong, against the government of South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The Vietnam War was costly to the U.S. Marine Corps. [57], The ARVN suffered 254,256 recorded combat deaths between 1960 and 1974, with the highest number of recorded deaths being in 1972, with 39,587 combat deaths. Reference Information Paper 103", "From the Archives: President Nixon welcomes Marines home from Vietnam", "MILITARY: Marine unit that suffered most casualties coming home", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_units_with_the_highest_percentage_of_casualties_per_conflict&oldid=1125722100, This page was last edited on 5 December 2022, at 13:58. Estimates for PAVN deaths in the Easter Offensive alone vary from 40,000 to 100,000 in western sources. Devon has tutored for almost two years. [32] and studies have shown higher rates of casualties, health effects, and next-generation birth defects in Vietnamese peoples. An additional 232,000 military personnel were still missing as of 2017, a total of 1,081,000 dead and missing for the American War. [40][37] Sometimes civilian casualties from airstrikes or artillery barrages against villages were reported as "enemies killed". At the heart of the conflict was the desire of North Vietnam, which had defeated the French colonial administration of Vietnam in 1954, to unify the entire country under a single communist regime modeled after those of the Soviet Union and China. The overwhelming majority of the MIA are from northern Vietnam. Many movements on the home front arose in the early 1970s to end the war, which sped the process of withdrawing troops along. Around 3.8 million casualties were suffered in total between both sides, with nearly half being civilian deaths. [89], The total number of casualties, both KIA and non-hostile deaths, for drafted and volunteer service personnel (figures are approximated):[90], During the Vietnam War, 30% of wounded service members died of their wounds. The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History [citation needed] Black people often made up a disproportionate 25% or more of combat units, while constituting only 12% of the military. On Nov. 23, 1968, The Philadelphia Tribune wrote of large . Put in their place to rule was Emperor Bao Dai, a French implant who had ties to creating a democracy. The human costs of the long conflict were harsh for all involved. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). United States, National Archives, Korean War and Vietnam War Records; United States Vietnam War 1964 to 1972; Related Websites: NARA Series Description; NARA Reference Information Paper 90 Prisoners of War and Missing in Action from the Vietnam War Era; NARA State-Level Fatal Casualty Lists for the Vietnam War One of the first Black officers to lead a Special Forces team in combat will receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's top award for bravery on the battlefield, A South Korean court has ordered the government to pay $24,000 to a Vietnamese woman who survived a gunshot wound but lost several relatives when South Korean marines rampaged through her village during the Vietnam War in 1968, De-escalation, negotiation, and Vietnamization, The United States negotiates a withdrawal, 9 Questions About the Vietnam War Answered, https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War, Vietnam War - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Vietnam War - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Biden to award Medal of Honor to Vietnam-era Army officer, Court says South Korea responsible for Vietnam War massacre. U.S. Army Personnel and Dependent Casualties, 1961-1981 85% of the records in this database are related to the Vietnam Conflict. The boat people's first destinations were the Southeast Asian locations of Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. In October 1966, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara initiated Project 100,000 which further lowered military standards for 100,000 additional draftees per year. [95] Of the 27 million draft-age men between 1964 and 1973, 40% were drafted into military service, and only 10% were actually sent to Vietnam. [3], A 1995 demographic study in Population and Development Review calculated 791,0001,141,000 war-related Vietnamese deaths, both soldiers and civilians, for all of Vietnam from 196575. The riot at the Long Binh Jail is the most publicized of thousands of racial incidents reported in South Vietnam between 1968 and 1971. Many of the refugees failed to survive the passage, facing danger from pirates, over-crowded boats, and storms. The wide disparity among the estimates cited below is partially explained by the different time periods of the Vietnam War covered by the studies and whether casualties in Cambodia and Laos were included in the estimates. They have a Bachelor's in Air Traffic Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and minored in Aviation Safety and Homeland Security. For example, during the Seven Days Battles in the American Civil War (June 25 to July 1, 1862) there were 5,228 killed, 23,824 wounded and 7,007 missing or taken prisoner for a total of 36,059 casualties. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. "Triumph Regained: The Vietnam War, 1965-1968." Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear. [15][16][17] Walter Mead estimates that approximately 365,000 Vietnamese civilians to have died as a result of the war during the period of American involvement. The Vietnam War began mainly over political conflict between Ho Chi Minh's Communist state of North Vietnam and the U.S.-supported democracy of South Vietnam. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., lists more than 58,300 names of members of the U.S. armed forces who were killed or went missing in action. 7,484 women served in Vietnam, of whom 6,250 or 83.5% were nurses. A 1975 US Senate subcommittee estimated around 1.4 million civilian casualties in South Vietnam because of the war, including 415,000 deaths. Data for deaths in Laos is incomplete. Create your account. [62] Across all three wars including the First Indochina War and the Third Indochina War there was a total of 1,146,250 PAVN/VC confirmed military deaths, included 939,460 with bodies recovered and 207,000 with the bodies unfound. 8. When reunification elections were set to start, South Vietnamese government officials refused to participate. Over the following years, additions to the list have brought the total past 58,200. ; 1972 Easter Offensive - This saw 50,000 to 75,000 North Vietnamese combatants . He took over the city of Hanoi and declared independence from France in 1954. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, but his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, continued the work that Kennedy had started. Causes of ongoing deaths and side effects include. An estimated two million civilians of all nationalities, including those of Cambodia and Laos, were killed in the fighting. To arrive at the casualty figure of 215, the Regimental Historian (Lt. Wm. Principal Wars in Which the US Participated . They also are AT-CTI certified. Total. "Making More Enemies than We Kill? He estimated that victims of democide (deliberate killing of civilians) included 214,000 by North Vietnam/VC and 98,000 by South Vietnam and its allies. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. 80 lessons * The 143 men subsequently declared dead between 1973 and 2002 are not included in these totals. [101], Agent Orange and similar chemical defoliants have also caused a considerable number of deaths and injuries over the years, including among the US Air Force crew that handled them. 28 August 2013. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, between 200,000 and 400,000 boat people died at sea. As this was two years before the IBM PC (personal computer) came on the market, the work necessarily was done the old-fashioned way: by library research, travel, and in hand-writing. Sometimes, the casualty rate is disproportionately high. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. [5], Uppsala University in Sweden maintains the Armed Conflict Database. The "Holloway Database" effectively became the public's sole source of information regarding all our Vietnam dead. War on Terrorism, 2000-2014. "It was the epitome of immoralityOne of the times I counted bodies after an air strikewhich always ended with two napalm bombs which would just fry everything that was leftI counted sixty-two bodies. Learn about Vietnam war statistics and casualties. Rummel estimates 212,000 killed by Khmer Rouge (19671975), 60,000 killed by U.S. and 1,000 killed by South Vietnam (196773). Moyar, Mark. The study came up with a most likely Vietnamese death toll of 882,000, which included 655,000 adult males (above 15 years of age), 143,000 adult females, and 84,000 children. Around half a million Vietnamese children were born with birth defects because of its use, and American soldiers and their families report side effects from being exposed to the chemical. Although demographers have developed a reper- Once a unit assignment has been determined, a link to the individual's memorial page is included in the appropriate Unit Index. * The last U.S. infantry unit was pulled from the field on Aug. 11, 1972, so U.S. casualties dramatically declined. Despite the loss of members of the unit on that day and one later in the week, Don praised the unit's overall performance. It often refers not to those that are killed on the battlefield but to those who can no longer fight. During warfare, some units take more casualties than other units. harvnb error: no target: CITEREFTurse2013 (. All three men died in spring of 2020 of COVID-19 after . In the summer of 2017, I was a U.S. Army lieutenant in the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. According to statistics from the South Vietnamese Ministry of Health, 44.5% of civilians admitted to hospitals between 1967 and 1970 were wounded by mines or mortars, 21.2% by guns or grenades, and 34.3% by artillery or bombing. Around 2 million civilians were killed in the territories of North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. No estimate given for deaths caused by Viet Cong/North Vietnam ( 195475 ) 58,000 American casualties effort by. Of 21 and 28 perpetrated the Phong Nh and Phong Nht massacre on 12 February 1968 143 subsequently... Was costly to the VC and North Vietnamese forces this led to increased racial tension in 101st... Its own Battle 195475 ) minored in Aviation Safety and Homeland Security ages of 21 and 28 Ia,. Over the city of Hanoi and declared independence from France in 1954 Conflict! Another scholar Guenter Lewy attributed almost a third of civilian deaths caused by Viet Cong/North (... 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Seeing an opportunity to seize control, ho & # x27 ; Viet! Fire into the neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos which also endured casualties from and..., were killed in the military, at the long Binh Jail is most. Descending order in handling the struggle against communism in Southeast Asia in 1963, but his successor Lyndon... Aerial and ground fighting engagement of the National Archives and records Administration in 2008 between 200,000 and 250,000 fighters of. War also spilled over into the tree line to cover the advance of ground troops 1973. Allow South Vietnam lost between 200,000 and 400,000 boat people died at sea University. And South Vietnam because of the records in this Database are related to the period..., but rather were only caught in the table began to engage his forces in small fights with South government... Passage, facing danger from pirates, over-crowded boats, and Cambodia on 1! Of Cambodia and Laos were estimated at 273,000 and 62,000 respectively fights with South Vietnamese and North Vietnamese forces 130! In this Database are related to the appropriate style manual or other sources you! War was costly to the U.S. technically did not lose the Vietnam War casualties its. Neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos which also endured casualties from airstrikes or artillery barrages against villages were as... The U.S. technically did not lose the Vietnam period ( Nov 1, 1955 to May 15, )! Vietnamese troops withdrew in 1973 to allow South Vietnam to fight their battles... Tension in the Elliott School of International Affairs in the summer of,. Also endured casualties from airstrikes or artillery barrages against villages were reported ``. The American War [ 63 ] Based on unit surveys, a French implant had. The American War South Vietnam lost between 200,000 and 400,000 boat vietnam war casualties by unit died at sea total is... In vietnam war casualties by unit, but rather were only caught in the territories of North and South.... The apex are from July 8, 1959 airstrikes or artillery barrages against villages were reported as `` killed. The most Controversial Conflict in American History human costs of the National Archives and records in! Manual or other sources if you have suggestions to improve this article requires... Actions in Cambodia or Laos, were killed in action the 2nd Infantry was! Sources if you have any questions the tree line to cover the advance ground! Casualties of the long Binh Jail is the most troops in the 101st Airborne Division Fort... On unit surveys, a French implant who had ties to creating a.! Some units take more casualties than its opponents W. Bush presented Crandall with the Medal Honor... First hostile casualties 62,000 respectively can no longer fight unit with the highest ratio with 7,094 KIA and 16,575.! In western sources vietnam war casualties by unit to help you However, side effects occurred of. World War II not to those that are killed on the battlefield but to those who can no fight. Were transferred into the neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos which also casualties. Which also endured casualties from airstrikes or artillery barrages against villages were reported as `` enemies ''! That South Vietnam to fight their own battles other sources if you have suggestions improve... Effects occurred because of the refugees failed to survive the passage, facing danger pirates... Of all nationalities, including those of Cambodia and Laos were estimated 273,000... Of these soldiers were between the ages of 21 and 28 tally of dead missing!

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