The Viet Cong amassed an estimated 2.3 million troops by 1975. 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. 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. Dr. Shulimson heads the History Writing Unit and is a graduate of the University of Buffalo, now the State University of New York at Buffalo. Many deaths, however, were not completely targeted as they were the result of chance, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 13,091. On Nov. 23, 1968, The Philadelphia Tribune wrote of large . Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 28 August 2013. 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. 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. National Archives shows that 58,220 U.S. soldiers perished. In 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., inscribed with the names of 57,939 members of U.S. armed forces who had died or were missing as a result of the war. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died. 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. 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. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died. [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. 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. [2], Guenter Lewy in 1978 estimated 1,353,000 total deaths in North and South Vietnam during the period 19651974 in which the U.S. was most engaged in the war. In general we index the memorials at the lowest practical unit level. When reunification elections were set to start, South Vietnamese government officials refused to participate. This series contains records of U.S. military officers and soldiers who died as a result of either a hostile or nonhostile occurrence or who were missing in action or prisoners of war in the Southeast Asian combat area during the Vietnam War including casualties that occurred in Cambodia, China, Laos, North . The United States entered Vietnam with the principal purpose of preventing a communist takeover of the region. Since 1941 Congress has declared war only six times, all during World War II. The important statistics and information to remember from this lesson are: To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Two major war memorials commemorating the dead soldiers in the Second Indochina War (a.k.a. Chapter 14: "The cease-fire war claimed 26,500 ARVN dead in 1973, and almost 30,000 in 1974. 7. Necessarily, more is lost to time than is remembered. [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. Seven massacres officially confirmed by the American side. Support for the war was lacking in the United States, so the decision was made to discontinue efforts there. Of the 7877 officer casualties, 7595 or 96.4% were white, 147 or 1.8% were black; 24 or . Revolutionary War. Once a unit assignment has been determined, a link to the individual's memorial page is included in the appropriate Unit Index. Many black men who had previously been ineligible could now be drafted, along with many poor and racially intolerant white men from the southern states. Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. Many were never directly involved in the fighting, but rather were only caught in the crosshairs of South Vietnamese and North Vietnamese forces. [21] During the peak war years, another scholar Guenter Lewy attributed almost a third of civilian deaths to the VC. Some Vietnam War veterans that died between 1966 and 1968 came from Los Angeles, Sacramento, Yuba City, San Diego, Santa Ana and Whittier or Stockton.. California has the highest veteran count of all the U.S. states, totaling 596,130. In 1995 Vietnam released its official estimate of the number of people killed during the Vietnam War: as many as 2,000,000 civilians on both sides and some 1,100,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. [11], Author Mark Woodruff noted that when the Vietnamese Government finally revealed its estimated losses (in April 1995) as being 1.1 million dead or missing, U.S body count figures had actually underestimated enemy losses. Colonial France inhabited Vietnam through the end of World War II. [98], Unexploded ordnance continue to detonate and kill people today. The American death toll in the Vietnam War is currently known to be 58,220. 69th Armor Page: Ray's Home Page: E-Mail Me: Note: NVA casualty data was provided by North Vietnam in a press release to Agence France Presse (AFP) on April 3, 1995, on the 20th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. The two countries finally resumed formal diplomatic relations in 1995. Furthermore, the murder of children was not uncommon to prevent them from joining the armed forces in the future, making up around 15% of total deaths. His estimate of total deaths is reflected in the table. 3% were Asian, 7 or . American Greatness, by Victor Davis Hanson Original Article. 88,594. 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. Aid sent from other nations to the South Vietnamese effort waged about 5,000 total deaths. The Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files contains records of 58,220 U.S. military fatal casualties of the Vietnam War. He took over the city of Hanoi and declared independence from France in 1954. This article displays the highest percentage of casualties among American units, including those wiped out as an effective force. [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 names of those who gave their lives and of those who remain missing are inscribed in the order they . The war persisted from 1955 to 1975 and most of the fighting took place in South Vietnam; accordingly it suffered the most casualties. the Vietnam War). Deaths caused by the South Korean military, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong military casualties, Disproportion of African American casualties. The earliest casualty record contains a date of death of . This list is organized in alphabetical order, and can be used to determine the place on the Vietnam Memorial where an individual's name can be found - the panel and line number to the right of the name. It often refers not to those that are killed on the battlefield but to those who can no longer fight. The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History Although North Vietnamese and Viet Cong casualty counts vary wildly, it is generally understood that they suffered several times the number of American casualties. These numbers do not include civilian and ARVN military deaths result from the communist mass-internment, the refugee crisis and subsequent exodus of Vietnamese people after the Fall of Saigon. [103], On 9 August 2012, the United States and Vietnam began a cooperative cleaning up of the toxic chemical from part of Da Nang International Airport, marking the first time Washington has been involved in cleaning up Agent Orange in Vietnam. The boat people's first destinations were the Southeast Asian locations of Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. [70], RJ Rummel estimates 1,011,000 PAVN/VC combatant deaths. Put in their place to rule was Emperor Bao Dai, a French implant who had ties to creating a democracy. It's a sober fact we're meant to be reminded of on Memorial Day, particularly in light of the nearly 7,000 U.S. troops killed, and the many more wounded, over the last decade in our most recent and ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Australians committed more forces to the war in Vietnam than any other foreign contributor (except for the United States, that is). They have a Bachelor's in Air Traffic Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and minored in Aviation Safety and Homeland Security. On October 22, 1957, the U.S. forces suffered their first hostile casualties. Furthermore, domestic unrest and the financial cost of war made peaceand troop withdrawalsa necessity, not a choice. Lebanon (1982-1984) 240. The war persisted from 1955 to 1975 and most of the fighting took place in South Vietnam; accordingly it suffered the most casualties. 232,000 military personnel were still missing as of 2017, a total of 1,081,000 dead and missing for the American War. 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. The Vietnam War officially came to an end in 1975 when South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam, unable to maintain the fight. Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History. The war was fought largely in North Vietnam and South Vietnam, though some fighting did occur in the neighboring territories of Cambodia and Laos. Vietnam War. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. Following the end of French colonial rule in 1954 and break-up of the former French Indochina, the United States assumed the political mentorship and primary . Of the 4953 Navy and Air Force casualties, both officer and enlisted, 4, 736 or 96% were white. There are some limitations on the search capabilities and downloading records en masse is not allowed. From 1965 to 1975, nearly 500,000 Marines served in Southeast Asia. The killed in action figure comes from "Special Subject 4: The Work of Locating and Recovering the Remains of Martyrs From Now Until 2020 And Later Years," downloaded from the Vietnamese government website datafile on 1 December 2017. Last combat unit departs Vietnam ending the ground war August 11, 1972. . Vancouver's Rob McSorley is one of at least 134 Canadians killed in action fighting for U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths (Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General), 1 June 1953, 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Battalion, List of battles with most United States military fatalities, "The Old Northwest Territory: America's First Great Westward Expansion", "St. Clair's Campaign of 1791: A Defeat in the Wilderness That Helped Forge Today's U.S. Army", http://www.gdg.org/Research/MOLLUS/mollus7.html, "Chapter 3: The Siege and Capture of Corregidor", "Department of the Army, Lineage and Honors, 1st Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment", "The Korean War. Estimates for PAVN deaths in the Easter Offensive alone vary from 40,000 to 100,000 in western sources. [2], Arapaho tribe Cheyenne tribeLakota tribes, Vichy FranceItalian Social Republic 19431945Kingdom of Italy19421943, American units with the highest percentage of casualties per conflict, US units with most casualties per conflict, Union and Confederate numbers added together, The 215 casualty figure is disputed. The oldest man killed was 62 years old. The Vietnam War death toll is estimated to be around 3.8 million casualties in total. 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. Some limitations on the battlefield but to those that are killed on the search capabilities and downloading records en is. National Archives shows that 58,220 U.S. soldiers perished nearly 500,000 Marines served in Southeast Asia Indochina (. 96 % were black ; 24 or personnel were still missing as of 2017, a total of 1,081,000 and... 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