1975. The Vietnam War was costly to the U.S. Marine Corps. The Vietnam War became a painful lesson for many - from Washington, D.C. to Smalltown America. 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. The South Vietnamese government, on the other hand, fought to preserve a Vietnam more closely aligned with the West. The Australians committed more forces to the war in Vietnam than any other foreign contributor (except for the United States, that is). From 1965 to 1975, nearly 500,000 Marines served in Southeast Asia. Approximately 8,000 Coast Guardsmen served in Vietnam - but our legacy does not stop there. The Coffelt Database of Vietnam War casualties has its roots in an effort begun by Richard Donham Coffelt. [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. The term casualty in warfare can often be confusing. Of the 7877 officer casualties, 7595 or 96.4% were white, 147 or 1.8% were black; 24 or . Those who argue that the United States opponents won the war cite the United States overall objectives and outcomes. PAVN and VC losses were reported as 1.1 million dead and civilian deaths of Vietnamese on both sides totaled 2.0 million. Though the Vietnamese army incurred more casualties, it was a . Who had the highest casualty rates in the Vietnam War? 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. [14], German historian Bernd Greiner mentions the following war crimes reported and/or investigated by the Peers Commission and the Vietnam War Crimes Working Group, among other sources:[43]. The number of casualties is simply the number of members of a unit who are not available for duty. 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. 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. I feel like its a lifeline. In addition, at least 36,000 Southern civilians were executed for various reasons in the period 19671972. On that panel, above the names is this inscription: In honor of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States who served in the Vietnam War. Furthermore, domestic unrest and the financial cost of war made peaceand troop withdrawalsa necessity, not a choice. 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. 0. Estimates for PAVN deaths in the Easter Offensive alone vary from 40,000 to 100,000 in western sources. [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. [55] Widespread reports of deliberate mass killings by Korean forces alleged that they were the result of systemic, deliberate policies to massacre civilians, with murders running into the hundreds. 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. Devon has tutored for almost two years. The United States lost 58,220 known military personnel. According to RJ Rummel, from 1964 to 1975, an estimated 1,500 people died during the forced relocations of 1,200,000 civilians, another 5,000 prisoners died from ill-treatment and about 30,000 suspected communists and fighters were executed. [1] However, side effects occurred because of Agent Orange. Corrections? 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 . The war cost the United States over $120 billion and the lives of over 58,000 troops. 2.7 million American troops were sent to South Vietnam. [19], Other casualties for the ARVN included up to 1,170,000 military wounded,[59] and 1,000,000 surrendered or captured. The majority of these soldiers were between the ages of 21 and 28. The Vietnam War was a costly conflict between all sides from both a financial and military perspective. 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. 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. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Ultimately, by the end of the war, India had suffered over two million fatalities. [5], Uppsala University in Sweden maintains the Armed Conflict Database. Following its 1945 defeat in World War II, Japan withdrew its forces from Vietnam, leaving the French-educated Emperor Bao Dai in control. The U.S. National Archives shows that 58,220 U.S. soldiers perished. the Vietnam War). Vietnam War Casualties 1956-1998. The human costs of the long conflict were harsh for all involved. 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. Civilian deaths caused by both sides amounted to a significant percentage of total deaths. The 'shameful gamesmanship' practiced by 'certain reporting elements' under pressure to 'produce results' also shrouded the process. Revolutionary War. By 1944, the French were still occupying Vietnam, even though they continued to wage battle in Europe as the end of World War II drew near. 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. Cpl., Memphis, Tenn. [102] The Red Cross of Vietnam estimates that up to 1 million people are disabled or suffer health problems due to Agent Orange exposure. By 1969 more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were stationed in Vietnam. There are some limitations on the search capabilities and downloading records en masse is not allowed. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [93][97], Civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, John Lewis, Muhammad Ali and others, criticized the racial disparity in both casualties and representation in the entire military, prompting the Pentagon to order cutbacks in the number of African Americans in combat positions. Persian Gulf (1988) (Oil Platforms) 2. [19] Rummel's mid-level estimate includes 17,000 South Vietnamese civil servants killed by PAVN/VC. 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. Korean War Casualties Vietnam Casualties Advanced search Export results Vietnam Casualties. In reality, it is a collection of ideas, images, and information that enough people have chosen to preserve and disseminate. [21] During the peak war years, another scholar Guenter Lewy attributed almost a third of civilian deaths to the VC. succeed. South Vietnam supplied a total of 942,000 troops. [58] According to Guenter Lewy, the ARVN suffered between 171,331 and 220,357 deaths during the war. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. Casualties fluctuated considerably from year to year, but a degree of accuracy can be inferred from the fact that 500,000 was 59 percent of the 849,018 total and that 59 percent of the war's days had passed by the time of Fallaci's conversation with Giap. [20] About 130 American and 16,000 South Vietnamese POWs died in captivity. Democide is the murder of persons by or at the behest of governments. The numbers below are not exact, as there are still personnel who have not been identified or are identified as missing. The overwhelming majority of the MIA are from northern Vietnam. Those who argue that the United States won the war point to the fact that the U.S. defeated communist forces during most of Vietnams major battles. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. These Vietnam War photos taken by U.S. Army photographers reveal a side of the conflict that few people have ever seen. The most prominent of these events were the Hu Massacre and the M Lai Massacre. 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 government of Vietnam says that 4 million of its citizens were exposed to Agent Orange, and as many as 3 million have suffered illnesses because of it; these figures include the children of people who were exposed. Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear. The oldest man killed was 62 years old. U.S. military advisers, present in small numbers throughout the 1950s, were introduced on a large scale beginning in 1961, and active combat units were introduced in 1965. The United States has spent over $65 million since 1998 as part of unexploded ordnance clearing operations. 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. Combat Area Casualties Dataset. The Vietnamese, in the midst of the fighting, only had a growing desire to separate from colonial France and create their own nation. AIR FORCE * These are the most accurate estimates of the death tolls for each group of fighters: Civilians made up a large portion of the casualties in the Vietnam War. This resulted in a dramatic decrease in the proportion of black casualties, and by late 1967, black casualties had fallen to 13%, and were below 10% in 1970 to 1972. (The estimates for 195564 are much higher than other estimates). Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, but his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, continued the work that Kennedy had started. Put in their place to rule was Emperor Bao Dai, a French implant who had ties to creating a democracy. Many deaths, however, were not completely targeted as they were the result of chance, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Their estimates for conflict deaths in Vietnam are 164,923 from 195564 and 1,458,050 from 196575 for a total of 1,622,973. [93][94] With the draft increasing due to the troop buildup in South Vietnam, the military significantly lowered its admission standards. Posted By: Jagermeister, 2/27/2023 4:40:17 PM Military historian and Hillsdale College professor Mark Moyar has just published Triumph Regained: The Vietnam War, 1965-1968, which is the second in what will become a massive three-volume revision of the entire Vietnam War. It was first used in 1962 and was effective at its job. This prompted the official start of the Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War. He recalled the attack and said, "We go in, and the helicopter started . Get unlimited access to over 84,000 lessons. Other nations such as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and the Philippines provided a limited number of troops to South Vietnamese forces. 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. [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 war was fought on Vietnamese land, in addition to the territories of Cambodia and Laos. 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. For the period of the Vietnam War the totals are 1,310,000 between 1955 and 1964, 1,700,000 between 196574 and 810,000 between 1975 and 1984. Regarding killed in action the 1st Marine Division was the unit with the highest . copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. Despite the loss of members of the unit on that day and one later in the week, Don praised the unit's overall performance. The exact breakdown still remains unclear, although an estimated 273,000 Cambodians and 62,000 Lao lost their lives. Once a unit assignment has been determined, a link to the individual's memorial page is included in the appropriate Unit Index. These photographs have become a part of the Coffelt Database. Records with Unit Information on Military Personnel Who Died During the Vietnam War . U.S. Marines in Vietnam, 1966, An Expanding War, 1982 . For more information see Vietnam War casualties and Aircraft losses of the Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos . As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 84,000 By nearly every metric, the Vietnam War was, in the common sense of the word, a war. This was the turning point and the start of South Vietnam's defeat. This was part of the Cold War effort to prevent the spread of Communism across the globe. The United States had provided funding, armaments, and training to South Vietnams government and military since Vietnams partition into the communist North and the democratic South in 1954. The following year, in 1976, Vietnam was united as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. On February 26, 2007, President George W. Bush presented Crandall with the Medal of Honor for . Memorial pages honoring Vietnam War casualties, listed by their last names. Chapter 14: "The cease-fire war claimed 26,500 ARVN dead in 1973, and almost 30,000 in 1974. [5], In 1995, the Vietnamese government released its estimate of war deaths for the more lengthy period of 195575. The U.S. Constitution grants Congress sole authority to issue declarations of war. 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. Chart and statistics of US death/wounded in war as well as amputation ratios in the Afghanistan war compared with other major operations. The war persisted from 1955 to 1975 and most of the fighting took place in South Vietnam; accordingly it suffered the most casualties. Rummel does not give a medium or high estimate. How to Order a Draft Record. 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. 70. . The former arrives in Vietnam in November 1965, and, soon after, is tasked with leading his 400 men in an effort to take out . Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. Over 58,000 American lives were lost in the fighting. After 1975. Officer casualties of all branches were overwhelmingly white. Around 3.8 million casualties were suffered in total between both sides, with nearly half being civilian deaths. The Vietnam War death toll is estimated to be around 3.8 million casualties in total. Total. [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 following is a chart of all casualties, listed by race, and in descending order. The two countries finally resumed formal diplomatic relations in 1995. During the final years of World War II, political leader Ho Chi Minh organized a group, the Viet Cong, to fight the powers in occupancy of the territory and take control. 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