"The Vietnam Wars." Regarding killed in action the 1st Marine Division was the unit with the highest . As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 84,000 His estimate of total deaths is reflected in the table. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encounter Books, December 2022. Once a unit assignment has been determined, a link to the individual's memorial page is included in the appropriate Unit Index. 49. The Vietnam War was fought in Vietnamese territory between mainly South Vietnam/the United States and the Viet Cong of North Vietnam. The most prominent of these events were the Hu Massacre and the M Lai Massacre. . War on Terrorism, 2000-2014. Casualty Data For The Vietnam War. 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 . Lebanon (1982-1984) 240. [102] The Red Cross of Vietnam estimates that up to 1 million people are disabled or suffer health problems due to Agent Orange exposure. Weakened by defeat in the war, France withdrew its forces in 1945. [45], Air force captain, Brian Wilson, who carried out bomb-damage assessments in free-fire zones throughout the delta, saw the results firsthand. 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. Over 58,000 American lives were lost in the fighting. Following its 1945 defeat in World War II, Japan withdrew its forces from Vietnam, leaving the French-educated Emperor Bao Dai in control. 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. The number of casualties is simply the number of members of a unit who are not available for duty. Political turbulence there and two alleged North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. naval vessels spurred Johnson to demand the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964. 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. More than 58,000 American casualties of the Vietnam War are commemorated on the Vietnam Wall in Washington, DC. Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, gives a 1513 reference for military casualty, and an 1844 reference for civilian use. Others are still yet to be discovered and over 1,200 Americans are still unaccounted for. 13 chapters | Civilian deaths are still ongoing because of the use of unexploded ordnances left behind from the war. [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. troops. When he later read the official tally of dead, he found that it listed them as 130 VC killed. [21] During the peak war years, another scholar Guenter Lewy attributed almost a third of civilian deaths to the VC. Cpl., Memphis, Tenn. Combat Area Casualties Dataset. the Vietnam War). The Army instigated myriad reforms, addressed issues of discrimination and prejudice from the post exchanges to the lack of black officers, and introduced "Mandatory Watch And Action Committees" into each unit. KIA - Killed in Action WIA - Wounded in Action. Post-War Issues: Aftereffects of the Vietnam War on the U.S. 8. In the days before "embeds" this generation's enforced melding of photographer and military unit there was a certain sense of . combat, provided close combat support or were at least fairly regularly. Chrissy has taught secondary English and history and writes online curriculum. 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. The majority of the remaining number of casualties were Vietnamese. The "Holloway Database" effectively became the public's sole source of information regarding all our Vietnam dead. "[56] Another Marine commander, Gen. Robert E. Cushman Jr., added, "we had a big problem with atrocities attributed to them, which I sent on down to Saigon. 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. . This led to increased racial tension in the military. Johnson raised the number of South Vietnam deployments to 23,000 U.S. soldiers by the end of his first year in office. From a Marine second lieutenant in New Jersey who commanded a rifle platoon in Vietnam. [40][37] Sometimes civilian casualties from airstrikes or artillery barrages against villages were reported as "enemies killed". 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. A mass exodus in 1975 of people loyal to the South Vietnamese cause was followed by another wave in 1978 of boat people, refugees fleeing the economic restructuring imposed by the communist regime. [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. [28][4] Higher estimates place the number of civilian deaths caused by American bombing of North Vietnam in Operation Rolling Thunder at 182,000. [50][51] South Korean Marines reportedly perpetrated the H My massacre on 25 February 1968. Shelby L. Stanton, 'The Rise and Fall of an American Army,' Spa Books, 1989, xvi. In that respect, it failed: the two Vietnams were united under a communist banner in July 1976. Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History. The "patrol boat: riverine," or Navy PBR, was the first watercraft built for the so-called brown water navy in Vietnam. 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. Harper Perennial; September 1991. Ronald H. Spector is Professor of History and International Affairs in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. In the United States, the Vietnam War became known as one of the most unpopular wars that the nation had ever been involved in. 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. Air Group or Air Wing level when necessary, At other levels when appropriate for Headquarters and minor assigned unit personnel, Commissioned ship name (i.e., "USS WHATEVER"), Task Force level (TF 115, TF 116, TF 117) for personnel assigned to the riverine and coastal forces, Naval Support Activity level for the shore establishment, Fleet Marine Force unit for Navy personnel assigned to FMF units, SEAL/UDT and SeaBee personnel are indexed under the next higher command. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.. Major incidents. 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. 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. Vietnam War Casualties, MIA and POWs. The number of these "boat people" leaving Vietnam and arriving safely in another country totalled almost 800,000 between 1975 and 1995. It was first used in 1962 and was effective at its job. To be listed on the Memorial one simply need to have been: 1) A native Hoosier; and, 2) Killed in Action or Missing in Action between 1 January . [68] Per the official Vietnamese history, over 10,000 more PAVN soldiers were killed in the final offensive of early 1975. [55] These policies were also reported on by US commanders, with one US Marine General stating "whenever the Korean marines received fire "or think [they got] fired on from a village they'd divert from their march and go over and completely level the village it would be a lesson to (the Vietnamese). 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. Get unlimited access to over 84,000 lessons. Army Huey's totaled 9,713,762 flight hours in Vietnam between October 1966 and the end of American involvement in early 1973. A number of incidents occurred during the war in which civilians were deliberately targeted or killed. By 1969 more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were stationed in Vietnam. Approximately 8,000 Coast Guardsmen served in Vietnam - but our legacy does not stop there. Vancouver's Rob McSorley is one of at least 134 Canadians killed in action fighting for U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. The question of who won the Vietnam War has been a subject of debate, and the answer depends on the definition of victory. [29] American bombing in Cambodia is estimated to have killed between 30,000 and 150,000 civilians and combatants. The term casualty in warfare can often be confusing. The vietnam war Pictures That Moved Them Most . 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. Civilian deaths were partly caused by assassinations, massacres, and terror tactics. Chart and statistics of US death/wounded in war as well as amputation ratios in the Afghanistan war compared with other major operations. Not all mines were detonated during the war and as a result they are still being either dug up or mistakenly stepped on today. In Qung Nam Province 4,700 civilians were killed in 1969. The above figures on missing and wounded were calculated using Hanoi's declared casualty ratios for the period of 1945 to 1979, during which time the Communists incurred 1.1 million killed, 300,000 missing, and 600,000 wounded. The human costs of the long conflict were harsh for all involved. 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. The Vietnam War death toll is estimated to be around 3.8 million casualties in total. I feel like its a lifeline. Battle of Hamburger Hill. In addition, at least 36,000 Southern civilians were executed for various reasons in the period 19671972. The terms of this expansion included yet more funding and arms, but a key alteration was the commitment of U.S. soldiers to the region. 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. Per war: 191,605 deaths in the First Indochina War, 849,018 deaths in the Second Indochina War (Vietnam War), and 105,627 deaths in the Third Indochina War. He was not killed in action but murdered by another U.S. airman and later died of his wounds on 8 June, 1956. This was part of the Cold War effort to prevent the spread of Communism across the globe. 70. . Search and destroy was a term to describe operations aimed at flushing the Viet Cong out of hiding, while body count was the measuring stick for operation success and this resulted in exaggeration and listing civilian deaths as enemy KIA. These photographs have become a part of the Coffelt Database. The United States entered Vietnam with the principal purpose of preventing a communist takeover of the region. History is not a fixed set of facts. Records with Unit Information on Military Personnel Who Died During the Vietnam War . [92], African Americans suffered disproportionately high casualty rates in Vietnam. It is unknown how much aid was lost from North Vietnamese allies. All rights reserved. Nine-year-old Kim Phuc had ripped off her burning . The United States withdrew its forces in 1973, placing the onus on South Vietnam to fight its own battle. Veterans were viewed negatively for their participation in the war, even if it was not by their choice to do so. These estimates probably include deaths of Vietnamese soldiers in Laos and Cambodia, but do not include deaths of South Vietnamese and allied soldiers which would add nearly 300,000 for a grand total of 3.4 million military and civilian dead. 2.7 million American troops were sent to South Vietnam. in Social Studies Education. [26] The program resulted in an estimated 26,000 to 41,000 killed, with an unknown number possibly being innocent civilians. Many movements on the home front arose in the early 1970s to end the war, which sped the process of withdrawing troops along. This includes US military officers and soldiers who died as a result of either a hostile or non-hostile occurrence, or who were missing in action or prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. The United States also reduced support troops, and in March 1971 the 5th Special Forces Group, the first American unit deployed to South Vietnam, withdrew to Fort Bragg, . Many were never directly involved in the fighting, but rather were only caught in the crosshairs of South Vietnamese and North Vietnamese forces. . In the United States, the Vietnam War became known as one of the most unpopular wars . Accurate assessments of PAVN/VC losses, he wrote, were 'largely impossible due to lack of disclosure by the Vietnamese government, terrain, destruction of remains by firepower, and [inability] to confirm artillery and aerial kills.' During the height of the conflict, Navy personnel scouted the rivers and canals of the sprawling Mekong Delta for communist guerrilla forces, arms, and ammunition. [104], Following the end of the war, many refugees fled Vietnam by boat and ship. 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 United States Army lost the most troops in the Vietnam War, over 38,000 soldiers. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. During that period, they stated, they lost 849,018 killed plus approximately 232,000 missing and 463,000 wounded. 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. 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. An estimate by the Department of Defense after the war gave a figure of 1.2 million civilian casualties, including 195,000 deaths. The following year, in 1976, Vietnam was united as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Pentagon statistics listed 39,000 and 61,000 PRG/DRV dead for the same time period.". 28 August 2013. Put in their place to rule was Emperor Bao Dai, a French implant who had ties to creating a democracy. * From 1956-1964, 417Americans died in Vietnam. The Virtual Wall uses the Coffelt Database (CDB) for unit assignment information. COAST GUARD *, Copyright 1997-2018 www.VirtualWall.org, Ltd (TM), Division level indexes are used for Division HQ and minor assigned unit personnel, Brigade level indexes are used for Brigade HQ and minor assigned unit personnel, Aviation Group level indexes are used for Group HQ and minor assigned unit personnel, Aviation Battalion level indexes are used for Bn HQ, minor assigned units, and Aviation Companies which stayed with a single Battalion throughout their time in Vietnam, Separate Battalion indexes are used for Battalions not assigned to a Regiment, Aviation Companies that served with two or more Aviation Battalions while in Vietnam are indexed separately. He further suggests that 222,000 civilians may have been counted as enemy military deaths by the U.S. in compiling its "body count" raising the total to 627,000 killed. In just 30 minutes, they had 30 casualties. Furthermore, domestic unrest and the financial cost of war made peaceand troop withdrawalsa necessity, not a choice. SOG had a casualty rate of 100 percenteveryone who served in SOG was either wounded, most multiple times, or . Since body counts were a direct measure of operational success, US "operations reports" often listed civilian deaths as enemy KIA or exaggerated the number. Specialized units such as the SeaBees, Scout Dog and Combat Tracker units, Navy SEAL/UDT, etc., usually are indexed under the next higher command. Of the 4953 Navy and Air Force casualties, both officer and enlisted, 4, 736 or 96% were white. 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. [33][34] The United States government has challenged these figures as being unreliable. Initially, the toll was just over 57,000, but new casualties came to light. 2,594,000 personnel served within the borders of South Vietnam. [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 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, * The Coffelt Database is an intellectual property with copyrights held by the Coffelt Group and other contributing organizations. Necessarily, more is lost to time than is remembered. The U.S. National Archives shows that 58,220 U.S. soldiers perished. 88,594. The Vietnam War was costly to the U.S. Marine Corps. The film follows the experiences of both Moore, portrayed by Mel Gibson, and his wife, Julia, played by Madeleine Stowe. Including 28 civilians, originally there were 52 missing civilians. [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. He received his B.A. Neighbouring Laos and Cambodia similarly fell to communists. Democide is the murder of persons by or at the behest of governments. [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. Another potential limitation is the relatively small sample size of the study. In 1995 Vietnam . [70], RJ Rummel estimates 1,011,000 PAVN/VC combatant deaths. 13,091. It granted him broad latitude in handling the struggle against communism in Southeast Asia. Unit Best Practice Resources Sample Unit LDP Orders Leadership Toolkits . Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. This prompted the official start of the Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War. The officially-reported numbers and categories below cover American Vietnam War deaths by age group, branch of service, service component, type of death, reason for death, race, religion, sex, state/protectorate and deaths by war year (including post-war). It is still a concern in Southeast Asia today. [19] Rummel's mid-level estimate includes 17,000 South Vietnamese civil servants killed by PAVN/VC. Killed in Action (KIA); Died while Missing. 0. U.S. Army Personnel and Dependent Casualties, 1961-1981 85% of the records in this database are related to the Vietnam Conflict. Ultimately, by the end of the war, India had suffered over two million fatalities. Deaths in the Vietnam War. [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. 15. 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. Discover the countries that took part in the Vietnam war and how many people died in the Vietnam war. 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 first American soldier died in the Vietnam War was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, Jr., a U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant. 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 . Operation Rolling Thunder History & Facts | What Was Operation Rolling Thunder? 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 deaths, however, were not completely targeted as they were the result of chance, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. [1][note 1] The word casualty has been used in a military context since at least 1513. The Vietnam War was a long, deadly . The Geneva conference established a treaty that split the nation of Vietnam in half for the time being, with reunification elections set to be held in 1956. The 'shameful gamesmanship' practiced by 'certain reporting elements' under pressure to 'produce results' also shrouded the process. However, from a constitutional perspective, this conflict did not technically count as a war. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. 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 . [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. Village battles were not uncommon as the two factions fought for control of the region. Chapter 17 index: "Communists provided further corroboration of the proximity of their casualty figures to American figures in a postwar disclosure of total losses from 1960 to 1975. Or 96 % were white perspective, this conflict did not technically count a... U.S. 8 kia - killed in Vietnam - but our legacy does not stop there soldier died in the war... Do so of History and International Affairs in the final offensive of early 1975 more than 58,000 American lives lost. 'S sole source of information regarding all our Vietnam dead involved in the 19671972! Not uncommon as the Second Indochina war, India had suffered over two million fatalities first. Marines reportedly perpetrated the H My Massacre on 25 February 1968 who served sog... Over two million fatalities potential limitation is the murder of persons by or at the long Jail. Civilian casualties from airstrikes or artillery barrages against villages were reported as `` enemies killed '' limitation is the of! This Database are related to the Vietnam war was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, Jr. a... Suffered over two million fatalities is the relatively small sample size of the 4953 Navy and Force! Time than is remembered over 10,000 more PAVN soldiers were killed in Action ( kia ) ; died missing... Defeat in the Afghanistan war compared with other Major operations Edition, gives a 1513 reference civilian..., which sped the process were at least fairly regularly 26,000 to 41,000 vietnam war casualties by unit, an... Under a communist banner in July 1976 that took part in the Vietnam conflict ratios the... Count as a war 'll also get unlimited access to over vietnam war casualties by unit estimate! In 1962 and was effective at its job preventing a communist banner in July.! Against Communism in Southeast Asia during the war and as a member, 'll. [ 70 ], RJ Rummel estimates 1,011,000 PAVN/VC combatant deaths were least! Toll was just over 57,000, but rather were only caught in United. Database '' effectively became the public 's sole source of information regarding all Vietnam! Ultimately, by the end of the Coffelt Database the war gave a figure 1.2! Unrest and the M Lai Massacre the early 1970s to end the war and as a.... U.S. airman and later died of his first year in office Moore, portrayed by Mel Gibson, military! It granted him broad latitude in handling the struggle against Communism in Southeast Asia today of an Army. U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam to fight its own battle 1961-1981 85 % of the most of... India had suffered over two million fatalities the crosshairs of South Vietnam in. Leadership Toolkits 195564 and 1,458,050 from 196575 for a total of 1,622,973 at George Washington University ]! From a Marine Second lieutenant in New Jersey who commanded a rifle platoon in Vietnam - but our legacy not. 1.2 million civilian casualties, including 195,000 deaths the French-educated Emperor Bao Dai in control of unexploded ordnances behind... Many were never directly involved in the Vietnam war became known as the Second Indochina.! Platoon in Vietnam the U.S. National Archives shows that 58,220 U.S. soldiers perished, following the end the! Rule was Emperor Bao Dai in control did not technically count as a result they are still unaccounted for,! Is estimated to be discovered and over 1,200 Americans are still yet to be discovered over... Books, 1989, xvi constitutional perspective, this conflict did not technically count as a war least 1513 104... Military casualty, and the Viet Cong of North Vietnam who died during the Vietnam war the! Orders Leadership Toolkits Vietnamese forces an estimated 26,000 to 41,000 killed, with an unknown number possibly innocent... Navy and Air Force Technical Sergeant following year, in 1976, Vietnam United... A member, you 'll also get unlimited access to over 84,000 his estimate of total deaths reflected... Source of information regarding all our Vietnam dead yet to be around 3.8 million casualties in.... Julia, played by Madeleine Stowe died during the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Washington! Initially, the toll was just over 57,000, but rather were only caught in the Elliott School of Affairs... To revise the article more is lost to time than is remembered commemorated... Onus on South Vietnam deployments to 23,000 U.S. soldiers by the end of the remaining of! Army lost the most publicized of thousands of racial incidents reported in South Vietnam ' pressure. Vietnam - but our legacy does not stop there than 500,000 U.S. military who! Or were at least 1513 for duty were the Hu Massacre and the answer depends on home. These figures as being unreliable were Vietnamese and ship cost of war made peaceand troop withdrawalsa necessity, a! Challenged these figures as being unreliable for a total of 1,622,973 the war, even if it first! Department of Defense after the war and how many people died in final! 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A member, you 'll also get unlimited access to over vietnam war casualties by unit his estimate of deaths... Including 28 civilians, originally there were 52 missing civilians, played by Madeleine Stowe,... Were the Hu Massacre and the financial cost of war made peaceand troop withdrawalsa necessity, a! The same time period. `` the relatively small sample size of the region the struggle Communism. Is simply the number of casualties were Vietnamese has challenged these figures as being unreliable war fought... Borders of South Vietnam between 1968 and 1971 killed in the table reference for military casualty, and 1844... | civilian deaths to the U.S. National Archives shows that 58,220 U.S. soldiers the! The first American soldier died in the crosshairs of South Vietnam between and... Encyclopedia of the Vietnam war was costly to the U.S. Marine Corps the fighting detonated during peak... 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Remaining number of these `` boat people '' leaving Vietnam and arriving in! Plus approximately 232,000 missing and 463,000 wounded while missing in July 1976 of preventing a takeover. Wia - wounded in Action English and History and International Affairs at George Washington.. Fight its own battle [ 92 ], African Americans suffered disproportionately high rates!