Vietnam War casualties

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The Vietnam War began in 1959 and did not end until 1975. By then, it had escalated from an insurgency in South Vietnam sponsored by the North Vietnamese government to a direct military intervention in the south by North Vietnam and the United States and its allies as well as to warfare in the surrounding countries of Cambodia and Laos. Accordingly, an exhaustive reckoning of the casualties incurred as a result of the war must take into account statistical information available for each theater of the conflict.

Contents

[edit] North Vietnam

According to the Vietnamese government, 1,100,000 Vietnam People's Army and National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam military personnel and 2,000,000 Vietnamese civilians on both sides died in the conflict.[1] (Technically, some of these dead were South Vietnamese members of the NLF, but it would be impossible to separate their constituency from the total.) Estimates of civilian deaths caused by American bombing in Operation Rolling Thunder range from 52,000[2] to 182,000.[3] Although most researchers of war history puts the civilian toll closer to 4 million[citation needed]. Complete statistics for the 1972 bombings are unavailable. Overall figures for North Vietnamese civilian dead range from 50,000[2] to "several million."[4]

[edit] South Vietnam

The Army of the Republic of Vietnam ARVN lost approximately 184,000 servicemen during the war,[2] with some estimates as high as a quarter of a million.[5] Because it was the country most devastated by the war, South Vietnam suffered the bulk of the estimated 500,000[6] to 2,000,000[1] civilian deaths sustained by the entire Vietnamese population during the conflict; out of a possible median of 1,200,000 dead for the whole country,[6] considering the above figures for North Vietnamese losses, in South Vietnam itself about one million civilians likely died.

South Vietnamese military deaths
Year Regular RF/PF Para Total
1966 4,418 7,535 - 11,953
1967 6,110 6,606 - 12,716
1968 12,930 11,393 3,592 27,915
1969 8,652 10,286 2,895 21,833
1970 9,647 11,738 1,961 23,346
1971 8,864 13,118 756 22,738
1972 38,697 890 39,587

RF/PF=Regional Force/Popular Force militia, Para=paramilitary forces

[edit] Specific incidents

[edit] Massacres, terrorism, and related incidents

347 to 504 Vietnam civilians were killed by US soldiers on 16 March, 1968, in the My Lai area of South Vietnam. See My Lai Massacre.

2800 to 6000 civilians were executed by the National Liberation Front in the city of Hue during the Tet Offensive.[citation needed] See Hue Massacre.

At least 5,000 civilians were killed by the American military in Operation Speedy Express.[7]

155,000 civilians disappeared on the way to Tuy-Hoa while fleeing a North Vietnamese offensive in 1975.[8]

[edit] United States Armed Forces

Casualties as of November 7 2001:

  • 58,209 KIA and other dead[9]
  • 303,635 WIA (including 153,303 who required hospitalization and 150,332 who didn't)[10]
  • 1,948 MIA[11]

[edit] By Service Branch

Country Branch of service Number serving Worldwide Number serving Southeast Asia Number serving South Vietnam Killed Wounded Missing
USA[3] Army 4,368,000 2,276,000 1,736,000 38,218 96,802 558 {A}
Marines 794,000 513,000 391,000 14,840 51,392 213{B}
Navy 1,842,000 229,000 174,000 2,565 4,178 369{C}
Air Force 1,740,000 385,000 293,000 2,587 1,021 566 {D}
Coast Guard 7 59 0 {E}
Civilians 19 34 {F}
Total 8,744,000 3,403,000 2,594,000 58,228 153,452 1,740

Note: Footnote # 1 gives breakdown of Casualty by Branch of service as follows: Army-38,209; Marines-14,838; Navy-2,555; Air Force-2,584; Coast Guard-7. Total:58,193. As of 12/1998
Note: PMSA {Personnel Missing Southeast ASia} website lists 1,740 at [4] broken down as of May 2009:

  • A)Note: PMSA reports 558 to be accounted for {278 KIA/BNR; 22 POWS died/not returned; 258 presumed dead}. PMSA reports 1 AWOL/deserter returned; 13 POw died/returned; 171 remains returned; 17 escaped; 122 POWs returned.
  • B)Note: reports 213 are to be accounted for. {130 KIA/BNR; 2 POW/NR; 81 presumed dead}.PMSA reports 1 AWOL/deserter returned; 7 POWS died/returned; 82 remains returned; 10 POws escaped; 28 POWS returned
  • C)Note: PMSA reports 369 to be accounted for {281 KIA/BNR; 88 presumed dead}. PMSA reports 2 escaped; 10 POWS died/remains returned; 161 remains/returned; 149 POWS returned
  • D)Note: PMSA reports 566 to be accounted for {193 KIA/BNR; 5 POW/NR; 368 presumed dead}; PMSA also reports of 784 POWS-1 escaped; 15 POWs died/remains returned; 436 remains returned/recovered; 332 POWS returned
  • E)Note: 1 MIA C.G. remains found 2002 and Identified 2005. C.G. casualty total can be found at [5].
  • F)Note: PMSA reports 34 to be accounted for. {4 KIA/BNR; 5 POW/NR; 11 MIA; 8 POWS; 6 presumed dead} PMSA also reports 5 POWS escaped; 4 POWs died/remains returned; 15 remains returned; 54 POWs returned}

Note: as of July 4, 2008 the following [12] gives the following report of 2,646 missing and 889 repartriated/identified for the Vietnam conflict:

  • Vietnam: original missing-1,978 of whom 630 are repartriated/identified and 1,348 missing {Note:611 missing are reported as not recoverable}
  • Laos: original missing-573 of whom 227 are repartriated/identified and 346 missing
  • Cambodia: original missing-85 of whom 29 are repartiated/identified and 29 missing
  • China: original missing-10 of whom 3 are repartiated/idenfifed and 7 are missing
  • Note as May 2009 PMSA includes in each service branch of Vietnam Conflict fatalities "country Not Listed": US Army 27; USMC 8; US Navy 17; Civilians 6.
  • As of May 2009 PMSA reports 915 remains returned-184 {US Army} 451 {USAF} 171 {US Navy} 89 {USMC} 1 {Coast Guard} 19 {Civilians}

[edit] By Year

Country Year of Death Number Killed
USA[6]
1956-1964 401
1965 1,863
1966 6,143
1967 11,153
1968 16,592
1969 11,616
1970 6,081
1971 2,357
1972 641
1973 168
1974-1998 1178

[edit] By Ethnic Group

Ethnic Group Number Killed
White 49,802
Black 7,241
Hispanics 349
Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians 229
Native Americans 226
More than one Race or Unknown 204
Asians 139

[edit] By Enlistment

Enlistment Number Killed
Volunteer 40,484
Draftees 17,725

[edit] First and last US Casualties

[edit] Prisoners of War

Most Famous P.O.W John McCain

[edit] South Korea

[edit] North Korea

According to Chinese soldiers stationed in Vietnam manning the anti-aircraft artillery next to that of the North Korean, several dozen North Korean anti-aircraft artillery crews were killed by American bombing.

[edit] China

1,446 KIA[citation needed]

[edit] Soviet Union

Under 12 unaccounted for

[edit] Philippines

  • 7 men KIA 2

2 men MIA[citation needed]

[edit] Thailand

[edit] Australia

  • 426 KIA, 74 died of other causes[13]
  • 6 MIA (4 Accounted for and repatriated)

[edit] New Zealand

  • 37 KIA + 2 Civilians

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b 20 Years After Victory, April 1995, Folder 14, Box 24, Douglas Pike Collection: Unit 06 - Democratic Republic of Vietnam, The Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University.[1]
  2. ^ a b c http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.TAB6.1A.GIF
  3. ^ Battlefield:Vietnam | Timeline
  4. ^ Viet Nam Destruction - War Damage, 1977, Folder 03, Box 04, Douglas Pike Collection: Unit 11 - Monographs, The Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University.
  5. ^ Battlefield:Vietnam | Timeline
  6. ^ a b http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.TAB6.1B.GIF
  7. ^ Kevin Buckley, "Pacification's Deadly Price," Newsweek 1972.
  8. ^ Statistics Of Vietnamese Genocide And Mass Murder
  9. ^ Statistical information about casualties of the Vietnam Conflict, US National Archives
  10. ^ US Military Operations: Casualty Breakdown
  11. ^ The Vietnam-Era Prisoner-of-War/Missing-in-Action Database, Vietnam-Era Unaccounted for Statistical Report, CURRENT AS OF: November 7, 2001, Library of Congress
  12. ^ [2]
  13. ^ "Vietnam War, 1962-72 - Statistics". Australian War Memorial. 2003. http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/vietnam/statistics.htm. Retrieved on 2008-02-04. 
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