Jump to content

Vietnam War casualties: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Rescuing 1 sources. #IABot
Line 127: Line 127:
|author=Ku Su Jeong
|author=Ku Su Jeong
|work = [[Hankyoreh]]
|work = [[Hankyoreh]]
⚫
|accessdate = 2012-10-14}}</ref> In October 1966, [[Diên Niên – Phước Bình massacre|Tịnh Sơn citizens were massacred]].<ref name=quangngaigov>{{cite web|url=http://www.quangngai.gov.vn/quangngai/english/homepage/20128761658_1995/ |title=Dien Nien-Phuoc Binh Massacre |publisher=Quảng Ngãi government |accessdate=2010-01-20 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102013224/http://www.quangngai.gov.vn/quangngai/english/homepage/20128761658_1995/ |archivedate=January 2, 2010 }}</ref> [[2nd Marine Brigade (Republic of Korea)|2nd Marine Brigade]] massacred [[Binh Tai Massacre|Binh Tai citizens]] on 9 October 1966.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Armstrong |first= Charles |work= Critical Asian Studies|volume=33|issue=4|title=America's Korea, Korea's Vietnam |pages=530 |publisher= Routledge |year=2001}}</ref> In December 1966, [[Blue Dragon Brigade]] massacred [[Bình Hòa massacre|Bình Hòa citizens]].<ref name=alJazeera20090104>{{cite news
|accessdate = 2012-10-14}}</ref> In October 1966, [[Diên Niên – Phước Bình massacre|Tịnh Sơn citizens were massacred]].<ref name=quangngaigov>{{cite web
|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20100102013224/http://www.quangngai.gov.vn/quangngai/english/homepage/20128761658_1995/
|title=Dien Nien-Phuoc Binh Massacre
|publisher = Quảng Ngãi government
|accessdate = 2010-01-20
⚫
}}</ref> [[2nd Marine Brigade (Republic of Korea)|2nd Marine Brigade]] massacred [[Binh Tai Massacre|Binh Tai citizens]] on 9 October 1966.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Armstrong |first= Charles |work= Critical Asian Studies|volume=33|issue=4|title=America's Korea, Korea's Vietnam |pages=530 |publisher= Routledge |year=2001}}</ref> In December 1966, [[Blue Dragon Brigade]] massacred [[Bình Hòa massacre|Bình Hòa citizens]].<ref name=alJazeera20090104>{{cite news
|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tQtgo4hKsM&feature=feedf
|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tQtgo4hKsM&feature=feedf
|title=On War extra – Vietnam's massacre survivors
|title=On War extra – Vietnam's massacre survivors

Revision as of 11:48, 31 March 2016

Vietnamese memorial of the dead
The American War Memorial of the dead Vietnamese soldiers, Vietnam (Hanoi).
American memorial of the dead
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, USA (Washington, D.C.).
Two major war memorials commemorating the dead soldiers in the Second Indochina War (aka. the Vietnam War and the American War).

Estimates of casualties in the Vietnam War vary widely. Estimates include both civilian and military deaths in North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

The Second Indochina War (aka. the Vietnam War or the American War) began in 1955 and ended in 1975 when North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon. During this period, the war escalated from an insurgency in South Vietnam assisted by the North Vietnamese government to direct military intervention in the south by North Vietnam to assist the insurgents and the intervention of military forces of the United States and other countries to assist South Vietnam. The war also spilled over into the neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos. An exhaustive reckoning of the total casualties must include statistical information available for each theater of the war. Most of the fighting took place in South Vietnam; accordingly it suffered the most casualties.

Civilian deaths caused by both sides amounted to a significant percentage of total deaths, perhaps from 30 to nearly 50 percent. Civilian deaths caused by communist forces, which included the Viet Cong, North Vietnamese Army, Pathet Lao and Khmer Rouge, mostly resulted from assassinations and terror tactics. Civilian deaths caused by the armed forces of the governments of South Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, the United States, South Korea, and other allies were primarily the consequence of extensive aerial bombing and the use of massive firepower in military operations conducted in heavily populated areas. The nature of the war often made it difficult to distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.

A number of incidents occurred during the war in which civilians were deliberately targeted or killed. The best-known are the Massacre at Huế and the My Lai massacre.

Total number of deaths

Waiting to Lift Off by James Pollock, Vietnam Combat Artists Program, CAT IV, 1967. Courtesy of National Museum of the U.S. Army
Deaths in Vietnam War (1965–1974) per Guenter Lewy
Allied military deaths 282,000
NVA/VC military deaths 444,000
Civilian deaths (North and South Vietnam) 587,000
Total deaths 1,313,000

Estimates of the total number of deaths in the Vietnam War vary widely depending upon the time period and area covered by the data.

Guenter Lewy in 1978 estimated 1,313,000 total deaths in North and South Vietnam during the period 1965–1974 in which the U.S. was most engaged in the war. Lewy reduced the number of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese battle deaths claimed by the U.S. by 30 percent (in accordance with the opinion of United States Department of Defense officials), and assumed that one third of the battle deaths of the VC/NVA were actually civilians. His estimate of total deaths is reflected in the table.[1]

A detailed demographic study in 1995 calculated 791,000–1,141,000 war-related Vietnamese deaths, both soldiers and civilians, for all of Vietnam from 1965 to 1975. 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. Those totals include only Vietnamese deaths, and do not include American and other allied military deaths which amounted to about 64,000.[2] The study has been criticized for its small sample size, the imbalance in the sample between rural and urban areas, and the possible overlooking of clusters of high mortality rates.[3]

Also in 1995, the Vietnamese government released its estimate of war deaths for the more lengthy period of 1955 to 1975. According to the Vietnamese, Communist battle deaths totaled 1.1 million and civilian deaths of Vietnamese totaled 2.0 million. These estimates probably include battle 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.[4]

A 2008 study by the BMJ (formerly British Medical Journal) came up with a higher toll of 3,812,000 dead in Vietnam between 1955 and 2002. For the period of the Vietnam War the totals are 1,310,000 between 1955 and 1964, 1,700,000 between 1965 and 1974 and 81,000 in 1975. (The estimates for 1955 to 1964 are much higher than other estimates). The sum of those totals is 3,091,000 war deaths between 1955 and 1975.[3]

Uppsala University in Sweden maintains the Armed Conflict Database. Their estimates for conflict deaths in Vietnam are 164,923 from 1955 to 1964 and 1,458,050 from 1965 to 1975 for a total of 1,622,973. The database also estimates combat deaths in Cambodia for the years 1967 to 1975 to total 259,000. Data for deaths in Laos is incomplete.[5]

R. J. Rummel's mid-range estimate in 1997 was that the total deaths due to the Vietnam conflict totaled 2,450,000 from 1954 to 1975. Rummel calculated communist war deaths at 1,062,000 and South Vietnamese and allied war deaths of 741,000, both totals including civilians inadvertently killed. He estimated that victims of democide (deliberate killing of civilians) included 214,000 by the communists and 98,000 by South Vietnam and its allies. Deaths in Cambodia and Laos were estimated at 273,000 and 62,000 respectively.[6]

Deaths in Vietnam War (1954–1975) per R. J. Rummel (except where otherwise noted)[6]
low estimate of deaths middle estimate of deaths high estimate of deaths Notes and comments
North Vietnam/Viet Cong military and civilian war dead 533,000 1,062,000 1,489,000 includes an estimated 50,000/65,000/70,000 civilians killed by U.S/SVN bombing/shelling[7]
South Vietnam/U.S./South Korea war military and civilian war dead 429,000 741,000 1,119,000 includes 360,000/391,000/720,000 civilians[8]
Democide by North Vietnam/Viet Cong 131,000 214,000 302,000 25,000/50,000/75,000 killed in North Vietnam, 106,000/164,000/227,000 killed in South Vietnam
Democide by South Vietnam 57,000 89,000 284,000 Democide is the murder of persons by or at the behest of governments.
Democide by the United States 4,000 6,000 10,000 Democide is the murder of persons by or at the behest of governments.
Democide by South Korea 3,000 3,000 3,000 Rummel does not give a medium or high estimate.
Subtotal Vietnam 1,156,000 2,115,000 3,207,000
Cambodians 273,000 273,000 273,000 Rummel estimates 212,000 killed by Khmer Rouge (1967–1975), 60,000 killed by U.S. and 1,000 killed by South Vietnam (1967–1973). No estimate given for deaths caused by Viet Cong/North Vietnam (1954–1975).[9]
Laotians 28,000 62,000 115,000 Source:[10] accessed 24 November 2014
Grand total of war deaths: Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos (1954-1975) 1,450,000 2,450,000 3,595,000

Major incidents

  • 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.[11][12]
  • 1972 Easter Offensive – This saw 50,000 to 75,000 North Vietnamese combatants killed plus their loss of over 250–700 tanks and APCs. The attack was broken up mainly by US air power.[13]

Civilian deaths in the Vietnam War

Lewy estimates that 40,000 South Vietnamese civilians were assassinated by the Viet Cong/North Vietnamese; 250,000 were killed as a result of combat in South Vietnam, and 65,000 were killed in North Vietnam. He suggests that another 222,000 civilians were counted as military deaths by the U.S. in compiling its "body count." His estimated total of civilian deaths is 587,000.[14][15][16] It was difficult to distinguish between civilians and military personnel on the Viet Cong side as many persons were part-time guerrillas or impressed laborers who did not wear uniforms.[17][18][19]

Deaths caused by North Vietnam/VC forces

Viet Cong massacred hundreds of Montagnard civilians at the village of Dak Son, 1967

R. J. Rummel estimated that NVA/VC forces killed around 164,000 civilians in democide between 1954 and 1975 in South Vietnam, from a range of between 106,000 and 227,000, plus another 50,000 killed in North Vietnam.[20] Rummel's summary has a mid-level estimate of 17,000 South Vietnamese civil servants (ARVN's local millitia) killed by North Vietnamese forces (including the Viet Cong). In addition, at least 36,000 Southern civilians were executed for various reasons in the period 1967–1972.[21] About 130 American and 16,000 South Vietnamese POWs died in captivity.[22] During the peak war years, Lewy attributed almost a third of civilian deaths to the Viet Cong.[23]

Deaths caused by South Vietnam

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. 6,000 civilians died in the more extensive shellings. In Quảng Nam province 4,700 civilians were killed in 1969. This totals, from a range of between 16,000 and 167,000 deaths caused by South Vietnam (Diệm-era), and 42,000 and 118,000 deaths caused by South Vietnam (post Diệm-era), excluding North Vietnamese forces killed by the ARVN in combat.[24]

Deaths caused by the American military

Rummel estimated that American forces committed around 5,500 democidal killings between 1960 and 1972, from a range of between 4,000 and 10,000.[25] Estimates for the number of North Vietnamese civilian deaths resulting from US bombing range from 50,000–65,000.[2] Although information is sparse, American bombing in Cambodia is estimated to have killed between 40,000 and 150,000 civilians and combatants.[26][27][28]

Burial of 300 unidentified victims from the Huế Massacre, killed by communist forces and found after the ARVN and U.S. Marines retook the area in March, 1968. U.S. Military photo[29][30]

18.2 million gallons of Agent Orange (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. Vietnam's government claimed that 400,000 people were killed or maimed as a result of after effects, and that 500,000 children were born with birth defects.[32]

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:[33]
– Seven massacres officially confirmed by the American side. My Lai (4) and My Khe (4) claimed the largest number of victims with 420 and 90 respectively, and in five other places altogether about 100 civilians were executed.
– Two further massacres were reported by soldiers who had taken part in them, one north of Đức Pho in Quảng Ngãi Province in the summer of 1968 (14 victims), another in Bình Định Province on 20 July 1969 (25 victims).
– Tiger Force, a special operations force, murdered hundreds, possibly over a thousand, civilians.
– In the course of large-scale operations an unknown number of non-combatants were killed either accidentally or deliberately – with some estimating more than 5,000 allegedly died in the course of Operation Speedy Express. Excluding deaths from artillery and air attacks, the total number of dead may have reached tens of thousands during the entire war.
– According to the 'Information Bureau of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam' (PRG), 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. Three of the massacres reported on the American side were not mentioned on the PRG list.

Nick Turse, in his 2013 book, Kill Anything that Moves, argues that a relentless drive toward higher body counts, a widespread use of free-fire zones, rules of engagement where civilians who ran from soldiers or helicopters could be viewed as Viet Cong, and a widespread disdain for Vietnamese civilians led to massive civilian casualties and endemic war crimes inflicted by U.S. troops.[34] One example cited by Turse is Operation Speedy Express, an operation by the 9th Infantry Division, which was described by John Paul Vann as, in effect, "many My Lais".[34] In more detail,

Air force captain, Brian Wilson, who carried out bomb-damage assessments in free-fire zones throughout the delta, saw the results firsthand. "It was the epitome of immorality...One of the times I counted bodies after an air strike—which always ended with two napalm bombs which would just fry everything that was left—I counted sixty-two bodies. In my report I described them as so many women between fifteen and twenty-five and so many children—usually in their mothers' arms or very close to them—and so many old people." When he later read the official tally of dead, he found that it listed them as 130 VC killed.[35]

Deaths caused by the South Korean military

United States Marine recovered victim's bodies who were killed by Korean Marines in Phong Nhi and Phong Nhat hamlets on February 12, 1968.[36]

ROK Capital Division massacred Tây Vinh citizens between February and March 1966.[37] ROK Capital Division massacred Bình An citizens on 26 February 1966.[38] In October 1966, Tịnh Sơn citizens were massacred.[39] 2nd Marine Brigade massacred Binh Tai citizens on 9 October 1966.[40] In December 1966, Blue Dragon Brigade massacred Bình Hòa citizens.[41] Second Marine Brigade massacred Phong Nhị citizens on 12 February 1968.[42][43] South Korean Marines massacred Hà My citizens on 25 February 1968.[44]

Army of the Republic of Vietnam

The Army of the Republic of Vietnam suffered 254,256 recorded deaths between 1960 and 1974, with the highest number of recorded deaths being in 1972, with 39,587 combat deaths.[45] According to Lewy, ARVN suffered between 171,331 and 220,357 deaths during the war.[46][47] R.J. Rummel estimated that ARVN lost between 219,000 and 313,000 deaths during the war.[20]

North Vietnamese and Viet Cong Military deaths

According to the Vietnamese government, there were 1,100,000 North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong military personnel deaths during the Vietnam War (including the missing).[48] Rummel reviewed the many casualty data sets, and this number is in keeping with his mid-level estimate of 1,011,000 North Vietnamese combatant deaths.[49] The official US Department of Defense figure was 950,765 communist forces killed in Vietnam from 1965 to 1974. Defense Department officials believed that these body count figures need to be deflated by 30 percent. In addition, Guenter Lewy assumes that one-third of the reported "enemy" killed may have been civilians, concluding that the actual number of deaths of communist military forces was probably closer to 444,000.[46]

The Phoenix Program, a counterinsurgency program executed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), United States special operations forces, and the Republic of Vietnam's security apparatus, killed 26,369 suspected NLF operatives and informants.[50][51]

For historian Christian Appy, "search and destroy was the principal tactic; and the enemy body count was the primary measure of progress" in Westmoreland's war of attrition. Search and destroy was coined as a phrase in 1965 to describe missions aimed at flushing the Viet Cong out of hiding, while the body count was the measuring stick for the success of any operation. Competitions were held between units for the highest number of Vietnamese killed in action, or KIAs. U.S. Army and marine officers knew that promotions were largely based on confirmed kills. The pressure to produce confirmed kills resulted in massive fraud. One study revealed that American commanders exaggerated body counts by 100 percent.[52][failed verification]

United States armed forces

Casualties as of 22 February 2016:

  • 58,307 KIA or non-combat deaths (including the missing & deaths in captivity)[53]
  • 153,303 WIA (excluding 150,332 persons not requiring hospital care)[54]
  • 1,622 MIA (originally 2,646)[55]
  • 766–778 POW (652–662 freed/escaped*,[56][57] 114–116 died in captivity)[56][58]

During the Vietnam War, 30% of wounded service members died of their wounds.[59]

Note: *One escapee died of wounds sustained during his rescue 15 days later.[60]

Disproportion of African American casualties

Blacks were suffering disproportionately high casualty rates in Vietnam. In 1965 alone they comprised almost one out of every four combat deaths.[61][62] With the draft increasing due to the troop buildup in South Vietnam, the military significantly lowered its admission standards. In October 1966, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara initiated Project 100,000 which further lowered military standards for 100,000 additional draftees per year. McNamara claimed this program would provide valuable training, skills and opportunity to America's poor – a promise that was never carried out. 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.[63][64] The number of US military personnel in Vietnam jumped from 23,300 in 1965 to 465,600 by the end of 1967. Between October 1966 and June 1969, 246,000 soldiers were recruited through Project 100,000, of which 41% were black, while blacks only made up about 11% of the population of the US.[63] 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. This group was made up almost entirely of either work-class or rural youth. College students who did not avoid the draft were generally sent to non-combat and service roles or made officers, while high school drop-outs and the working class were sent into combat roles. Blacks often made up a disproportionate 25% or more of combat units, while constituting only 12% of the military.[61][65]

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. Commander George L. Jackson said, "In response to this criticism, the Department of Defense took steps to readjust force levels in order to achieve an equitable proportion and employment of Negroes in Vietnam." 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. The proportion of black casualties began to decrease, and by late 1967, black casualties had fallen to 13%, and were below 10% in 1970 to 1972.[63][66] Upon the war's completion, black casualties made up 12.5% of US combat deaths, approximately equal to percentage of draft-eligible black men, though still slightly higher than the 10% who served in the military.[66]

Specific incidents

Vietnamese women and children in Mỹ Lai before being killed in the massacre, March 16, 1968.[67] They were killed seconds after the photo was taken.[68] Photo by Ronald L. Haeberle
  • 2,800–6,000 civilians were killed by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces in the Massacre at Huế throughout February 1968.[69]
  • 1,200 civilians were killed by South Korean forces in Tây Vinh Massacre between February 12 – March 17, 1966.[70]
  • 380 civilians were killed by South Korean forces in Gò Dài massacre on February 26, 1966.[70]
  • 66 civilians were killed by South Korean forces in Binh Tai Massacre on October 9, 1966.[71]
  • 280 civilians were killed by South Korean forces in Diên Niên – Phước Bình massacre on October 9, 1966.[72]
  • 430 civilians were killed by South Korean forces in Bình Hòa massacre between December 3 and December 6, 1966.[41]
  • 79 civilians were killed by South Korean forces in Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre on February 12, 1968.
  • 135 civilians were killed by South Korean forces in Hà My massacre on February 25, 1968.
  • More than 500 civilians were killed by an American Army company during the My Lai Massacre on March 16, 1968.[67][73]
  • 19 civilians killed by American Forces Feb. 8, 1968 in Quảng Nam Province.[74]
  • 80–90 civilians killed by American Forces March 16, 1968 at My Khe.[75]
  • A Newsweek journalist claimed an unnamed official told him that an estimated 5,000 civilians died as "collateral damage" from the American military during Operation Speedy Express.[76]
  • Almost 252 Degar civilians were killed by the Viet Cong in the Đắk Sơn massacre on December 5, 1967.[77]
  • More than 25,000 South Vietnamese civilians were killed and almost a million become temporary refugees, with over 600,000 interned in South Vietnamese Government camps as a result of North Vietnam's 1972 Easter Offensive.[78]
  • At least 81 civilians were killed by American Forces, Tiger Force 101st Airborne Division, during the Song Ve Valley and Operation Wheeler military campaigns.[79]

Deaths after U.S. withdrawal

Vietnamese "Boat People" refugees waiting for rescue in the South China Sea, taken from the USS Blue Ridge in 1984. 2–3 million Vietnamese refugees fled Vietnam during the late 1970s and 1980s.[80]

Up to 155,000 refugees fleeing the final NVA Spring Offensive were killed or abducted on the road to Tuy Hòa in 1975.[81] Sources have estimated that 165,000 South Vietnamese died in the re-education camps out of 1–2.5 million sent,[82][better source needed] while somewhere between 50,000 and 250,000 were executed.[83][84][85] Rummel estimates that slave labor in the "New Economic Zones" caused 50,000 deaths (out of a total 1 million deported).[83][84] According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, between 200,000 and 400,000 Vietnamese boat people died at sea,[86] although Rummel cites estimates ranging from 100,000 to 1,000,000.[84] Including Vietnam's foreign democide, Rummel estimates that a minimum of 400,000 and a maximum of slightly less than 2.5 million people died of political violence from 1975–87 at the hands of Hanoi.[84] In 1988, Vietnam suffered a famine that afflicted millions.[87]

Under the leadership of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge killed 1–3 million Cambodians in the killing fields, out of a population of around 8 million.[88][89][90][91] The Pathet Lao killed some 100,000 Hmong people in Laos.[92][93]

Unexploded ordnance especially bombs dropped by the United States, continue to detonate and kill people today. The Vietnamese government claims that Unexploded ordnance has killed some 42,000 people since the war officially ended.[94][95] In 2012 alone, unexploded bombs and other ordnance claimed 500 casualties in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, according to activists and government databases. The United States has spent over $65 million since 1998 in an attempt to make Vietnam safe.[96]

Agent Orange and similar chemical substances, have also caused a considerable number of deaths and injuries over the years, including the US Air Force crew that handled them. 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.[97] The Red Cross of Vietnam estimates that up to 1 million people are disabled or have health problems due to contaminated Agent Orange.[98]

On 9 August 2012, the United States and Vietnam began a cooperative cleaning up of the toxic chemical on part of Da Nang International Airport, marking the first time Washington has been involved in cleaning up Agent Orange in Vietnam. Da Nang was the primary storage site of the chemical. Two other cleanup sites the United States and Vietnam are looking at is Biên Hòa, in the southern province of Đồng Nai – a 'hotspot' for dioxin – and Phù Cát airport in the central province of Bình Định, says U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear. According to the Vietnamese newspaper Nhân Dân, the U.S. government is providing $41 million to the project, which will reduce the contamination level in 73,000 m3 of soil by late 2016.[99]

Other nations' casualties

Cambodian Civil War

Laotian Civil War

Military

South Korea

Australia

  • 426 KIA, 74 died of other causes[107]
  • 3,129 WIA[107]
  • 6 MIA (all accounted for and repatriated)[108]

Thailand

New Zealand

Philippines

Republic Of China (Taiwan)

  • 25 KIA

People's Republic Of China

Soviet Union

See also

References

  1. ^ Lewy, Guenter (1978), America in Vietnam, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 442–453
  2. ^ a b Charles Hirschman et al., Vietnamese Casualties During the American War: A New Estimate, Population and Development Review, December 1995.
  3. ^ a b "fifty years of violent war deaths: data analysis from the world health survey program: BMJ". 23 April 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  4. ^ Shenon, Philip, "20 Years After Victory, Vietnamese Communists Ponder How to Celebrate, The New York Times, 23 April 1995
  5. ^ "UCDP/Prio Armed Conflict Database", Uppsala University, http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/datasets/ucdp_prio_armed_conflict_dataset/, accessed 24 Nov 2014
  6. ^ a b Rummel, R. J. "Statistics of Vietnamese Democide", Lines 777–785, http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.TAB6.1B.GIF, accessed 24 Nov 2014
  7. ^ Rummel, 1997, line 61
  8. ^ Rummel, 1997, line 117
  9. ^ https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/DBG.TAB9.1.GIF, accessed 24 Nov 2014
  10. ^ http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7659/1482
  11. ^ Tran Van Tra, Tet, pp. 49, 50
  12. ^ Gabriel Kolko, Anatomy of a War (New York: Pantheon Books, 1985), pp. 327–37.
  13. ^ web site (1997). "North Vietnamese Army's 1972 Eastertide Offensive". Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  14. ^ Lewy, Guenter (1978). America in Vietnam. New York: Oxford University Press. Appendix 1, pp.450–453
  15. ^ Thayer, Thomas C (1985). War Without Fronts: The American Experience in Vietnam. Boulder: Westview Press. Ch. 12.
  16. ^ Wiesner, Louis A. (1988). Victims and Survivors Displaced Persons and Other War Victims in Viet-Nam. New York: Greenwood Press. p.310
  17. ^ Willbanks, James H. (2008). The Tet Offensive: A Concise History. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 32. ISBN 0-231-12841-X.
  18. ^ Rand Corporation SOME IMPRESSIONS OF VIET CONG VULNERABILITIES AN INTERIM REPORT 1965
  19. ^ James J. F. Forest Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century 2007 ISBN 978-0275990343
  20. ^ a b Rummel 1997
  21. ^ Michael Lee Lanning and Dan Cragg, Inside the VC and the NVA, (Ballantine Books, 1993), pp. 186–188
  22. ^ Rummel 1997, Lines 457 & 459.
  23. ^ Lewy, Guentner (1978), America in Vietnam New York: Oxford University Press., pp.272–3, 448–9.
  24. ^ Rummel 1997 Lines 521, 540, 556, 563, 566, 569, 575
  25. ^ Rummel 1997 Lines 613]
  26. ^ Marek Sliwinski, Le Génocide Khmer Rouge: Une Analyse Démographique (L'Harmattan, 1995), pp41-8.
  27. ^ Kiernan, Ben; Owen, Taylor. "Bombs over Cambodia" (PDF). The Walrus (October 2006): 62–69. "Previously, it was estimated that between 50,000 and 150,000 Cambodian civilians were killed by the bombing. "Given the fivefold increase in tonnage revealed by the database, the number of casualties is surely higher."
  28. ^ See also Heuveline, Patrick (2001). "The Demographic Analysis of Mortality in Cambodia", in Forced Migration and Mortality, eds. Holly E. Reed and Charles B. Keely. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press; and Banister, Judith, and Paige Johnson (1993). "After the Nightmare: The Population of Cambodia." In Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge, the United Nations and the International Community, ed. Ben Kiernan. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, for an overview of Cambodian civil war estimates.
  29. ^ New York Times "Hue Massacre of 1968 Goes Beyond Hearsay" September 22, 1987
  30. ^ Time magazine "THE MASSACRE OF HUE" Oct. 31, 1969
  31. ^ Agent orange victims day, Tuoitre news 2013/08/11
  32. ^ History.com Operation Ranch Hand and Agent Orange Retrieved 25/09/12
  33. ^ Greiner, Bernd (2010). War Without Fronts: The USA in Vietnam. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300168047.
  34. ^ a b Turse 2013, p. 251.
  35. ^ Turse 2013, p. 212.
  36. ^ Kim Chang-seok (2000-11-15). 편견인가, 꿰뚫어 본 것인가 미군 정치고문 제임스 맥의 보고서 "쿠앙남성 주둔 한국군은 무능·부패·잔혹". Hankyoreh (in Korean). Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  37. ^ "Words of Condemnation and Drinks of Reconciliation Massacre in Vin Dinh Province All 380 People Turned into Dead Bodies Within an Hour". Hankyoreh. 1999-09-02. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  38. ^ Ku Su Jeong. "Words of Condemnation and Drinks of Reconciliation Massacre in Vin Dinh Province All 380 People Turned into Dead Bodies Within an Hour". Hankyoreh. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  39. ^ "Dien Nien-Phuoc Binh Massacre". Quảng Ngãi government. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  40. ^ Armstrong, Charles (2001). "America's Korea, Korea's Vietnam". Critical Asian Studies. 33 (4). Routledge: 530.
  41. ^ a b "On War extra – Vietnam's massacre survivors". Al Jazeera. 2009-01-04. Retrieved 2012-10-14. Cite error: The named reference "alJazeera20090104" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  42. ^ Go Gyeong-tae (2001-04-24). 특집 "그날의 주검을 어찌 잊으랴" 베트남전 종전 26돌, 퐁니·퐁넛촌의 참화를 전하는 사진을 들고 현장에 가다. Hankyoreh (in Korean). Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  43. ^ 여기 한 충격적인 보고서가 있다 미국이 기록한 한국군의 베트남 학살 보고서 발견. Ohmynews (in Korean). 2000-11-14. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  44. ^ Kwon, Heonik. After the massacre: commemoration and consolation in Ha My and My Lai. University of California Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-520-24797-0.
  45. ^ Clarke, Jeffrey J. (1988), United States Army in Vietnam: Advice and Support: The Final Years, 1965–1973, Washington, D.C: Center of Military History, United States Army, p. 275
  46. ^ a b Lewy, Guenter (1978). America in Vietnam. New York: Oxford University Press. Appendix 1, pp.450–453
  47. ^ Thayer, Thomas C (1985). War Without Fronts: The American Experience in Vietnam. Boulder: Westview Press. p.106.
  48. ^ Associated Press, 3 April 1995.
  49. ^ Rummel 1997, Line 102.
  50. ^ McCoy, Alfred W. (2006). A question of torture: CIA interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror. Macmillan. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-8050-8041-4.
  51. ^ Harbury, Jennifer (2005). Truth, torture, and the American way: the history and consequences of U.S. involvement in torture. Beacon Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-8070-0307-7.
  52. ^ Harbury, Jennifer (2005). Truth, torture, and the American way: the history and consequences of U.S. involvement in torture. Beacon Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-8070-0307-7.
  53. ^ In Memory Day Ceremony to honor 165 Vietnam veterans whose lives were cut short by their service
  54. ^ US Military Operations: Casualty Breakdown
  55. ^ "Vietnam-era unaccounted for statistical report" (PDF). 22 February 2016.
  56. ^ a b Vietnam War Statistics
  57. ^ [1][2]
  58. ^ American Vietnam War Casualty Statistics
  59. ^ Scott McGaugh (16 September 2012). "Learning from America's Wars, Past and Present U.S. Battlefield Medicine Has Come a Long Way, from Antietam to Iraq". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  60. ^ Vietnam Prisoners of War – Escapes and Attempts
  61. ^ a b Fighting on Two Fronts: African Americans and the Vietnam War; Westheider, James E.; New York University Press; 1997; pgs. 11–16
  62. ^ African-Americans In Combat
  63. ^ a b c War within war; The Guardian; September 14, 2001; James Maycock
  64. ^ Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers & Vietnam; Appy, Christian; University of North Carolina Press; 2003; pgs. 31–33
  65. ^ Vietnam: The Soldier's Revolt
  66. ^ a b Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam: American Combat
  67. ^ a b "Report of the Department of Army review of the preliminary investigations into the Mỹ Lai incident. Volume III, Exhibits, Book 6—Photographs, 14 March 1970". From the Library of Congress, Military Legal Resources.[3]
  68. ^ "My Lai", Original broadcast PBS American Experience, 9 pm, April 26, 2010 Time Index 00:35' into the first hour (no commercials)
  69. ^ Anderson, David L. The Columbia Guide to the Vietnam War. 2004, page 98-9
  70. ^ a b Words of Condemnation and Drinks of Reconciliation 2/09/99 Retrieved 25/09/12
  71. ^ Armstrong, Charles (2001). Critical asian studies, Volume 33, Issue 4 Page 530: "America's Korea, Korea's Vietnam".
  72. ^ Gerassi, John (1968). North Vietnam: a documentary. p.148 Bobbs-Merrill.
  73. ^ BBC News Murder in the name of war – My Lai 20 July 1998 Retrieved 25/09/12
  74. ^ LA Times "Civilian Killings Went Unpunished" August 6, 2006 Retrieved 26/09/12
  75. ^ LA Times "Verified Civilian Slayings" August 6, 2006 Retrieved 26/09/12
  76. ^ Kevin Buckley, "Pacification's Deadly Price", Newsweek 1972.
  77. ^ Time "Đắk Sơn Massacre" Dec. 15, 1967
  78. ^ Andrade, p. 529.
  79. ^ Toledo Blade "Rogue GIs unleashed wave of terror in Central Highlands" 10/19/2003, Retrieved 23/09/12
  80. ^ Nghia M. Vo The Vietnamese Boat People, 1954 and 1975–1992,ISBN 978-0-7864-2345-3, 2006
  81. ^ Wiesner, Louis, Victims and Survivors: Displaced Persons and Other War Victims in Viet-Nam, 1954–1975 (Greenwood Press, 1988), pp. 318–9.
  82. ^ Anh Do and Hieu Tran Phan, Camp Z30-D: The Survivors, Orange County Register, April 29, 2001.
  83. ^ a b Desbarats, Jacqueline. "Repression in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Executions and Population Relocation", from The Vietnam Debate (1990) by John Morton Moore. "We know now from a 1985 statement by Nguyen Co Tach that two and a half million, rather than one million, people went through reeducation....in fact, possibly more than 100,000 Vietnamese people were victims of extrajudicial executions in the last ten years....it is likely that, overall, at least one million Vietnamese were the victims of forced population transfers."
  84. ^ a b c d Rummel, Rudolph, Statistics of Vietnamese Democide, in his Statistics of Democide.
  85. ^ Al Santoli, ed., To Bear Any Burden (Indiana University Press, 1999), pp272, 292–3.
  86. ^ Associated Press, June 23, 1979, San Diego Union, July 20, 1986. See generally Nghia M. Vo, The Vietnamese Boat People (2006), 1954 and 1975–1992, McFarland.
  87. ^ Crossette, Barbara, Hanoi, Citing Famine Fears, Seeks Emergency Aid, The New York Times, May 15, 1988.
  88. ^ a b Heuveline, Patrick (2001). "The Demographic Analysis of Mortality in Cambodia." In Forced Migration and Mortality, eds. Holly E. Reed and Charles B. Keely. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Heuveline suggests that a range of 1.17–3.42 million people were killed. Cite error: The named reference "Heuveline, Patrick 2001" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  89. ^ a b Marek Sliwinski, Le Génocide Khmer Rouge: Une Analyse Démographique (L'Harmattan, 1995). Cite error: The named reference "Marek Sliwinski 1995" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  90. ^ a b Banister, Judith, and Paige Johnson (1993). "After the Nightmare: The Population of Cambodia." In Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge, the United Nations and the International Community, ed. Ben Kiernan. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies.
  91. ^ Craig Etcheson (2005), After the Killing Fields Praeger, p. 119, estimates over 2 million killed based on mass grave count.
  92. ^ Statistics of Democide Rudolph Rummel
  93. ^ Forced Back and Forgotten (Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights, 1989), p8., gives the same estimate.
  94. ^ "Vietnam War Bomb Explodes Killing Four Children". Huffington Post. 03.12.2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  95. ^ Vietnam war shell explodes, kills two fishermen The Australian (April 28, 2011)
  96. ^ "Vietnam War Bombs Still Killing People 40 Years Later". The Huffington Post. 2013-08-14.
  97. ^ Ben Stocking for AP, published in the Seattle Times May 22, 2010 [seattletimes.com/html/health/2011928849_apasvietnamusagentorange.html Vietnam, US still in conflict over Agent Orange]
  98. ^ Jessica King (2012-08-10). "U.S. in first effort to clean up Agent Orange in Vietnam". CNN. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  99. ^ "U.S. starts its first Agent Orange cleanup in Vietnam". Reuters. Aug 9, 2012.
  100. ^ Warner, Roger, Shooting at the Moon (1996), pp366, estimates 30,000 Hmong.
  101. ^ Obermeyer, "Fifty years of violent war deaths from Vietnam to Bosnia", British Medical Journal, 2008, estimates 60,000 total.
  102. ^ T. Lomperis, From People's War to People's Rule, (1996), estimates 35,000 total.
  103. ^ Small, Melvin & Joel David Singer, Resort to Arms: International and Civil Wars 1816–1980, (1982), estimates 20,000 total.
  104. ^ Taylor, Charles Lewis, The World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators, estimates 20,000 total.
  105. ^ Stuart-Fox, Martin, A History of Laos, estimates 200,000 by 1973.
  106. ^ a b KOREA military army official statistics, AUG 28, 2005
  107. ^ a b "Vietnam War, 1962–72 – Statistics". Australian War Memorial. 2003. Retrieved 2008-02-04. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  108. ^ "Australian servicemen listed as missing in action in Vietnam". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  109. ^ The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History By Spencer C. Tucker "http://books.google.com.au/books?id=qh5lffww-KsC&lpg=PA53&dq=the%20encyclopedia%20of%20the%20vietnam%20war%20page%2064&pg=PA176&output=embed"
  110. ^ "New Zealand Rolls Of Honour – By Conflict". Freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  111. ^ "Overview of the war in Vietnam | VietnamWar.govt.nz, New Zealand and the Vietnam War". Vietnamwar.govt.nz. 1965-07-16. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  112. ^ a b Asian Allies in Viet-Nam
  113. ^ James F. Dunnigan; Albert A. Nofi (2000). Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War: Military Information You're Not Supposed to Know. Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-25282-X.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vietnam_War_casualties&oldid=712840473"