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.

North Vietnam

South Vietnam

The Army of the Republic of Vietnam ARVN suffered 300,000 to 500,000 wounded and lost approximately 184,000 servicemen during the war,^[1] with some estimates as high as a quarter of a million.^[2] Because it was the country most devastated by the war, South Vietnam suffered the bulk of the estimated 500,000^[3] to 2,000,000^[4] 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,^[3] considering the above figures for North Vietnamese losses, in South Vietnam itself about one million civilians likely died.

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

Specific incidents

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.^[5]

155,000 civilians disappeared on the way to Tuy-Hoa while fleeing a North Vietnamese offensive in 1975.^[6]

United States Armed Forces

Casualties as of November 7 2001:

• 58,209 KIA and other dead^[7]
• 303,635 WIA (including 153,303 who required hospitalization and 150,332 who didn't)^[8]
• 1,948 MIA^[9]

By Service Branch

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 POWs 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 that 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 ^[10] gives the following report of 2,646 missing and 889 repatriated/identified for the Vietnam conflict:

• Vietnam: original missing 1,978 of whom 630 are repatriated/identified and 1,348 missing {Note: 611 missing are reported as not recoverable}
• Laos: original missing 573 of whom 227 are repatriated/identified and 346 missing
• Cambodia: original missing 85 of whom 29 are repatriated/identified and 29 missing
• China: original missing 10 of whom 3 are repatriated/idenfifed and 7 are missing
• Note: as of 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}

By Year

By Ethnic Group

By Enlistment

First and last US Casualties

• {First casualties-1945; 1954; 1956, 1957; 1959}:
  • 26 September 1945 - OSS Lt. Col. A. Peter Dewey killed in Vietnam.
  • 6 May 1954 - CIA pilot James 'Earthquake McGoon' McGovern and co-pilot Wallace Buford killed in Laos.
  • June 8, 1956 - The first official death in Viet-Nam is U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Richard B. Fitzgibbon, Jr. of Stoneham, MA who was killed by another U.S. airman.
  • 21 October 1957 - Captain Harry Cramer killed in Vietnam.
  • 8 July 1959 - Major Dale R. Buis and M/Sgt Charles Ovnand {Chester Melvin Ovnand} killed by sniper; first and second names listed on Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
  • 22 December 1961 - SP4 James Thomas Davis, 3d Radio Research Unit (Army Security Agency), killed in an ambush in Vietnam, The Wall: Panel 01E - Row 004.
• {Last casualties-1975}:
  • 29 April 1975 - US Marine Embassy Guards McMahon and Judge killed. {Corporal Charles McMahon & Lance Corporal Darwin L. Judge}
  • 12–30 May 1975 — 41 US servicemen killed and 41 servicemen wounded during the Mayaguez Incident in Democratic Kampuchea.

Prisoners of War

• First POW seized
  • December 26, 1961 - George F. Fryett was the first seized POW, he was released in June 1962.
• Last POW seized
  • January 27, 1973 - Phillip A. Kientzler was the last POW to be seized, he was released March 27, 1973.
• Longest held POW
  • 8 years, 355 days - Floyd James Thompson was captured on March 26, 1964 and released March 16, 1973. Spent 10 days short of 9 years as a POW, he is the longest held POW of the Vietnam war and longest held POW in the United States history.
• Second longest held POW
  • 8 years, 7 months - Everett Alvarez Jr. was captured on August 5, 1964 and released February 12, 1973.
• Most famous POW John McCain
  • Later to become senator and republican presidential candidate.

South Korea

• 5,099 KIA
• 11,232 WIA
• 4 MIA^[11]

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.

China

1,446 KIA^{[citation needed]}

Soviet Union

Under 12 unaccounted for

Philippines

• 7 men KIA 2

2 men MIA^{[citation needed]}

Thailand

• 351 KIA^[11]
• 1,358 WIA

Australia

• 426 KIA, 74 died of other causes^[12]
• 2,940 WIA^[11]
• 6 MIA (All have been accounted for and have or will be repatriated)

New Zealand

• 55 KIA + 2 Civilians
• 212 WIA^[11]

External links

• Source of the figures
• National Archives AAD Searchable database
• Casualties—US vs NVA/VC Casualty breakdown by year, province, unit.

References