Lewy reduced the number of Viet Cong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 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 reported battle deaths of the PAVN/VC may have actually been civilians. Civilian deaths caused by both sides amounted to a significant percentage of total deaths. . [19], Other casualties for the ARVN included up to 1,170,000 military wounded,[59] and 1,000,000 surrendered or captured. He estimates that between 30 and 46% of the total war deaths were civilians. Her areas of interest include the Vietnam War and World Wars I and II, with a focus on Great Britain, Germany and Eastern Europe. If a service member were to return alive, a circlethe symbol of lifewould be inscribed around the plus sign. [26] The program resulted in an estimated 26,000 to 41,000 killed, with an unknown number possibly being innocent civilians. Colleen Pontes, whose father Kevin Joyce was added in 2003, remembered the rush of emotions she felt as she and her brother watched their dads name being inscribed in the granite. [18], R. J. Rummel estimated that PAVN/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. Calculating U.S. 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. 31, 1973 See image 154; Register of Vietnam War casualties from Kentucky; Directory of United States prisoners of war and missing in action as a result of the Vietnam War Kinston, North Carolina : Last Firebase Veterans Archive Project . For weeks and weeks, a team worked through the list, verifying spellings and ensuring that the computer printout that was to be used for the stenciling was correct. These were caused by assassinations, massacres, terror tactics, artillery, extensive aerial bombing, and the use of firepower in military operations conducted in heavily populated areas. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [2] When he later read the official tally of dead, he found that it listed them as 130 VC killed. Inscribed dots in the margins of every other panel mark every 10 lines to aid in counting. Please note: U.S. Navy muster rolls/personnel diaries after 1971 utilize social security numbers and are subject to privacy restrictions. [33][34] The United States government has challenged these figures as being unreliable. [8], Lewy estimates that 40,000 South Vietnamese civilians were assassinated by the PAVN/VC; 300,000 were killed as a result of combat in South Vietnam, and 65,000 were killed in North Vietnam for a total of 405,000 killed. Called the American War in Vietnam (or, in full, the War Against the Americans to Save the Nation), the war was also part of a larger regional conflict (see Indochina wars) and a manifestation of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. Seven massacres officially confirmed by the American side. The 2nd Marine Brigade reportedly perpetrated the Binh Tai Massacre on 9 October 1966. The west wall is on the left when standing facing the vertex, and the east wall is to the right. In that respect, it failed: the two Vietnams were united under a communist banner in July 1976. During that period, they stated, they lost 849,018 killed plus approximately 232,000 missing and 463,000 wounded. Under the cover of monsoon rains the Vietcong (VC) 409th Battalion attacked the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines at Firebase Ross with mortars and sappers . The West Wall May 25, 1968 to May 15, 1975. from Johns Hopkins and his MA and Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The earliest casualties are named on line 1 of panel 1 East, at the center of the Wall. Shelby Stanton, writing in The Rise and Fall of an American Army, declined to include casualty statistics because of their 'general unreliability.' [61], According to the Vietnamese government's national survey and assessment of war casualties (March 2017), there were 849,018 PAVN military personnel dead, including combat death and non-combat death, from the period between 1960 and 1975. The last 18 names listed on the bottom of Panel 1, West, also at the apex, are from May 15, 1975. Those who argue that the United States opponents won the war cite the United States overall objectives and outcomes. Officials have released the names of the victims of the Dadeville, Alabama mass shooting at a birthday party. Authority Record - NARA Records of the U.S. John on March 28, 1966 and David on April 21, 1969 Brothers George and James Wright were both killed in Vietnam. Although the Wall of Faces now has a photo for each name, the VVMF continues to search for additional, higher-quality images and stories. The sum of those totals is 3,091,000 war deaths between 195575. Estimates can include both civilian and military deaths in North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. [91] Around 3035% of American deaths in the war were non-combat or friendly fire deaths; the largest causes of death in the U.S. armed forces were small arms fire (31.8%), booby traps including mines and frags (27.4%), and aircraft crashes (14.7%). The panel number is a number/letter combination, such as 10W or 35E. This tank was an upgrade, but it still had flaws. He would become instrumental in helping Doubek identify names and check spellings. The American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress sponsors the Veterans History Project, which includes detailed first-hand accounts of war experiences, including those of Vietnam veterans. Unit histories and supporting documents of Air Force units are in the custody of the Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL. The idea behind adding faces to the names on The Wall was that even a simple image of a human face not only preserves the memory of the dead but touches the lives of people today. When the Wall was dedicated in 1982, there were 57,939 names inscribed. U.S. casualties were listed as 72 killed and 372 wounded. According to a 2009 study, one third of land in the central provinces of Vietnam is still contaminated with unexploded mines and ordnance. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. According to VVMF president and CEO Jim Knotts, the quest for photos was intended to ensure that visitors to The Wall understand that behind each name is a face a person with a story of a family and friends who were forever changed by their loss.. The panel numbers are inscribed at the bottom of each panel. Doubek was tasked with identifying all of the names to be included on the Wall. Count down from the top of the panel. The numbers of lives that have been touched by this memorial go . Vietnam War, Awards and Decorations of Honor, 1965-1972. The number of these "boat people" leaving Vietnam and arriving safely in another country totalled almost 800,000 between 1975 and 1995. "We had no qualms. Millions more come to experience this Memorial each year. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. has the names listed in chronological order by date of loss. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union and China poured weapons, supplies, and advisers into the North, which in turn provided support, political direction, and regular combat troops for the campaign in the South. Fallen comrades could be together on the Wall, as theyd been in death. [62] According to the Vice Minister Nguyn B Hoan, in 2022, nearly 200,000 PAVN/VC were still MIA (whose bodies were have not been found), and 300,000 whose bodies have been found, but buried anonymously and never identified. The names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, better known as the Wall, will no longer stand alone. In October 1966, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara initiated Project 100,000 which further lowered military standards for 100,000 additional draftees per year. On the west wall, the symbol precedes the name; on the east wall, the symbol follows the name. 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. 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. I was able to obtain a high school photo and then a military photo and provide it not only to the Wall of Faces but to the family as well.. The names of those who gave their lives and of those who remain missing are inscribed in the order they were taken from us. [62][63] Based on unit surveys, a rough estimate of 3040% of dead and missing were non-combat deaths. 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. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial of Greater Rochester, which has found its home in Highland Park South, has been a place of great pride since its dedication on September 8, 1996. Lt.Sharon Lane, Capt. Over the following years, additions to the list have brought the total past 58,200. The overwhelming majority of the MIA are from northern Vietnam. I am proud of my work with this project and will never forget this time in my life.. Many of the refugees failed to survive the passage, facing danger from pirates, over-crowded boats, and storms. Furthermore, domestic unrest and the financial cost of war made peaceand troop withdrawalsa necessity, not a choice. These numbers are not official statistics and are for informational purposes only. 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. [72], 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 of being VC operatives and informants. His life mattered. These names are followed by the inscription: Our nation honors the courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty and country of its Vietnam veterans. Doubek contacted the National Personnel Records Center, Archives and Records Service, in St. Louis, Mo. In honor of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States who served in the Vietnam War. State Lists of U. S. Fatal Casualties of the Vietnam War Electronic Data Records Relating to Military Objectives and Activities During the Vietnam War Search Selected Vietnam War Electronic Records, through the Access to Archival Databases (AAD) Textual Records Relating to the Vietnam War [53][54] A separate study was carried out by RAND Corporation employee Terry Rambo, who conducted interviews in 1970 on reported Korean atrocities in ARVN/civilian areas. [6], A 2008 study by the BMJ (formerly British Medical Journal) came up with a higher toll of 3,812,000 dead in Vietnam between 19552002. By nearly every metric, the Vietnam War was, in the common sense of the word, a war. Vietnam Casualties. Zita is the editor of both Military History Quarterly and Vietnam Magazine. In . The U.S. military reported 58,220 American casualties. Search the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall page for Vietnam War casualties by name, home of record, home state/country, branch, age, service or social security number, rank, birthday, and/or . The names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, better known as the Wall, will no longer stand alone. The human costs of the long conflict were harsh for all involved. The State of Indiana, Vietnam casualties list by county : list of names reported from Jan. 1, 1961 thru Mar. And they are so respectful when they do the engraving. 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. [27] Estimates for the number of North Vietnamese civilian deaths resulting from US bombing range from 30,00065,000. I am grateful for each and every volunteer, each newspaper that agreed to do a story for a little lady from Hawaii. The U.S. Military estimated that approximately 200,000 to 250,000 South Vietnamese perished in the Vietnam War. 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. Civil War Battles. One study estimated that American commanders exaggerated body counts by 100 percent. By Age: Age at Time of Death Casualties 17 12 18 3,103 19 8,283 20 14,095 21 9,705 22 4,798 My most memorable story came from contacting a daughter-in-law of a fallen service member only to find out that her husband had never seen a photo of his father, Hine said. [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. As a result, the software improperly truncated or abbreviated names. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. 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. The records of the Vietnam-Era Military Personnel Records are held by the U.S. Department of Defense. Alfred M. Gray Research Center They also assert that the U.S. overall suffered fewer casualties than its opponents. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. [73][74], Historian Christian Appy states "search and destroy was the principal tactic; and the enemy body count was the primary measure of progress" in the US strategy of attrition. 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