Table of Contents
How many US military were lost in Vietnam?
58,220 U.S. military
The Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files contains records of 58,220 U.S. military fatal casualties of the Vietnam War.
What were the chances of a US soldier being killed throughout the Vietnam War?
One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. Although the percent that died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II.
Did the US military lose the Vietnam War?
The Paris Peace Accords of January 1973 saw all U.S. forces withdrawn; the Case–Church Amendment, passed by the U.S. Congress on 15 August 1973, officially ended direct U.S. military involvement. The Peace Accords were broken almost immediately, and fighting continued for two more years.
How many American soldiers were drafted in the Vietnam War?
2.2 million American men
The Draft in Context The military draft brought the war to the American home front. During the Vietnam War era, between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. military drafted 2.2 million American men out of an eligible pool of 27 million.
What was the policy of attrition in the Vietnam War?
Westmoreland pursued a policy of attrition, aiming to kill as many enemy troops as possible rather than trying to secure territory. By 1966, large areas of South Vietnam had been designated as “free-fire zones,” from which all innocent civilians were supposed to have evacuated and only enemy remained.
How did the Vietnam War affect the lives of civilians?
The brutal tactics used by US troops often drove more Vietnamese civilians to support the Vietcong. In 1968 American soldiers, searching for Vietcong guerrillas, raided the village of My Lai, killing around 300 civilians, including children. The My Lai Massacre severely damaged America’s reputation and undermined support for the war at home.
How did the Vietcong use the jungle to fight the US?
The Vietcong guerrillas knew the jungle and made use of elaborate underground bases and tunnels to shelter from US bombs, and often re-used unexploded American bombs against US soldiers. Failure of Search and Destroy (My Lai Massacre): Search and Destroy missions were often based on poor military intelligence.
How did the United States lose the Vietnam War?
Although American combat troops were not directly involved in the South’s final, crushing defeat, by failing to prevent the communist North’s victory, the United States – after years of costly effort that included a decade-long major military intervention and 58,000 American deaths – had lost the Vietnam War.