The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died. "The soldiers that you served with, the soldiers you were in the war with, become that Greek chorus. Since there were no roads, I was assigned as a squad leader on the 81mm mortars. A Viet Cong (VC) attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base occurred during the early hours of 4 December 1966, during the Vietnam War. Kill Four! NVA General to SOG: We Suffered 90 Percent Casualties (Pt. Hugh Thompson, the helicopter pilot who stopped the My Lai massacre, later told the news program "60 Minutes" that he was ostracized and received death threats upon his return from Vietnam. From there, the Aussies spread their recon patrol range by several kilometers. After five months he became a squad leader in the 1 st Cavalry, which would fly in to help other units if they needed backup. Shelby Stanton, writing in The Rise and Fall of an American Army, declined to include casualty statistics because of their 'general unreliability.' [11], Author Mark Woodruff noted that when the Vietnamese Government finally revealed its estimated losses (in April 1995) as being 1.1 million dead or missing, U.S body count figures had actually underestimated enemy losses. At the time, morale among U.S. soldiers on the ground was dwindling, especially in the wake of the North Vietnamese-led Tet Offensive, which was launched in January 1968. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Under the cover of night on Dec. 5, 1967, a coalition of Viet Cong guerrillas and North Vietnamese troops set the village of Dak Son on fire as its inhabitants slept. [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. 1. Answer (1 of 58): I have no independent confirmation on this. In Vietnam, it was used to take out bunkers and even buildings. Capt. He returned from Vietnam to experience some of his fellow soldiers crossing to the other side of the street when they saw him in America.". U.S. Army officers covered up the carnage for a year before it was reported in the American press, sparking a firestorm of international outrage. Make sure your selection Tensions escalated into armed conflict between the two sides, and in 1961 U.S. President John F. Kennedy chose to expand the military aid program. Deaths caused by the South Korean military, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong military casualties, Disproportion of African American casualties. U.S. military advisers, present in small numbers throughout the 1950s, were introduced on a large scale beginning in 1961, and active combat units were introduced in 1965. BBC News. He then consolidated his men to pull back and, while calling for artillery and aircraft attacks against the defenders, was hit by automatic weapons fire. Ooh-Rah (ooh-rah) All of them were listed on the Vietnam War Memorial located in Washington D.C. [5], In 1995, the Vietnamese government released its estimate of war deaths for the more lengthy period of 195575. 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. Among the U.S. Armys internal investigators of the My Lai massacre was Major Colin Powell, who later became Secretary of State under President George W. Bush. [93][94] With the draft increasing due to the troop buildup in South Vietnam, the military significantly lowered its admission standards. [93][97], 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. The 'shameful gamesmanship' practiced by 'certain reporting elements' under pressure to 'produce results' also shrouded the process. He received his B.A. Los Angeles Times. Just for fun (just for fun) [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. [26], RJ Rummel estimated that American forces killed around 5,500 people in democide between 1960 and 1972, from a range of between 4,000 and 10,000. My Lai (4) and My Khe (4) (collectively the My Lai Massacre) claimed the largest number of victims with 420 and 90 respectively, and in five other places a total of about 100 civilians were executed. This group was made up almost entirely of either working-class or rural youth. They are rigorously trained for tactical missions that are often quite difficult and dangerous. Among other countries that fought for South Vietnam on a smaller scale, South Korea suffered more than 4,000 dead, Thailand about 350, Australia more than 500, and New Zealand some three dozen. Twenty-one were wounded. The most prominent of these events were the Hu Massacre and the M Lai Massacre. [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%). For the period of the Vietnam War the totals are 1,310,000 between 1955 and 1964, 1,700,000 between 196574 and 810,000 between 1975 and 1984. The First American Soldier Killed in Ground Combat in Vietnam. I fired the 106. It may well be this was the actual intent of the question. The coverup of the My Lai Massacre continued until Ron Ridenhour, a soldier in the 11th Brigade who had heard reports of the massacre but had not participated, began a campaign to bring the events to light. In Qung Nam Province 4,700 civilians were killed in 1969. He thought through my training and the way that I handled myself that I could handle being in a situation where there were more enemies than there were friends," Davis told ABC News during an interview Thursday. The horrific events are known as the Nanjing Massacre or the Rape of read more, The Boston Massacre was a deadly riot that occurred on March 5, 1770, on King Street in Boston. To fire a round into the cave, I had to elevate the recoilless rifle upward and fire the round in an arcing trajectory, more like an artillery piece. RetMilRob 5 mo. Now he's friggin' dead P.S. Kill Two! Rummel estimates 212,000 killed by Khmer Rouge (19671975), 60,000 killed by U.S. and 1,000 killed by South Vietnam (196773). "Triumph Regained: The Vietnam War, 1965-1968." Rain, humidity, dirt, and heavy use made the flashlight unreliable and would turn on and off while moving. DI school (di school) https://www.historynet.com/vietnam-recoilless-rifle/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, When 21 Sikh Soldiers Fought the Odds Against 10,000 Pashtun Warriors, Few Red Tails Remain: Tuskegee Airman Dies at 96. Some accidently started the attack on Jan 30th instead of 31st, ended up being a good thing. They were: Lieutenant Bob Kerrey, Lieutenant Tom Norris, and EM2 Mike Thornton. [25], Operating under the direction of the CIA and other US and South Vietnamese Intel organizations and carried out by ARVN units alongside US advisers was the Phoenix Program, intended to neutralise the VC political infrastructure, whom were the civilian administration of the Viet Cong/Provisional Revolutionary Government via infiltration, capture, counter-terrorism, interrogation, and assassination. The Scene of the Crime, by Seymour Hersh. We left in July 1966 for a 17-day trip on the USNS General Nelson M. Walker transport ship. Photo Summary: General Nguyen Ngoc Loan killing Vietcong operative Nguyen Van Lem. 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. One of my PTSD guys told of being recruited in the brig in Germany by a Colonel around 1965. He refused. Dozens of South Vietnamese cities were caught by surprise. Civilian deaths caused by both sides amounted to a significant percentage of total deaths. Call (225) 687-7590 or park nicollet dermatology wayzata today! In the middle of the mountain, about two-thirds of the way up, I observed three Viet Cong coming out of a cave. [46], The ROK Capital Division reportedly perpetrated the Bnh An/Ty Vinh massacre in February/March 1966. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items! One! By March 1968, North Vietnam had greatly curtailed its trawler operations along the coast and Market Time could boast of a 94 percent success rate in stopping steel-hulled infiltrators. Tan Son Nhut Air Base was one of the major air bases used for offensive air operations within South Vietnam and for the support of United States Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) ground operations. (The estimates for 195564 are much higher than other estimates). "I wish I could say that this story of Paris sacrifice on that day in 1965, was fully recognized and rewarded immediately," Biden said. I could line the shot up perfectly vertically but had to guess horizontally. Davis leads assault in the early morning at Bong Song, clearing an enemy headquarters hut. The United States has spent over $65 million since 1998 as part of unexploded ordnance clearing operations. Charlie Company was sent to the area on March 16 for a search-and-destroy mission. [3], A 1995 demographic study in Population and Development Review calculated 791,0001,141,000 war-related Vietnamese deaths, both soldiers and civilians, for all of Vietnam from 196575. He said they could not go inside the cave due to the white phosphorous, but could smell the burnt hair and flesh. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., lists more than 58,300 names of members of the U.S. armed forces who were killed or went missing in action. Calley was reported to have dragged dozens of people, including young children, into a ditch before executing them with a machine gun. I went through basic training at Fort Knox, Ky., and took AIT at Fort Dix, N.J., where I trained as heavy weapons infantry. Ronald H. Spector is Professor of History and International Affairs in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Although that is no bad thing, it also demonized General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, which was something Eddie Adams was extremely sorry for. We are looking fo. https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/my-lai-massacre-1. President Joe Biden is scheduled to award Davis with the Medal honor March 3, 2023. [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. The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History The overwhelming majority of the MIA are from northern Vietnam. I was promoted to Staff Sgt. [26] The program resulted in an estimated 26,000 to 41,000 killed, with an unknown number possibly being innocent civilians. "Davis was wounded leading the initial assault, but continued moving forward, personally engaging the enemy in hand-to-hand combat and killing several enemy soldiers," the Army said in a release. History remembers them as the last two American pilots to die in Vietnam, killed when their Marine Corps helicopter went into the South China Sea during the frantic . Answer (1 of 11): The correct answer is that nobody knows. "But sadly, we know they weren't. READ MORE:How Colin Powell's Service in Vietnam Shaped His Leadership. Most of the area consisted of rice paddies. Number Two Son got it that same year, The 106mm recoilless rifle is a flat-trajectory weapon and its main purpose is to engage tanks. (USIA) NARA FILE #: 306-MVP-5-3 WAR & CONFLICT BOOK #: 420 Tet Offensive major Viet Cong attack on towns, cities, and American bases throughout South Vietnam My Lai massacre incident in which American troops killed from 175 to 400 Vietnamese villagers domino theory the fear that if one nation falls to communism, its neighbors will soon follow Vietnamization I saw it fly through the air, and this time I saw it go directly in the cave. [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. Davis took this not as a warning to withdraw, but as an opportunity to attack. The New Yorker. "Like World War I . ago. Time magazine, in an April 12, 1968, article titled "Victory at Khe Sanh," reported General William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, after flying into Khe Sanh by helicopter, declaring: "We took 220 killed at Khe Sanh and about 800 wounded and evacuated. 250,000 were killed as a result of combat in South Vietnam and 65,000 were killed in North Vietnam. [2], Guenter Lewy in 1978 estimated 1,353,000 total deaths in North and South Vietnam during the period 19651974 in which the U.S. was most engaged in the war. The war persisted from 1955 to 1975 and most of the fighting took place in South Vietnam; accordingly it suffered the most casualties. The Eisenhower organization guaranteed military guide and . Note: Three U.S. Navy SEALs were recipients of the Medal of Honor during Vietnam. According to the Information Bureau of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam (PRG), a shadow government formed by North Vietnam in 1969, 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. Seven massacres officially confirmed by the American side. Paris Davis poses for an official U.S. Army service photo circa early 1960s. Davis has speculated his race could have played a factor. After arriving in country, we spent about a month digging bunkers for our future base camp in the Pleiku area. 1) One of the more amazing stories to emerge from the eight-year secret war during the Vietnam War took place on October 5 . Not a single shot was fired against the men of Charlie Company at My Lai. Based on the current dollar value, the Vietnam War cost the equivalent of about $1 trillion. Three young men were shot and killed, and read more, In late 1937, over a period of six weeks, Imperial Japanese Army forces brutally murdered hundreds of thousands of peopleincluding both soldiers and civiliansin the Chinese city of Nanjing (or Nanking). The U.S. estimated more than 100,000 PAVN killed in the offensive. The question of who won the Vietnam War has been a subject of debate, and the answer depends on the definition of victory. 1 went to vietnam 2 killed the viet congis sea bass a bony fish to eat. the Vietnam War). I saw them shoot an M79 (grenade launcher) into a group of people who were still alive. The boat people's first destinations were the Southeast Asian locations of Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Lm, who. Nonetheless, the U.S. Army began an internal investigation of the incident. Davis described a war of words with the senior officer. Data for deaths in Laos is incomplete. All Rights Reserved. In that respect, it failed: the two Vietnams were united under a communist banner in July 1976. The costs and casualties of the growing war proved too much for the United States to bear, and U.S. combat units were withdrawn by 1973. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, between 200,000 and 400,000 boat people died at sea. The Vietnam war took a major death toll in Vietnam, United States, South Korea, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. On the night of November 1-2 . In 1998, Thompson and two other members of his crew received the Soldiers Medal, the U.S. Armys highest award for bravery not involving direct contact with the enemy. Moyar, Mark. 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. [4] In the Battle of Long Tan, 18 Australians were killed and 24 wounded, all but one of the dead were from D Company. The paratroopers had been searching the area for 12 days with no enemy contact. [101], Agent Orange and similar chemical defoliants have also caused a considerable number of deaths and injuries over the years, including among the US Air Force crew that handled them. Democide is the murder of persons by or at the behest of governments. The total number of officer casualties, commissioned and warrant, are 7,877. On 24 October 1966, 1st Lt. John F. Cochrane of the 409th Radio Research Detachment (RRD), 303d Radio Research Battalion, was killed by a Viet Cong sniper while looking for a suitable site to set . During the war, the United States lost 58,220 military personnel, in which 47,434 were killed in action while 10,786 died by other causes 3. [11][12][13][14] It was difficult to distinguish between civilians and military personnel in many instances as many individuals were part-time guerrillas or impressed laborers who did not wear uniforms. In Vietnam, it was used to take out bunkers and even buildings. Was the leader of the Vietnamese independence movement and the Vietnam troops he wanted the French out of Vietnam. Among other countries that fought for South Vietnam, South Korea had more than 4,000 dead, Thailand about 350, Australia more than 500, and New Zealand some three dozen. In 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., inscribed with the names of 57,939 members of U.S. armed forces who had died or were missing as a result of the war. The two Vietnams (1954-65) Vietnam (1954-76) The agreements concluded in Geneva between April and July 1954 (collectively called the Geneva Accords) were signed by French and Viet Minh representatives and provided for a cease-fire and temporary division of the country into two military zones at latitude 17 N (popularly called the 17th parallel). All were acquitted except for Calley, who was found guilty of premeditated murder for ordering the shootings, despite his contention that he was only following orders from his commanding officer, Captain Medina. Cleveland Plain Dealer. Among the American troops still in Vietnam, morale was low, and anger and frustration were high. He never landed, and I never kicked his ass," Davis said. Four, Louder But I'm not leaving,'" Davis told ABC News. 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. 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. Neighbouring Laos and Cambodia similarly fell to communists. Diem Cancels the Election Perceiving Ho Chi Minh`s boundless fame, South Vietnam's leader, Ngo Dinh Diem a solid enemy of Communist, would not participate in the countrywide elec-tion of 1956. [25][30], 18.2 million gallons of Agent Orange, some of which was contaminated with 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. November 2, 2021 . I looked through the scope on the 106 and could see Purple Heart Mountain. United States Navy SEALs are members of a special operations unit in the armed forces. Estimates of casualties of the Vietnam War vary widely. Webb and another soldier moved on to a second bunker; this time, a grenade sprayed him with shrapnel, but he detonated a claymore at the bunker's entrance, killing two Viet Cong. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Accurate assessments of PAVN/VC losses, he wrote, were 'largely impossible due to lack of disclosure by the Vietnamese government, terrain, destruction of remains by firepower, and [inability] to confirm artillery and aerial kills.' The United States had provided funding, armaments, and training to South Vietnams government and military since Vietnams partition into the communist North and the democratic South in 1954. The enemy by my count suffered at least 15,000 dead in the area.". US jobless claims climb for first time in 5 weeks, to 353,000. On Feb. 16, 1967, I was wounded while taking part in Operation Sam Houston in Kontum Province. The human costs of the long conflict were harsh for all involved. Rats were given a mx99 flashlight and a 45 and sent in to flush out the enemy. A pre-dawn mortar assault kills five Americans, two South Vietnamese, and wounds . During the Vietnam War, Builder et al. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Two further massacres were reported by soldiers who had taken part in them, one north of c Pho in, 426 killed in action, 74 died of other causes, 6 missing in action (all accounted for and repatriated), This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 11:09. Went to viet Nam Two! A U.S. Marine officer teaches a Vietnamese recruit to use a grenade launcher. According to the Vietnamese government, unexploded ordnance has killed some 42,000 people since the end of the war.