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Vietnam War Casualties Vietnam War casualties 50 percent. Civilian deaths caused by communist forces, which included the Viet Cong, North Vietnamese Army, Pathet Lao and Khmer Rouge, mostly resulted from as- sassinations and terror tactics. Civilian deaths caused by the armed forces of the governments of South Viet- nam, Cambodia, Laos, the United States, South Korea, and other allies were primarily the consequence of exten- sive 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 The American War Memorial of the dead Vietnamese between combatants and non-combatants. soldiers, Vietnam (Hanoi). 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. 1 Total number of deaths 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. The most extensive survey estimates deaths in the war from 1954 to 1975 at between 1.5 and 3.6 million people. This estimate includes 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. Dur- ing this period, the war escalated from an insurgency in South Vietnam assisted by the North Vietnamese govern- ment 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 ex- haustive reckoning of the total casualties must include sta- tistical information available for each theater of the war. Waiting to Lift Off by James Pollock, Vietnam Combat Artists Most of the fighting took place in South Vietnam; accord- Program, CAT IV, 1967. Courtesy of National Museum of the ingly it suffered the most casualties. U.S. Army Civilian deaths caused by both sides amounted to a signif- icant percentage of total deaths, perhaps from 30 to nearly Estimates of the total number of deaths in the Vietnam 1 2 3 CIVILIAN DEATHS IN THE VIETNAM WAR War vary widely depending upon the time period and area communists and 98,000 by South Vietnam and its allies. covered by the data. Deaths in Cambodia and Laos were estimated at 273,000 * Guenter Lewy in 1978 estimated 1,313,000 total deaths and 62,000 respectively. [6] 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 Viet- namese battle deaths claimed by the U.S. by 30 percent 2 Major incidents (in accordance with the opinion of United States Depart- ment of Defense officials), and assumed that one third of • the battle deaths of the VC/NVA were actually civilians. 1968 Tet Offensive – Hanoi failed in its most am- His estimate of total deaths is reflected in the table.*[1] bitious goal of producing a general uprising in the South, it suffered more than 45,267 (mainly Viet A detailed demographic study in 1995 calculated Cong) deaths but gained a propaganda, political and 791,000–1,141,000 war-related Vietnamese deaths, both strategic victory.*[9]*[10] 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 • 1972 Easter Offensive – This saw 50,000 to 75,000 males (above 15 years of age), 143,000 adult females, and North Vietnamese combatants killed plus their loss 84,000 children. Those totals include only Vietnamese of over 250–700 tanks and APCs. The attack was deaths, and do not include American and other allied mil- broken up mainly by US air power.*[11] itary 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] 3 Civilian deaths in the Vietnam Also in 1995, the Vietnamese government released its War estimate of war deaths for the more lengthy period of 1955 to 1975. According to the Vietnamese, Commu- Levy estimates that 40,000 South Vietnamese civil- nist battle deaths totaled 1.1 million and civilian deaths ians were assassinated by the Viet Cong/North Viet- of Vietnamese totaled 2.0 million. These estimates namese; 250,000 were killed as a result of combat probably include battle deaths of Vietnamese soldiers in in South Vietnam, and 65,000 were killed in North Laos and Cambodia, but do not include deaths of South Vietnam. He suggests that another 222,000 civilians Vietnamese and allied soldiers which would add nearly were counted as military deaths by the U.S. in com- 300,000 for a grand total of 3.4 million military and civil- piling its "body count.”His estimated total of civil- ian dead.*[4] ian deaths is 587,000.*[12]*[13]*[14] It was difficult A 2008 study by the BMJ (formerly British Medical Jour- to distinguish between civilians and military personnel nal) came up with a higher toll of 3,812,000 dead in on the Viet Cong side as many persons were part-time Vietnam between 1955 and 2002. For the period of guerrillas or impressed laborers who did not wear uni- * * * the Vietnam War the totals are 1,310,000 between 1955 forms. [15] [16] [17] 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 3.1 Deaths caused by North Vietnam/VC 3,091,000 war deaths between 1955 and 1975.*[3] forces Uppsala University in Sweden maintains the Armed Con- flict Database. Their estimates for conflict deaths in Viet- R. J. Rummel estimated that NVA/VC forces killed nam are 164,923 from 1955 to 1964 and 1,458,050 from around 164,000 civilians in democide between 1954 and 1965 to 1975 for a total of 1,622,973. The database also 1975 in South and North Vietnam, from a range of be- estimates combat deaths in Cambodia for the years 1967 tween 106,000 and 227,000, plus another 50,000 killed to 1975 to total 259,000. Data for deaths in Laos is in- in North Vietnam.*[18] Rummel's summary has a mid- complete.*[5] level estimate of 17,000 South Vietnamese civil ser- R. J. Rummel's mid-range estimate in 1997 was that the vants (ARVN's local millitia) killed by North Vietnamese total deaths due to the Vietnam conflict totaled 2,450,000 forces (including the Viet Cong). In addition, at least from 1954 to 1975. Rummel calculated communist war 36,000 Southern civilians were executed for various rea- deaths at 1,062,000 and South Vietnamese and allied war sons in the period 1967–1972.*[19] About 130 Amer- deaths of 741,000, both totals including civilians inad- ican and 16,000 South Vietnamese POWs died in cap- vertently killed. He estimated that victims of democide tivity.*[20] During the peak war years, Lewy attributed (deliberate killing of civilians) included 214,000 by the almost a third of civilian deaths to the Viet Cong.*[21] 3.3 Deaths caused by the American military 3 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*[27]*[28] sprayed by the U.S. military over more than 10% of Southern Vietnam,*[29] 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.*[30] Viet Cong massacred hundreds of Montagnard civilians at the German historian Bernd Greiner mentions the following village of Dak Son, 1967 war crimes reported, and/or investigated by the Peers Commission and the Vietnam War Crimes Working * 3.2 Deaths caused by South Vietnam Group, among other sources: [31] – Seven massacres officially confirmed by the American side. My Lai (4) and My Khe (4) claimed the largest num- From 1964 to 1975, an estimated 1,500 people died dur- ber of victims with 420 and 90 respectively, and in five ing the forced relocations of 1,200,000 civilians, another other places altogether about 100 civilians were executed. 5,000 prisoners died from ill-treatment and about 30,000 – Two further massacres were reported by soldiers who suspected communists and fighters were executed. 6,000 had taken part in them, one north of Đức Pho in Quảng civilians died in the more extensive shellings. In Quảng Ngãi Province in the summer of 1968 (14 victims), an- Nam province 4,700 civilians were killed in 1969. This other in Bình Định Province on 20 July 1969 (25 victims). totals, from a range of between 16,000 and 167,000 – Tiger Force, a special operations force, murdered hun- deaths caused by South Vietnam (Diệm-era), and 42,000 dreds, possibly over a thousand, civilians.
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