Statistics

This unit is not about statistics, it’s about caring.  Statistics in and of themselves are meaningless without an analysis of them.  Teachers, especially math teachers, are encouraged to use these statistics for lessons concerning fractions, decimals,  percentages, graphing, probability and statistics, etc.

Researching statistics about the Vietnam War is challenging because there are so many conflicting reports.  What I have tried to do in this section is provide statistics from reliable sources that I have found in more than one source. The sources of these statistics are primarily from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, United States Government sources, The Vietnam War: A Comprehensive and Illustrated History of the Conflict in Southeast Asia, Vietnam Decisive Battles, and Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War.

Statistics about all wars are difficult to keep -- it’s just part of the nature of war.  Due to the varying numbers in reports, I’ve chosen to provide rounded numbers where confusion reigned.  If you take the time to add numbers and compare them to previously mentioned totals, you will find they vary from time to time.  Again, this is due to the incredible variance among reports.  Although these numbers will vary slightly, please know that I’ve invested a significant number of hours trying to report as accurate an accounting as possible.

Statistics concerning the number of women who served vary wildly due to poor record keeping.  I used 12,000 as the number of women who served, but reports range from  7,400 to significantly higher than 12,000.  However, several sources noted 12,000, although no one knows for sure.

Statistics

Number of American military personnel who served in Vietnam   2,700,000
40% to 60% fought in combat or provided close support
Number of women who served in Vietnam, most as nurses. 12,000
Peak troop strength in Vietnam (April 30, 1969). 543,482

Deaths
Hostile deaths 47,420
Non-Hostile deaths 10,800
Total deaths (Those who subsequently died of wounds account for the changing total.) 58,220
Women who died (1 killed in action) 8
Married men killed 17,539
Persons killed, age 21 or younger 35,500
Caucasian (White) deaths  47,200
African-Americans deaths  7,400
Hispanic deaths 3,070
Other races deaths 550
Reservists deaths 5,977
National Guard deaths (6,140 served) 101
Protestant deaths 37,500
Catholic deaths 16,900
Other Religion deaths 3,820
Army 30,905
Marines 13,082
Air Force 1,739
Navy 1,626
Coast Guard 5
Wounded
Wounded 304,000
Hospitalized 154,000
Severely Disabled 75,000
Lost Limbs 5,283
Multiple Amputations 1,081
Amputation or crippling wounds to the lower extremities were 300% higher
than in WWII and 70% higher than in Korea. Multiple amputations occurred
at the rate of 18.4% compared to 5.7% in WWII.
POW/MIA
Prisoners of War (Reports vary dramatically.) (114 died in captivity.) 800
Missing in Action 2,500
Draftees vs. Volunteers
: 25% (648,500) of total forces in country were draftees.
   (66% of U.S. armed forces members were drafted during WWII.)
: Draftees accounted for 30.4% (17,725) of combat deaths in Vietnam.
: Draftees battle deaths percentages:
   1961- 1964 = 13%     1965 = 16%     1966 = 21%     1967 = 34%     1968 = 34%
               1969 = 40%     1970 = 43%     1971 = 33%     1972 =  6%

African-Americans
: In 1965 African-Americans filled 31% of the ranks of ground combat battalions and
   they suffered 24% of the fatal casualties.
: African-Americans represented 13.5% of the U.S. military age population, and 12%
   of the total U.S. population.
: Percentage of African-American combat fatalities decreased as the war went on.
  1965 = 24%          1966 = 16%          1968 = 13%          1970 = 9%         Overall = 12.5%
: 14.6% (1,530) of non-combat deaths were among African-Americans.
: 34% of African-Americans who enlisted volunteered for combat arms.

Socioeconomic Status
: 76% of  men sent to Vietnam were from lower middle/working class backgrounds.
: 23% of  vets had fathers with professional, managerial or technical occupations.
: 79% of the men who served in Vietnam had a high school education or better when
  they entered the military service. (63% of Korean War vets and only 45% of WWII vets
  had completed high school upon separation.)
: Of the 1,200 members of the Harvard class of 1970, only 2 served in Vietnam.

Sundry
: 82% of veterans who saw heavy combat strongly believe the war was lost because of
  lack of political will.
: Nearly 75% of the public agrees it was a failure of political will, not of arms.
: 97% of Vietnam-era veterans were honorably discharged.
: 91% of actual Vietnam War veterans and 90% of those who saw heavy combat are
  proud to have served their country.
: 66% of Vietnam vets say they would serve again if called upon.
: 87% of the public now holds Vietnam veterans in high esteem.

The Vietnam War
 
Year 
Military Commitment
Combat  Deaths
1959 
800 
2
1960 
900 
*22
1961 
3,164 
*75
1962 
11,326 
*274
1963 
16,263 
*388
1964 
23,310 
137
1965 
184,300 
1,369
1966 
389,300 
5,008
1967 
485,600 
9,378
1968 
536,100 
14,592
1969 
543,482 
9,414
1970 
475,000 
4,221
1971 
336,000 
1,381
1972 
159,000
 300
1973 
66,300 
237
1974  .
1
1975  .
63
Total  .
46,862
 

Notes:
: Battle deaths total does not match the reported 47,420. This is an example of the
   type of frustration one deals with when trying to determine war statistics.
: Military commitment figures are based on apparent peak troop strength.  This is a bit
  misleading because from 1969 through the end of the war, the peak strength was
  always on January 1.  Troops were being gradually withdrawn, while in other years
  the peak strength was more likely at the end of the year as a buildup of troops was
  occurring.  The notable exception is 1969 when troop strength peaked on April 30 at
  543,482.  The drawdown began in 1969 with the election of Richard Nixon.
: *759 men died from 1960 through 1963.  The numbers presented are just
   percentages of the total number of men in country versus the total number of deaths.
: More Americans died at Gettysburg in 3 days than died in Indochina in all of 1966
   or 1970.
: Three months of fighting in Okinawa killed nearly as many as 12 months in 1968.
 


 
Agents of Destruction
 
Agent
Deaths 
Small arms 
18,396
Booby traps 
8,464
Grenades and mines 
7,429
Aircraft crash and loss 
7,164
Artillery, mortars, rockets 
4,870
Killed in Action by Age
 
17 
11
18 
2,602
19 
7,015
20 
11,989
 21 
7,953
22 
3,872
 23 
2,841
24 
2,161
25 
1,662
 26 
1,116

Free World Participation - Peak Troop Strength
 
Australia 
7,672
South Korea 
50,003
Thailand 
11,586
New Zealand 
552
 Philippines 
2,061