NVA General to SOG: We Suffered 90 Percent Casualties (Pt. Once I had the shot lined up, we loaded a 35-pound white phosphorus round into the gun. Nonetheless, the U.S. Army began an internal investigation of the incident. In 1995 Vietnam released its official estimate of the number of people killed during the Vietnam War: as many as 2,000,000 civilians on both sides and some 1,100,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. [92], African Americans suffered disproportionately high casualty rates in Vietnam. Did you know? [11][23]:106 R.J. Rummel estimated that ARVN suffered between 219,000 and 313,000 deaths during the war, including in 1975 and prior to 1960. In 1965, already having served in Korea and Vietnam, Davis was told by his company commander he was destined for the treacherous Binh Dinh province. An annotation cannot contain another annotation. 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. For this figure, Guenter Lewy assumes that one-third of the reported enemy killed may have been civilians, concluding that the actual number of deaths of the VC and PAVN military forces was probably closer to 444,000. In my report I described them as so many women between fifteen and twenty-five and so many childrenusually in their mothers' arms or very close to themand so many old people." 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. Run to Cadence with the U.S. Marines, Vol. "The general said 'If I was down there, I'd probably kick your ass.' War and Conflict, The Vietnam War, pic: December 1967, Bu Dop, South Vietnam, American soldiers if the 1st US, Infantry Division carry away a wounded. [26] The program resulted in an estimated 26,000 to 41,000 killed, with an unknown number possibly being innocent civilians. Viet Cong (VC) operatives detonated explosive charges causing the entire building to collapse. Americans call it the "Vietnam War." The Vietnamese refer to it as the "American War" that dominated 30 years of Vietnam's history. No estimate given for deaths caused by Viet Cong/North Vietnam (195475). On Feb. 16, 1967, I was wounded while taking part in Operation Sam Houston in Kontum Province. Illustration by The Paris Davis Interactive Medal of Honor Story. It granted him broad latitude in handling the struggle against communism in Southeast Asia. The U.S. military reported 58,220 American casualties. [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%). 17,000 South Vietnamese civil servants killed by People's Army of Vietnam /Viet Cong. [71] The official US Department of Defense figure was 950,765 communist forces killed in Vietnam from 1965 to 1974. Chapter 14: "The cease-fire war claimed 26,500 ARVN dead in 1973, and almost 30,000 in 1974. More than 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam, and more than 150,000 were wounded. The number of these "boat people" leaving Vietnam and arriving safely in another country totalled almost 800,000 between 1975 and 1995. BBC News. We reloaded another white phosphorous round. [104], Following the end of the war, many refugees fled Vietnam by boat and ship. 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. . [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. Oh Yeah (oh yeah), U.S. Marine Corps Lyrics provided by SongLyrics.com. "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. But in 1998, Thompson attended a memorial service at My Lai on the 30th anniversary of the massacre. 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 served in the Army for three years. . The following is a chart of all casualties, listed by race, and in descending order. [33][34] The United States government has challenged these figures as being unreliable. They were shooting women and children just like anybody else, Sgt. [89], The total number of casualties, both KIA and non-hostile deaths, for drafted and volunteer service personnel (figures are approximated):[90], During the Vietnam War, 30% of wounded service members died of their wounds. November 2, 2021 . [68] Per the official Vietnamese history, over 10,000 more PAVN soldiers were killed in the final offensive of early 1975. All Rights Reserved. On the night of November 1-2 . [22], Thomas Thayer in 1985 estimated that during the 196572 period the VC killed 33,052 South Vietnamese village officials and civil servants.[23]. The two countries finally resumed formal diplomatic relations in 1995. Although North Vietnamese and Viet Cong casualty counts vary wildly, it is generally understood that they suffered several times the number of American casualties. I could line the shot up perfectly vertically but had to guess horizontally. That was a very unusual way to use a 106 recoilless rifle, but it did the job. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Now don't give me any crap about not being in Viet Nam. 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. H. Col. Paris Davis speaks with ABC News on the day before his Medal of Honor ceremony. I looked through the scope on the 106 and could see Purple Heart Mountain. Everywhere wed look, wed see bodies. In March 1971, Calley was given a life sentence for his role in directing the killings at My Lai. Despite his grievous wounds and with no regard for his own safety, Davis saved the soldier and returned him to the company's perimeter. On the morning of March 16, 1968, U.S. Army soldiers entered a Vietnamese hamlet named My Lai 4 on a search-and-destroy mission in a region controlled by Viet Cong forces that the Army referred to as Pinkville. The soldiers didnt encounter any enemy troops. III. For the next 77 days, U.S. read more, The Orangeburg Massacre occurred on the night of February 8, 1968, when a civil rights protest at South Carolina State University (SC State) turned deadly after highway patrolmen opened fire on about 200 unarmed black student protestors. Omissions? The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. Charlie Company was sent to the area on March 16 for a search-and-destroy mission. Footnote: The last U.S. serviceman to die in combat in Vietnam, Lt. Col. William B. Nolde, was killed by an artillery shell at An Loc, 60 miles northwest of Saigon, only 11 hours before the. The study came up with a most likely Vietnamese death toll of 882,000, which included 655,000 adult males (above 15 years of age), 143,000 adult females, and 84,000 children. In addition, at least 36,000 Southern civilians were executed for various reasons in the period 1967-1972, about 130 American and 16,000 South Vietnamese POWs died in captivity. [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. Ooh-Rah (ooh-rah) [102] The Red Cross of Vietnam estimates that up to 1 million people are disabled or suffer health problems due to Agent Orange exposure. United States Navy SEALs are members of a special operations unit in the armed forces. Davis leads assault in the early morning at Bong Song, clearing an enemy headquarters hut. [45] One example cited by Turse is Operation Speedy Express, an operation by the 9th Infantry Division, which was described by John Paul Vann as, in effect, "many My Lais". (USIA) NARA FILE #: 306-MVP-5-3 WAR & CONFLICT BOOK #: 420 [7], R. J. Rummel's mid-range estimate in 1997 was that the total deaths due to the Vietnam War totaled 2,450,000 from 195475. The following day, I asked a guy from second platoon if they went into the cave and if I had taken out the VC machine gun crew. Song Be, S. Vietnam: Assist To Evacuation Helicopter. Democide is the murder of persons by or at the behest of governments. Four, kicked a-lot ass Although that is no bad thing, it also demonized General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, which was something Eddie Adams was extremely sorry for. Nguyen Ngc Loan died of cancer on 14 July 1998, aged 67, in Burke, Virginia. Now injured several times over, Davis saw two American comrades seriously hurt, but across enemy lanes of fire. The Viet Cong were the guerrilla force that, with the support of the North Vietnamese Army, fought against South Vietnam and its allies. "It was the epitome of immoralityOne of the times I counted bodies after an air strikewhich always ended with two napalm bombs which would just fry everything that was leftI counted sixty-two bodies. III, Here we go (here we go) The terms of this expansion included yet more funding and arms, but a key alteration was the commitment of U.S. soldiers to the region. Corrections? Deaths in Cambodia and Laos were estimated at 273,000 and 62,000 respectively. [79], The total number of American personnel who were KIA or died non-hostile deaths, were enlisted personnel with a casualty number of 50,441. "Davis made it to the first soldier under a hail of enemy fire and was shot once again. Capt. [35], For official US military operations reports, there was no established distinctions between enemy KIA and civilian KIA. [19], Other casualties for the ARVN included up to 1,170,000 military wounded,[59] and 1,000,000 surrendered or captured. Civilian deaths were partly caused by assassinations, massacres, and terror tactics. 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. One! ABC News asked Davis what would have happened had he obeyed. Davis personally captured two enemy combatants. The 2nd Marine Brigade reportedly perpetrated the Binh Tai Massacre on 9 October 1966. Many of the refugees failed to survive the passage, facing danger from pirates, over-crowded boats, and storms. [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. Los Angeles Times. [citation needed] Black people often made up a disproportionate 25% or more of combat units, while constituting only 12% of the military. Seven Americans were killed in the attacks. https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/my-lai-massacre-1. The Scene of the Crime, by Seymour Hersh. Just for fun (just for fun) Davis has speculated his race could have played a factor. Here we go (here we go) Davis tackled the enemy and "defeated" him -- as the Army euphemistically puts it -- with his bare hands. "It became necessary to destroy the town to save it." AP correspondent Peter Arnett quoting a U.S. major on the decision to bomb and shell Ben Tre on February 7, 1968 after Viet Cong forces. Kill Three! Later investigations have revealed that the slaughter at My Lai was not an isolated incident. Paris Island (paris island) Since 1941 Congress has declared war only six times, all during World War II. According to the South Vietnamese military, Lm's squad had just killed 34 people associated with the police, at least 24 of whom were civilians, when he was captured on February 1st. In addition, at least 36,000 Southern civilians were executed for various reasons in the period 19671972. Our first operation, Operation Seward, took place in the vicinity of Tuy Hoa. The VC pulled a machine gun mounted on a wheeled cart, using this improvised device to shoot down at our soldiers while using the cave as a hiding place. The Viet Cong attacked close to midnight on 10 June 1965, letting loose a 200-round barrage of 60mm mortars followed by a wave of hundreds of Viet Cong attacking the walls of the compound.. 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 . 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.
