All five branches of the armed forces served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War: a total of 1,407,000 in the Army, 294,000 Marines, 126,000 from the Navy and 273,000 from the Air Force.

Though the Army suffered the most casualties with 38,179 fatalities, the Marines lost the highest percentage (five percent) of its own men. The Navy lost 2,556 men and the Air Force lost nearly the same (2,580). The Coast Guard lost few from its ranks, but provided back up for the Navy in many critical stages of the war.

Print This Page

The Vietnam War proved challenging for military aviation as carrier-based Navy pilots and Air Force pilots in F-4 Phantom and F-8 Crusader aircraft adopted new tactics to battle North Vietnamese MiGs, fierce anti-aircraft fire and missiles over Hanoi. At the same time, close air support was indispensable to Army and Marine ground forces throughout South Vietnam. In addition, Navy pilots flew armed Huey helicopters and OV-10 Bronco planes on river convoy duty and prowled the coast for North Vietnamese infiltration.


Print This Page

Helicopters played a vital role in America's air mobility strategy during the Vietnam War. Approximately 12,000 U.S. helicopters served during the conflict and nearly 5,000 were destroyed. Approximately 40,000 U.S. helicopter pilots served throughout the war.

Although helicopters were used during the Korean War, it wasn’t until the Vietnam War that they reached their full potential, at which time they were used to transport, troops to the battlefield and provide resupply and other logistical support through workhorse helicopters like the CH-46.

Print This Page

According to Department of Defense between 1962 and 1973, approximately 7,500 women served on active military duty in Vietnam. Independent surveys estimate that the number of women, both civilian and non-civilian, working in Vietnam during the war is between 33,000 and 55,000.

Nurses made up the bulk of the military women serving in Vietnam, but approximately 60 percent of the nurses who arrived in Vietnam had had less than two years of medical training and of those, 60 percent had less than six months of training.

Physicians and all medical personnel were little prepared for the severe combat injuries, resulting from multiple gunshot wounds and exploding ordinance, such as mortars, that could result in loss of limbs and other debilitating injuries.

Print This Page

Combat for Marines and soldiers in the line infantry units often was close and intense as they battled first Viet Cong and later in the war North Vietnamese Army forces in the jungles, rice paddies and mountains of South Vietnam In 1965, the United States rapidly increased its military forces in South Vietnam, prompted by the realization that the South Vietnamese government needed more help as the communist-dominated Viet Cong gained increasing influence early in the war over much of the population in rural areas of the country. North Vietnam also rapidly increased its infiltration of men and supplies to combat South Vietnam and the U.S. The objective of the U.S. and South Vietnam was to prevent a communist take-over. North Vietnam and the insurgent Viet Cong sought to unite the two sections of the country.

Artillery from earlier wars, such as the standard 105 mm howitzer, played a crucial role for ground troops, who would call fire missions against enemy forces. In addition to 60 different kinds of aircraft and 20 types of helicopters, Americans used grenade launchers, M-60 machine guns, mines and heavier crew-served weapons. The M14 standard infantry rifle was replaced by the lighter-weight M16s that suffered jamming problems. A total 600 Patton tanks were deployed during the conflict. The long-range, American 175 mm M107 Self-Propelled Gun, became the adversary to the enemy’s Soviet 130 mm M-46 field gun with a 17-mile range.


Print This Page

The trauma of war can have a debilitating effect on those who fight, and Vietnam saw its share of victims suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Its symptoms are many, including panic, extreme anxiety, depression, anger and hallucinations. Over the long term, these tendencies can result in severe mental problems and social dysfunction. The National Vietnam Readjustment Study requested in 1983 reported that as many as 15 percent of Veterans suffered from PTSD.


Print This Page

At the fall of Saigon in 1975, chaos, unrest, and panic broke out as hysterical South Vietnamese officials and civilians scrambled to leave the city. American helicopters began evacuating South Vietnamese, U.S., and foreign nationals from various parts of the city and from the U.S. embassy compound. The military operation, Frequent Wind, had been delayed until the last possible moment, because of U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin's belief that Saigon could be held and that a political settlement could be reached.

In the United States, South Vietnam was perceived as doomed and President Gerald Ford gave a televised speech on 23 April, declaring an end to the Vietnam War and all U.S. aid. Frequent Wind continued around the clock, as North Vietnamese tanks breached defenses on the outskirts of Saigon. In the early morning hours of 30 April, the last U.S. Marines evacuated the embassy by helicopter, as civilians swamped the perimeter and poured into the grounds. Many of them had been employed by the U.S. and Americans were forced to leave those who they could not get out.

On the same day, NVA troops entered the city of Saigon and quickly overcame all resistance, capturing key buildings and installations.


Print This Page

Although significant U.S. military presence generally existed 1965-73, America’s involvement in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia occurred between 1955 and 1975 with the fall of Saigon. US. forces essentially were withdrawn in 1973 but advisors and a small contingent of troops remained. The war was officially fought between Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam under a Communist regime. The U.S. government viewed its involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and in fulfillment of our commitment to our Allies. This was part of a wider containment policy, with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism in Southeast Asia and throughout the world.

Estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 966,000 to 3.8 million. Some 240,000–300,000 Cambodians, 20,000–62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U.S. service members died in the conflict, with a further 1,626 missing in action.


Print This Page