Data for deaths in Laos is incomplete. They also assert that the U.S. overall suffered fewer casualties than its opponents. [19], Other casualties for the ARVN included up to 1,170,000 military wounded,[59] and 1,000,000 surrendered or captured. [95][98] As a result, by the war's completion, total black casualties averaged 12.5% of US combat deaths, approximately equal to percentage of draft-eligible black men, though still slightly higher than the 10% who served in the military. Davis personally captured two enemy combatants. He never landed, and I never kicked his ass," Davis said. Amid the international uproar and Vietnam War protests that followed Ridenhours revelations, the U.S. Army ordered a special investigation into the My Lai massacre and subsequent efforts to cover it up. The inquiry, headed by Lieutenant General William Peers, released its report in March 1970 and recommended that no fewer than 28 officers be charged for their involvement in covering up the massacre. April 1, 1966. But it was mostly done with a machine gun. III, Here we go (here we go) Since body counts were a direct measure of operational success, US "operations reports" often listed civilian deaths as enemy KIA or exaggerated the number. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. Nine-year-old Kim Phuc had ripped off her burning . . [68] Per the official Vietnamese history, over 10,000 more PAVN soldiers were killed in the final offensive of early 1975. President Joe Biden stands with Vietnam War veteran, Retired US Army Colonel Paris Davis, before awarding him the Medal of Honor, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 3, 2023. It granted him broad latitude in handling the struggle against communism in Southeast Asia. Deaths caused by the South Korean military, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong military casualties, Disproportion of African American casualties. He was quoted as saying, The General killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. President Joe Biden on Friday awarded the Medal of Honor to a Black Army Special Forces hero from the Vietnam War who has waited close to 60 years to receive the nation's top award for valor after the Army said the paperwork couldn't be found. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. After recovering from my wound, I taught basic trainees at Fort Knox. [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. The Australian SASR first came in contact with the enemy in May, 1966, when they met a Viet Cong force in the area around Nui Dat. We reloaded another white phosphorous round. This led to increased racial tension in the military. [1] Background [ edit] Two major war memorials commemorating the dead soldiers in the Second Indochina War (a.k.a. [1] I fired the 106. [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. I served in the Army for three years. They fought them of by 'sxty-eight, And then they had to fight the NVA. 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. Since there were no roads, I was assigned as a squad leader on the 81mm mortars. Dozens of South Vietnamese cities were caught by surprise. Four, Louder The villagers were rounded up into groups as the soldiers inspected their huts. In March 1968, Charlie Companypart of the Americal Divisions 11th Infantry Brigadereceived word that VC guerrillas had taken control of the neighboring village of Son My. During that period, they stated, they lost 849,018 killed plus approximately 232,000 missing and 463,000 wounded. 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. I went weekly to the captains office and asked to be sent to Vietnam, until finally I was called to his office and told that I would be going. Paris Davis is awarded a Silver Star on Dec. 15, 1965. Shelby Stanton, writing in The Rise and Fall of an American Army, declined to include casualty statistics because of their 'general unreliability.' Our 9 best-selling history titles feature in-depth storytelling and iconic imagery to engage and inform on the people, the wars, and the events that shaped America and the world. Paratroopers of the U.S. 2nd Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade hold their automatic weapons above water as they cross a river in the rain during a search for Viet Cong positions in the jungle area of Ben Cat, South Vietnam, Sept. 25, 1965. In the summer, Davis led three other Green Berets and what the Army calls "an inexperienced company of the 883rd South Vietnamese Regional Force" on an audacious raid against a North Vietnamese base. 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. In the middle of the mountain, about two-thirds of the way up, I observed three Viet Cong coming out of a cave. Causes Soldier of the 25th Infantry Division and his scout dog walk past the bodies of more than 50 Viet Cong killed in the "battle of Good Friday" 80 miles. [93][94] With the draft increasing due to the troop buildup in South Vietnam, the military significantly lowered its admission standards. The United States entered Vietnam with the principal purpose of preventing a communist takeover of the region. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, but his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, continued the work that Kennedy had started. 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. President Joe Biden presents the Medal of Honor to retired U.S. Army Colonel Paris Davis during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, March 3, 2023. [49] The Second Marine Brigade perpetrated the Phong Nh and Phong Nht massacre on 12 February 1968. Estimates of casualties of the Vietnam War vary widely. Including 28 civilians, originally there were 52 missing civilians. RF JTNXCX - Four Vietnamese and three Americans were killed, and dozens of Vietnamese buildings were heavily damaged during a Viet Cong bomb attack against a multi-story U.S. officers billet in Saigon. In Qung Nam Province 4,700 civilians were killed in 1969. ", Picking up the story, he continued, "And although the men who were with him on that June day immediately nominated Captain Davis to receive the Medal of Honor, somehow the paper -- the paperwork was never processed, not just once, but twice. Later investigations have revealed that the slaughter at My Lai was not an isolated incident. Calculating U.S. Neighbouring Laos and Cambodia similarly fell to communists. Despite finding only a few weapons, Calley ordered his men to begin shooting the villagers. Bomb Tonnages Dropped on Laos and Cambodia, and Weighing Their Implications", "Association between Agent Orange and birth defects: systematic review and meta-analysis", "The History, Toxicity and Adverse Human Health and Environmental Effects Related to the Use of Agent Orange", http://ls-tlss.ucl.ac.uk/course-materials/POLS6016_65225, Story of Tiger Force atrocities had to be told, "On War extra Vietnam's massacre survivors", Counter-Revolutionary Violence: Bloodbaths in Fact & Propaganda, "Anatomy of US and South Korean Massacres in the Vietnamese Year of the Monkey, 1968 | Japan Focus", "VIETNAM KILLINGS LAID TO KOREANS (Published 1970)", "The 'forgotten' My Lai: South Korea's Vietnam War massacres", "Citizens' court to investigate Vietnam War atrocities committed by South Korean troops", "Chuyn 4 CNG TC TM KIM, QUY TP HI CT LIT S T NAY N NM 2020 V NHNG NM TIP THEO, datafile.chinhsachquandoi.gov.vn/Qun%20l%20ch%20o/Chuyn%20%204.doc", "Lost Souls: The Search for Vietnam's 300,000 or More MIAs", 300.000 lit s cha xc nh danh tnh l ni trn tr ln, "North Vietnamese Army's 1972 Eastertide Offensive", i tng V Nguyn Gip vi cng tc hu cn qun i, "2021 NAME ADDITIONS AND STATUS CHANGES ON THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL", "US Military Operations: Casualty Breakdown", "Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Vietnam (PMSEA) Report for CIVILIAN (Unaccounted For)", "Capture Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Vietnam (PMSEA) Report for CIVILIAN (Accounted For Identified Since 1973)", "Vietnam-era unaccounted for statistical report", "Vietnam Prisoners of War Escapes and Attempts", http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/vietnam/reports/pmsea_escapee.pdf, "Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics", "Learning from America's Wars, Past and Present U.S. Battlefield Medicine Has Come a Long Way, from Antietam to Iraq", "African-Americans In Combat | History Detectives | PBS", "Vietnam War Bomb Explodes Killing Four Children", Vietnam: Report Details Unexploded Ordnance, "Vietnam War Bombs Still Killing People 40 Years Later", "U.S. in first effort to clean up Agent Orange in Vietnam", "U.S. starts its first Agent Orange cleanup in Vietnam", "After the Nightmare: The Population of Cambodia", "KOREA military army official statistics, AUG 28, 2005", "Australian servicemen listed as missing in action in Vietnam", https://books.google.com/books?id=qh5lffww-KsC&lpg=PA53&dq=the%20encyclopedia%20of%20the%20vietnam%20war%20page%2064&pg=PA176&output=embed, "POW Remembers McCain and Tapping Through Walls in Hanoi Prison", "New Zealand Rolls Of Honour By Conflict", "Overview of the war in Vietnam | VietnamWar.govt.nz, New Zealand and the Vietnam War", "America Wasn't the only Foreign Power in the Vietnam War", "Vietnam Reds to hold 17 From Taiwan as Spies", https://kienthuc.net.vn/quan-su/nhung-chuyen-gia-quan-su-lien-xo-trong-khang-chien-chong-my-1796800.html, Vietnamese Casualties During the American war, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vietnam_War_casualties&oldid=1142439670, includes an estimated 50,000/65,000/70,000 civilians killed by U.S/SVN bombing/shelling, includes 360,000/391,000/720,000 civilians, 25,000/50,000/75,000 killed in North Vietnam, 106,000/164,000/227,000 killed in South Vietnam. The number of these "boat people" leaving Vietnam and arriving safely in another country totalled almost 800,000 between 1975 and 1995. Pentagon statistics listed 39,000 and 61,000 PRG/DRV dead for the same time period.". He said they could not go inside the cave due to the white phosphorous, but could smell the burnt hair and flesh. In the Battle of Long Tan, 18 Australians were killed and 24 wounded, all but one of the dead were from D Company. Rummel does not give a medium or high estimate. In Vietnam, it was used to take out bunkers and even buildings. "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. [19] Rummel's mid-level estimate includes 17,000 South Vietnamese civil servants killed by PAVN/VC. Marine Maj. Hubert G. Duncan, operations officer with the 4th Combined Action Group, instructs a Vietnamese. And I said, 'You know what, general, there's a lot of room down here.' Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Davis credits a group of friends and comrades for refusing to let the Army forget his case. November 2, 2021 . 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. 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. The attack on the prisoner of war camp resulted in about 26 North Vietnamese dead and no U.S. or South Vietnamese casualties. Quang Ngai province was therefore a frequent target of U.S. and South Vietnamese bombing attacks, and the entire region was heavily strafed with Agent Orange, the deadly herbicide. The Massacre at My Lai, by Seymour Hersh. 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.' 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. troops. The United States has spent over $65 million since 1998 as part of unexploded ordnance clearing operations. The Vietnam War (1955-1975) effectively became a proxy Cold War battle over communism, with North Vietnam supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies, and the South supported by America and anti-communist allies.. Now he's friggin' dead P.S. The acronym SEAL stands for sea, air and land. [35], For official US military operations reports, there was no established distinctions between enemy KIA and civilian KIA. 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. "But sadly, we know they weren't. Picture Taken: Feb 1, 1968. The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History Many saw Calley as a scapegoat, and his sentence was reduced upon appeal to 20 years and later to 10; he was paroled in 1974. 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.". I was first assigned to the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Wash. Once there I was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. Rummel estimates 212,000 killed by Khmer Rouge (19671975), 60,000 killed by U.S. and 1,000 killed by South Vietnam (196773). PAVN and VC losses were reported as 1.1 million dead and civilian deaths of Vietnamese on both sides totaled 2.0 million. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Davis leads assault in the early morning at Bong Song, clearing an enemy headquarters hut. These estimates probably include deaths of Vietnamese soldiers in Laos and Cambodia, but do not include deaths of South Vietnamese and allied soldiers which would add nearly 300,000 for a grand total of 3.4 million military and civilian dead. Ho Khang, ed, Marilyn Young. Went to viet Nam Two! The 'shameful gamesmanship' practiced by 'certain reporting elements' under pressure to 'produce results' also shrouded the process. On a run (on a run) Lewy reduced the number of Viet Cong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) battle deaths claimed by the U.S. by 30 percent (in accordance with the opinion of United States Department of Defense officials), and assumed that one third of the reported battle deaths of the PAVN/VC may have actually been civilians. Meanwhile, the United States, its military demoralized and its civilian electorate deeply divided, began a process of coming to terms with defeat in what had been its longest and most controversial war. Calley was reported to have dragged dozens of people, including young children, into a ditch before executing them with a machine gun. On Feb. 16, 1967, I was wounded while taking part in Operation Sam Houston in Kontum Province. 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. A mass exodus in 1975 of people loyal to the South Vietnamese cause was followed by another wave in 1978 of boat people, refugees fleeing the economic restructuring imposed by the communist regime. Our first assignment was to guard engineers running a water purification plant on a river next to a bridge on Highway 1. [45], Air force captain, Brian Wilson, who carried out bomb-damage assessments in free-fire zones throughout the delta, saw the results firsthand. (At least 100 names on the memorial are those of servicemen who were actually Canadian citizens.) Two hundred and forty-five Vietnamese dead were found on the battlefield, with captured documents later suggesting hundreds more had been killed or wounded. Michael Bernhardt, a soldier at the scene, later told a reporter. As a matter of fact, I dont remember seeing one military-age male in the entire place, dead or alive, Bernhardt said. The revelations of the My Lai massacre caused morale to plummet even further, as GIs wondered what other atrocities their superiors were concealing. 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. He further suggests that 222,000 civilians may have been counted as enemy military deaths by the U.S. in compiling its "body count" raising the total to 627,000 killed. the Vietnam War). But I kicked a lot of ass, and Four! The war persisted from 1955 to 1975 and most of the fighting took place in South Vietnam; accordingly it suffered the most casualties. and Kennedy did not oppose a coup that overthrew it a few months later. 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). Once I had the shot lined up, we loaded a 35-pound white phosphorus round into the gun. 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. Noting Davis' wounds, Cole tells Davis to leave with the wounded. An additional 232,000 military personnel were still missing as of 2017, a total of 1,081,000 dead and missing for the American War. [8], Lewy estimates that 40,000 South Vietnamese civilians were assassinated by the PAVN/VC; 300,000 were killed as a result of combat in South Vietnam, and 65,000 were killed in North Vietnam for a total of 405,000 killed. 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. When all three sons went and joined the Corps. Quote, 'America was behind me. [75], The PAVN/VC forces suffered around 600,000 wounded during the war,[76] and prior to the 1975 spring offensive, lost at least 26,880 soldiers taken prisoner - being released after the 1973 Peace Accords. From there, the Aussies spread their recon patrol range by several kilometers. The New Yorker. (The estimates for 195564 are much higher than other estimates). Although North Vietnamese and Viet Cong casualty counts vary wildly, it is generally understood that they suffered several times the number of American casualties. "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. Col. Paris Davis speaks with ABC News on the day before his Medal of Honor ceremony. How Colin Powell's Service in Vietnam Shaped His Leadership, How the Armys Cover-Up Made the My Lai Massacre Even Worse. In fact, one of my best friends was killed on Sept. 27, 1966. "If we had obeyed that order, there would have been soldiers that would have been just mutilated, because there [were] no other friendly forces available," he said. Omissions? Deaths in Cambodia and Laos were estimated at 273,000 and 62,000 respectively. Make sure your selection 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. Over the following years, additions to the list have brought the total past 58,200. Estimates of the total number of deaths in the Vietnam War vary widely. This time I cranked the gun down two clicks and fired the second round. The two countries finally resumed formal diplomatic relations in 1995. I joined the Army on June 27, 1965, at age 17, two weeks after I graduated high school in Newport, Ky. 48th Viet Cong Battalion One of the most effective Viet Cong military units. Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear. In 1965 alone they comprised 14.1% of total combat deaths, when they only comprised approximately 11% of the total U.S. population in the same year. [92], African Americans suffered disproportionately high casualty rates in Vietnam. Skip to main content Shop by category Shop by category Enter your search keyword [99][100] In 2012 alone, unexploded ordnance and claimed 500 casualties in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, according to activists and Vietnamese government databases. Per war: 191,605 deaths in the First Indochina War, 849,018 deaths in the Second Indochina War (Vietnam War), and 105,627 deaths in the Third Indochina War. AWM FOR/66/0676/VN Photo Summary: General Nguyen Ngoc Loan killing Vietcong operative Nguyen Van Lem. Crawling nearly 150 yards and wounded by enemy grenade fragments, he rescued the soldier and returned him to the company perimeter," according to the Army. Two years later, the Chinese recognized Vietnam's independence. At one point during the battle, Davis said he recalled a general observing the fight from a helicopter ordering him to leave before one of the wounded soldiers was flown out. [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. "Due to lack of records, we cannot say for sure, but we are pleased that the president will soon bestow this overdue honor to Col. Paris Davis and his family," Army spokeswoman Madison Bonzo told ABC News on Wednesday. Davis, with his first name inspired by the ancients, alluded to Greek tragedy when explaining the resolution to his decades-long case. 1 went to vietnam 2 killed the viet congis sea bass a bony fish to eat. Kill Three! Rain, humidity, dirt, and heavy use made the flashlight unreliable and would turn on and off while moving. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). starts and ends within the same node. They are rigorously trained for tactical missions that are often quite difficult and dangerous. An 83-year-old Vietnam veteran is at long last getting his due, One of the first Black officers to lead a Special Forces team in combat will receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's top award for bravery on the battlefield, A South Korean court has ordered the government to pay $24,000 to a Vietnamese woman who survived a gunshot wound but lost several relatives when South Korean marines rampaged through her village during the Vietnam War in 1968, De-escalation, negotiation, and Vietnamization, The United States negotiates a withdrawal, 9 Questions About the Vietnam War Answered, https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War, Vietnam War - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Vietnam War - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Black Vietnam vet finally awarded Medal of Honor for bravery, Black Vietnam vet at last getting his due: Medal of Honor, Biden to award Medal of Honor to Vietnam-era Army officer, Court says South Korea responsible for Vietnam War massacre. The conflict energized anti-British sentiment read more, In what became known as the Munich Massacre, eight terrorists wearing tracksuits and carrying gym bags filled with grenades and assault rifles, breached the Olympic Village at the Summer Games in Munich before dawn on September 5, 1972. 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. 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. Drug and alcohol use increased among soldiers, and an official report in 1971 estimated that one-third or more of U.S. troops were addicted. E5, a PFC driver, a Spec 4 assistant gunner, and myself, the gunner, then a Spec 4. Looking through the scope, I could see the round traveling in the air and watched it fly over the mountain. Now don't give me any crap about not being in Viet Nam. 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. Here we go (here we go) The enemy by my count suffered at least 15,000 dead in the area.". [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. Paris Island (paris island) "He said that it was overrun by the Viet Cong. All of them were listed on the Vietnam War Memorial located in Washington D.C. 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. Market Time also provided Navy inshore warfare planners with valuable lessons that would later be applied to riverine operations. 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. Updates? [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. Instead, they came across a quiet village of primarily women, children and older men preparing their breakfast rice. Here we go (here we go) The assailants used. Three, didn't smoke no grass We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items! Among the allies, South Korea suffered the highest casualties with 4,407 killed in action 4; Australia had 500 5; Thailand . (AP Photo/Henri Huet) Civilian deaths were partly caused by assassinations, massacres, and terror tactics. Many black men who had previously been ineligible could now be drafted, along with many poor and racially intolerant white men from the southern states. Yet they proceeded read more, The Vietnam War started in the 1950s, according to most historians, though the conflict in Southeast Asia had its roots in the French colonial period of the 1800s. [48] In December 1966, the Blue Dragon Brigade reportedly perpetrated the Bnh Ha massacre. Americans call it the "Vietnam War." The Vietnamese refer to it as the "American War" that dominated 30 years of Vietnam's history. The United States, France, China, the Soviet Union, Cambodia, Laos and other countries would over time become read more, In order to combat better-supplied American and South Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War, Communist guerrilla troops known as Viet Cong (VC) dug tens of thousands of miles of tunnels, including an extensive network running underneath the Cu Chi district northwest of read more, President Lyndon Johnson chose William Westmoreland, a distinguished veteran of World War II and the Korean War, to command the U.S. Military Assistance Command in Vietnam (MACV) in June 1964. [70], RJ Rummel estimates 1,011,000 PAVN/VC combatant deaths. ABC News asked Davis what would have happened had he obeyed. The U.S. military reported 58,220 American casualties. Over the next four years, the general directed much of U.S. military strategy during read more, The Battle of Khe Sanh began on January 21, 1968, when forces from the Peoples Army of North Vietnam (PAVN) carried out a massive artillery bombardment on the U.S. Marine garrison at Khe Sanh, located in South Vietnam near the border with Laos. [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.