1 went to vietnam 2 killed the viet cong 1 went to vietnam 2 killed the viet cong

Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, but his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, continued the work that Kennedy had started. Defense Department officials believed that these body count figures need to be deflated by 30 percent. Between October 1966 and June 1969, 246,000 soldiers were recruited through Project 100,000, of whom 41% were black; black people only made up about 11% of the population of the US. This totals, from a range of between 16,000 and 167,000 deaths caused by South Vietnam during the (Dim-era), and 42,000 and 118,000 deaths caused by South Vietnam in the post Dim-era), excluding PAVN forces killed by the ARVN in combat. The wide disparity among the estimates cited below is partially explained by the different time periods of the Vietnam War covered by the studies and whether casualties in Cambodia and Laos were included in the estimates. "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. In nineteen sixty-five they went to Vietnam, Well, they went there to fight the Viet Cong. Another potential limitation is the relatively small sample size of the study. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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.. [93][97], Civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, John Lewis, Muhammad Ali and others, criticized the racial disparity in both casualties and representation in the entire military, prompting the Pentagon to order cutbacks in the number of African Americans in combat positions. U.S. military advisers, present in small numbers throughout the 1950s, were introduced on a large scale beginning in 1961, and active combat units were introduced in 1965. However, from a constitutional perspective, this conflict did not technically count as a war. [citation needed] Black people often made up a disproportionate 25% or more of combat units, while constituting only 12% of the military. and Kennedy did not oppose a coup that overthrew it a few months later. Make sure your selection He received his B.A. [69], There has been considerable controversy about the exact numbers of deaths inflicted on the Communist side by U.S. and allied South Vietnamese forces. The South Vietnamese government, on the other hand, fought to preserve a Vietnam more closely aligned with the West. I fired the 106. I went through jump school at Fort Benning, Ga., and was sent to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. Many of the refugees failed to survive the passage, facing danger from pirates, over-crowded boats, and storms. 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. 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. According to statistics from the South Vietnamese Ministry of Health, 44.5% of civilians admitted to hospitals between 1967 and 1970 were wounded by mines or mortars, 21.2% by guns or grenades, and 34.3% by artillery or bombing. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Davis received the award for his actions during a battle in Bong Son, Republic of Vietnam, June 17-18, 1965, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Huge holiday for both the north and south, a truce was formed on this day. We reloaded another white phosphorous round. Davis, with his first name inspired by the ancients, alluded to Greek tragedy when explaining the resolution to his decades-long case. Thompson and his crew flew dozens of survivors to receive medical care. When they arrived shortly after dawn, the soldiersled by Lieutenant William Calleyfound no Viet Cong. [103], On 9 August 2012, the United States and Vietnam began a cooperative cleaning up of the toxic chemical from part of Da Nang International Airport, marking the first time Washington has been involved in cleaning up Agent Orange in Vietnam. [77] Additionally, according to the U.S. military, they also lost up to 101,511 personnel as defectors due to the Chieu Hoi program,[78] but one analyst speculates that less than 25% of those were genuine. One escapee died of wounds sustained during his rescue 15 days later. In Vietnam, it was used to take out bunkers and even buildings. '", A colonel by the time he retired from the Army, Davis' first name "Paris" is inspired by the mythological figure featured in Homer's epic war poem "The Iliad.". 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 Massacre at My Lai, by Seymour Hersh. 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. Deaths caused by the South Korean military, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong military casualties, Disproportion of African American casualties. According to the Vietnamese government, unexploded ordnance has killed some 42,000 people since the end of the war. He said they could not go inside the cave due to the white phosphorous, but could smell the burnt hair and flesh. what is a blind trust for lottery winnings; 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.. Captured documents and information from prisoners suggested that D Company had faced some 2500 Viet Cong. No estimate given for deaths caused by Viet Cong/North Vietnam (195475). Called the American War in Vietnam (or, in full, the War Against the Americans to Save the Nation), the war was also part of a larger regional conflict (see Indochina wars) and a manifestation of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. Delayed Cadence Count Cadence Recon Cadence Count, "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. Harper Perennial; September 1991. Davis took this not as a warning to withdraw, but as an opportunity to attack. It was the first entire Army unit to deploy to Vietnam, although the men who got off the plane wore civilian clothes, a reflection of their secretive assignment. [104], Following the end of the war, many refugees fled Vietnam by boat and ship. By the time the My Lai massacre ended, 504 people were dead. Some soldiers balked at Calleys command, but within seconds the massacre had begun, with Calley himself shooting numerous men, women and children. Knowing news of the massacre would cause a scandal, officers higher up in command of Charlie Company and the 11th Brigade immediately made efforts to downplay the bloodshed. In Vietnam, it was used to take out bunkers and even buildings. 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). They are forever remembered on the Navy SEAL Memorial at the Museum. In 1976, the Vietnamese government organized Gathering Teams to find the remains of dead soldiers. troops. "[56] Investigations by Korean civic groups have alleged that at least 9,000 civilians were massacred by ROK forces. A South Vietnamese plane seeking Vietcong hiding places accidentally dropped its flaming napalm on civilians and government troops instead. Estimates include both civilian and military deaths in North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Photo Summary: General Nguyen Ngoc Loan killing Vietcong operative Nguyen Van Lem. Commander George L. Jackson said, "In response to this criticism, the Department of Defense took steps to readjust force levels in order to achieve an equitable proportion and employment of Negroes in Vietnam." 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. There were at least two platoons involved in the fighting there, an infantry platoon and a cavalry platoon. [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. Quote, 'America was behind me. qung co. The war persisted from 1955 to 1975 and most of the fighting took place in South Vietnam; accordingly it suffered the most casualties. Los Angeles Times. This group was made up almost entirely of either working-class or rural youth. 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. 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. Two, Louder How Colin Powell's Service in Vietnam Shaped His Leadership, How the Armys Cover-Up Made the My Lai Massacre Even Worse. Updates? They pick up the voice of saying 'We aren't gonna let this rest, we are going to keep after it until we get it done.' Cleveland Plain Dealer. Casualties fluctuated considerably from year to year, but a degree of accuracy can be inferred from the fact that 500,000 was 59 percent of the 849,018 total and that 59 percent of the war's days had passed by the time of Fallaci's conversation with Giap. United States Navy SEALs are members of a special operations unit in the armed forces. During the Vietnam War, Builder et al. the Vietnam War). 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. He refused. Skip to main content Shop by category Shop by category Enter your search keyword The overwhelming majority of the MIA are from northern Vietnam. [98], Unexploded ordnance continue to detonate and kill people today. The United States entered Vietnam with the principal purpose of preventing a communist takeover of the region. 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. Note: Three U.S. Navy SEALs were recipients of the Medal of Honor during Vietnam. The U.S. military reported 58,220 American casualties. But I'm not leaving,'" Davis told ABC News. The U.S. estimated more than 100,000 PAVN killed in the offensive. The overwhelming majority of the MIA are from northern Vietnam. The My Lai massacre is often held to have been an aberration but. By 1969 more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were stationed in Vietnam. 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. Tan Son Nhut Air Base was one of the major air bases used for offensive air operations within South Vietnam and for the support of United States Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) ground operations. [62] Across all three wars including the First Indochina War and the Third Indochina War there was a total of 1,146,250 PAVN/VC confirmed military deaths, included 939,460 with bodies recovered and 207,000 with the bodies unfound. The Colonel's speech went something like this. Pentagon statistics listed 39,000 and 61,000 PRG/DRV dead for the same time period.". My job was to be a gunner on the 106mm recoilless rifle. US jobless claims climb for first time in 5 weeks, to 353,000. The My Lai trial began on November 17, 1970. Here we go (here we go) Our first operation, Operation Seward, took place in the vicinity of Tuy Hoa. Civilian deaths were also caused by mortar and artillery, extensive aerial bombing and the use of firepower in military operations conducted in heavily populated areas. This is why the other posts responding to this question answer a question(s) not posed: What was the kill ratio between US (and/or) ARVN forces and Communist forces in Vietnam. But in 1998, Thompson attended a memorial service at My Lai on the 30th anniversary of the massacre. [4] According to a 2009 study, one third of land in the central provinces of Vietnam is still contaminated with unexploded mines and ordnance. Furthermore, domestic unrest and the financial cost of war made peaceand troop withdrawalsa necessity, not a choice. 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. [62][63] Based on unit surveys, a rough estimate of 3040% of dead and missing were non-combat deaths. Posted on May 7, 2013. I have picked up wisp from time to time. The costs and casualties of the growing war proved too much for the United States to bear, and U.S. combat units were withdrawn by 1973. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. I told my squad sergeant I thought I could fire a 106 round into the cave. The soldier was one of more than 100 who were wounded during Viet Cong attacks on two U.S. military compounds at Pleiku, 240 miles north of Saigon. Cannot annotate a non-flat selection. READ MORE:How Colin Powell's Service in Vietnam Shaped His Leadership. 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. harvnb error: no target: CITEREFTurse2013 (. 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. The Army instigated myriad reforms, addressed issues of discrimination and prejudice from the post exchanges to the lack of black officers, and introduced "Mandatory Watch And Action Committees" into each unit. We kept flying back and forth and it didnt take very long until we started noticing the large number of bodies everywhere. I joined the Army on June 27, 1965, at age 17, two weeks after I graduated high school in Newport, Ky. Although North Vietnamese and Viet Cong casualty counts vary wildly, it is generally understood that they suffered several times the number of American casualties. 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. 23 mins ago. 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. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. 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. Two, killed the Vietcong In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. April 1, 1966. (USIA) NARA FILE #: 306-MVP-5-3 WAR & CONFLICT BOOK #: 420 [42] This might partially explain the discrepancies between recovered weapons and body-count figures, along with exaggeration, although the NVA and VC also went to great lengths to recover weapons from the battlefield. [95] Of the 27 million draft-age men between 1964 and 1973, 40% were drafted into military service, and only 10% were actually sent to Vietnam. Based on the current dollar value, the Vietnam War cost the equivalent of about $1 trillion. . These numbers do not include civilian and ARVN military deaths result from the communist mass-internment, the refugee crisis and subsequent exodus of Vietnamese people after the Fall of Saigon. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union and China poured weapons, supplies, and advisers into the North, which in turn provided support, political direction, and regular combat troops for the campaign in the South. Democide is the murder of persons by or at the behest of governments. Three, didn't smoke no grass While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. Their estimates for conflict deaths in Vietnam are 164,923 from 195564 and 1,458,050 from 196575 for a total of 1,622,973. I never been to Vietnam Two! [1] A Viet Cong (VC) attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base occurred during the early hours of 4 December 1966, during the Vietnam War. Among other countries that fought for South Vietnam, South Korea had more than 4,000 dead, Thailand about 350, Australia more than 500, and New Zealand some three dozen. Tran Hung Dao Famous general who defeated two Mongol invasions in late thirteenth-century Vietnam. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died. Between that, a steadily intensifying Viet Cong insurgency, and economic hardships, South Vietnam seethed. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, between 200,000 and 400,000 boat people died at sea. [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. The First American Soldier Killed in Ground Combat in Vietnam. The Eisenhower organization guaranteed military guide and . Significant numbers resettled in the United States, Canada, Italy, Australia, France, West Germany, and the United Kingdom.[105]. The United States has spent over $65 million since 1998 as part of unexploded ordnance clearing operations. Three, Louder The Army would later charge only 14 men, including Calley, Captain Ernest Medina and Colonel Oran Henderson, with crimes related to the events at My Lai. Data for deaths in Laos is incomplete. Vietnam War, (195475), a protracted conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, known as the Viet Cong, against the government of South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. 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 highly skilled, highly trained and highly secret 92-man contigent of the 3rd Radio Research Unit arrived at Tan Son Nhut on May 13, 1961. Transcript of 1994 Tulane University My Lai Conference. [53][54] A separate study was carried out by RAND Corporation employee Terry Rambo, who conducted interviews in 1970 on reported Korean atrocities in ARVN/civilian areas. Congress authorized troop deployment in Vietnam, but, because it did not issue a declaration of war on North Vietnam or the Viet Cong, the Vietnam War is, technically speaking, not considered a war in the United States. Other atrocities, such as a similar massacre of villagers at My Khe, are less well known. Oct. 14, 2004 -- -- In the controversy over Sen. John Kerry's service in Vietnam, Americans have heard from Kerry, from the crew of the Navy Swift boats he commanded and from other Swift boat veterans who question the official account of a 1969 incident for which Kerry was awarded a Silver Star. Davis again broke cover, braving enemy fire, to retrieve the second soldier. And I said, 'Yes, sir, I understand that. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The two countries finally resumed formal diplomatic relations in 1995. Including 28 civilians, originally there were 52 missing civilians. After writing letters to President Richard M. Nixon, the Pentagon, State Department, Joint Chiefs of Staff and several congressmenwith no responseRidenhour finally gave an interview to the investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who broke the story in November 1969. [28][4] Higher estimates place the number of civilian deaths caused by American bombing of North Vietnam in Operation Rolling Thunder at 182,000. [45], Air force captain, Brian Wilson, who carried out bomb-damage assessments in free-fire zones throughout the delta, saw the results firsthand. [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. "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. 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. 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. For his actions, he was awarded the nation's third-highest military decoration, the Silver Star. 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. [46], The ROK Capital Division reportedly perpetrated the Bnh An/Ty Vinh massacre in February/March 1966. In addition, at least 36,000 Southern civilians were executed for various reasons in the period 19671972. It seems that the author was likely part of the cavalry platoon as . [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. starts and ends within the same node. [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. Webb kept going . Later investigations have revealed that the slaughter at My Lai was not an isolated incident. [1] Background [ edit] The enemy by my count suffered at least 15,000 dead in the area.". Those totals include only Vietnamese deaths, and do not include American and other allied military deaths which amounted to about 64,000. Army Special Forces vet Paris Davis has waited almost 60 years to be recognized. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The question of who won the Vietnam War has been a subject of debate, and the answer depends on the definition of victory. Paris Davis is awarded a Silver Star on Dec. 15, 1965. Encounter Books, December 2022. The paratroopers had been searching the area for 12 days with no enemy contact. [72], The Phoenix Program, a counterinsurgency program executed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), United States special operations forces, and the Republic of Vietnam's security apparatus, killed 26,369 suspected of being VC operatives and informants. [95][96], The number of US military personnel in Vietnam jumped from 23,300 in 1965 to 465,600 by the end of 1967. [14], German historian Bernd Greiner mentions the following war crimes reported and/or investigated by the Peers Commission and the Vietnam War Crimes Working Group, among other sources:[43]. 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. "Davis made it to the first soldier under a hail of enemy fire and was shot once again. The Viet Cong (Vietnamese: Vit Cng; pronounced [vt kwm] ()) was an armed communist revolutionary organization in South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.Its military force, the Liberation Army of South Vietnam (LASV), fought under the direction of North Vietnam, against the South Vietnamese and United States governments during the Vietnam War, History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. Rats were given a mx99 flashlight and a 45 and sent in to flush out the enemy. My 106mm recoilless rifle squad consisted of our squad leader, a Sgt. Those who argue that the United States opponents won the war cite the United States overall objectives and outcomes. [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. He was quoted as saying, The General killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. -Attack by VC and NVA. Album: Run to Cadence with the U.S. Marines, Vol. In 1998, Thompson and two other members of his crew received the Soldiers Medal, the U.S. Armys highest award for bravery not involving direct contact with the enemy. Army officials said they cannot determine whether any records were lost, or under what circumstances. 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. Then jets were called; they also attempted to take out the machine gun, but the VC again hid inside the cave and came back out to fire at our soldiers after the jets left.