• Started in 1955
• Ended in 1975
• Also known as the “cold war”
• War was based on the domino theory that North Vietnam was trying to unify with South Vietnam to become a communist nation
• The people of North Vietnam won against the U.S and South Vietnam
• One year into the war, the U.S offered help after the French suffered serious loses in North Vietnam
• The communists of North Vietnam used Guerilla warfare tactics which crushed the U.S’s upper hand.
• There were many protests against support of the Vietnam war in the U.S
• The big victories that the U.S had won, had been portrayed as losses by the press, so they in fact became losses
• During the war, the press published the pentagon papers, which were top-secret documents that proved that the government had lied about operations in Vietnam
• 47,378 of the casualties in Vietnam were hostile deaths
• 10,800 of the deaths in Vietnam were not hostile deaths
• 61% of men killed were 21 or younger
• 5,283 lost limbs in the war
• 766 POWs died in Vietnam
• 1,378,344 people were drafted in the war
• 101 national guard members died
• 25% of total force was draftees
• only 38% of draftees served in Vietnam
• 58,148 Americans were killed in the Vietnam war
• 304,000 Americans were wounded in the war
• 2.59 million Americans served in Vietnam
• the average age of casualties in Vietnam were 23.11 years of age
• 50, 274 were enlisted in the U.S
• On average, the infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat per year
• After Vietnam, the following countries managed to stay rid of communisim:  Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand
• During the war, the U.S national debt increased by 146 billion dollars
• 6,598 of the soldiers in Vietnam were officers
• 1,276 of the soldiers in Vietnam were warrant officers
• 11,465 of the soldiers were less than 20 years of age
• 8 nurses died in the war
• 2/3 of the soldiers in Vietnam were volunteers
• 2,338 of the people who served went missing
• 240 men were given the medal of honor
• 7,484 American women served in Vietnam, 6,250 were nurses
• 5 men killed in Vietnam were 16 years old
• one man who served was 62 years old
• 2,594,000 personal served within the borders of South Vietnam
• 6,140 members of the National Guard served in the war
• 97% of the Vietnam veterans were honorably discharged
• 30.4% of the draftees were accounted for after the war
• Vietnam veterans represented about 9.7% of their generation
Did you know?
• 91% of Vietnam veterans are glad they served
• 74% of veterans say that they would serve again, even knowing the outcome
• Vietnam veterans are less likely to be in prison
• 85% of veterans made an easy transition to civilian life
• 87% of Americans hold vietnam vets in high esteem
• 12.5% of the people who died in Vietnam were black
• 86% of the men who died were cuacasians
• 75,000 veterans are severly disabled