Title: The costs of the Vietnam War
Headings: The costs of the Vietnam War
The costs of the Vietnam War
Contents
A 20th-century tragedy
America’s war grief
Criticisms of US policy
Shattered confidence
Suffering of veterans
‘Agent Orange’
Vietnamese losses
Post-war refugee crisis
Famine and destruction

Content: Estimates of the number of people killed in Indochina range from two and a half million to more than four million. An even greater number were maimed, disfigured, orphaned, displaced or forced to flee as refugees. The Vietnam War was fought for civilians, by civilians and among civilians – and the majority of casualties were civilians. American planes dropped seven million tons of ordnance – three times the amount they had dropped in World War II – as well as napalm and chemical defoliants. This not only claimed lives but also devastated cities, buildings, infrastructure, farmland and vegetation. Neither this bombing or the ground war was confined by the borders of Vietnam. Neighbouring countries Laos and Cambodia both suffered enormous human loss and material devastation, as well as the rise of terroristic and genocidal regimes. America’s war grief
The United States lost almost 60,000 personnel and civilians in Vietnam: 58,269 servicemen were killed and another 1,672 recorded as missing. America was deeply affected by these heavy losses and struggled to understand the meaning, significance and lessons of the Vietnam War.