The rise of communist regimes saw more than two million people flee south-east Asia. It was 146% of the $619.7 billion total ($560.7 Baseline plus the $58.8 billion in OCO costs). The Paris Peace Accords of January 1973 had allowed the United States a face-saving way to extricate its troops from the Vietnam War. The next few years would bring even more carnage, including the horrifying revelation that U.S. soldiers had mercilessly slaughtered more than 400 unarmed civilians in the village of My Lai in March 1968. Ironically, members of Congress are fond of criticizing the Administration for lacking a strategy. The United States lost almost 60,000 personnel and civilians in Vietnam: 58,269 servicemen were killed and another 1,672 recorded as missing. Families had to fight to survive Hope this helps :) Post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans The deaths of over a million communist soldiers Advertisement The North Vietnamese continued to insist on complete and unconditional U.S. withdrawalplus the ouster of U.S.-backed General Nguyen Van Thieuas conditions of peace, however, and as a result the peace talks stalled. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Trojans' side of the story. Why are first-hand accounts important? This illustrates another critical failure in the preparation and review of both Baseline and War budgets. What were some human costs of the Vietnam War? They are more than five times more expensive than the Korean War. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. an estimated 25,000 American servicemen and 757,143 Vietnamese dead about 200,000 American servicemen and an estimated 4 million Vietnamese dead 58,000 American servicemen and an estimated 1.5 million Vietnamese dead 58,000 American servicemen and an estimated 250,000 Vietnamese dead By nearly every metric, the Vietnam War was, in the common sense of the word, a war. Homeland defense has become more expensive than any ongoing U.S. war or active combat effort. Many American Vietnam veterans struggled to readjust to civilian life, suffering from psychological effects, increased risk of suicide and increased rates of cancer, possibly caused by exposure to defoliants. The human, environmental and economic costs of the Vietnam War were devastating. The later years of the war saw increased physical and psychological deterioration among American soldiersboth volunteers and drafteesincluding drug use, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mutinies and attacks by soldiers against officers and noncommissioned officers. This version has been revised to correct some of the terminology used and to make it clear that there is no way to fully reflect the proposed FY2018 costs of OCO activity because the President has not yet determined the FY2018 level of effort in Afghanistan, and the current OCO budget data for FY2018 are the cost of extending the FY2017 program. OCO costs alone were 10.3% of $560.7 billion and 9.5% of the total of $619.7 billion. There have been no serious attempts to develop Future Year Defense Program costs in recent years, largely because of the Budget Control Act, and DoD outyear budget forecasts have been political placeholders. Direct link to Logan's post Everyone had made mistake, Posted 4 years ago. Fearful that the war would jeopardize his domestic agenda, Johnson concealed the extent of the military escalation from the American public. The victory of communist regimes in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos triggered one of the largest refugee crises in history. It was 146% of the $619.7 billion total ($560.7 Baseline plus the $58.8 billion in OCO costs). After the United States withdrew from the conflict, North Vietnam invaded the South and united the country under a communist government. In January 1973, the United States and North Vietnam concluded a final peace agreement, ending open hostilities between the two nations. There were debates and recriminations over American involvement and a loss of faith in the US government. 2023 Center for Strategic & International Studies. Washington, DC 20036. The Korean peninsula off the east cost of Asia has had a long history of foreign invaders. Question 1: "did it seem like an utter waste of time and resources?" Date published: July 3, 2019 A related estimate by the Watson Institute puts the cost at $4.8 trillion through FY2016. The closest the Congress has come to establishing a credible system of formal review is to create limited public reporting requirements on the Iraq and Afghan wars for the DoD, and the requirement for Iraq lapsed at the end of combat activity in 2011. Despite the concerns of some of his advisers about this escalation, and about the entire war effort amid a growing anti-war movement, Johnson authorized the immediate dispatch of 100,000 troops at the end of July 1965 and another 100,000 in 1966. create tension? Such profiles are a key warning of basic problems in planning, programming, and budgeting. Psychologically, the effects ran even deeper. The subsequent treaty signed in July 1954 at a Geneva conference split Vietnam along the latitude known as the 17th Parallel (17 degrees north latitude), with Ho in control in the North and Bao in the South. The American death toll in Vietnam is dwarfed by the devastating losses suffered by local people. This section compares current total U.S. baseline and war spending with the spending of other states. Vinh (population 72,000), Vietnam's Dresden, was subjected to 4,131 attacks over a four year period (and 4,700 overall in the war), resulting in the destruction of nearly of all of its homes, 31 schools, the university, four hospitals, the main bookstore and cinema and two churches along with an historic 18th century Buddhist pagoda that served as cultural center of the city, a museum of the . Vietnams infrastructure, one of the few positive legacies of French colonialism, was left in ruins. 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. The United States pays $22 billion per year in war compensations to Vietnam veterans and their families. Some battled with alcoholism and drug abuse while many succumbed to suicide. The war in Iraq, for example, put serious pressure on U.S. capability to properly deploy the numbers and skills needed in Afghanistan, as well as helped force use of the Reserves and National Guard. If one uses CBO estimates, the burden on the economy moved from 5% of GDP in the 1980s to a low of 2.8% in FY1998. impossible challenge for the The treaty also called for nationwide elections for reunification to be held in 1956. More than two decades of violent conflict had inflicted a devastating toll on Vietnams population: After years of warfare, an estimated 2 million Vietnamese were killed, while 3 million were wounded and another 12 million became refugees. Between July 1966 and December 1973, more than 503,000 U.S. military personnel deserted, and a robust anti-war movement among American forces spawned violent protests, killings and mass incarcerations of personnel stationed in Vietnam as well as within the United States. It examines the limits in these data, the risks they impose, and possible ways of correcting current problems. You can specify conditions of storing and accessing cookies in your browser. Three alternative cost estimates are also summarized in this section. The war claimed between 2.5-4 million lives, the vast majority Vietnamese civilians plus more than 58,000 Americans. 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). Anne's diary helped the world understand what it was like living in hiding during America was deeply affected by these heavy losses and struggled to understand the meaning, significance and lessons of the Vietnam War. Vietnam was ruined. Military history is often the history of force quality defeating force quantity, and strategies and dollar spending need to be validated by explaining the role and function of deployed personnel. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. By the end of 1967, Hanois communist leadership was growing impatient as well, and sought to strike a decisive blow aimed at forcing the better-supplied United States to give up hopes of success. They reflect the acute pressure that the rising cost of the Iraq War put on funding for the Afghan conflict during FY2005 through FY2008; They also show that reduction in troop levels did not bring proportionate cuts in total war costs. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, but his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, continued the work that Kennedy had started. Johnson raised the number of South Vietnam deployments to 23,000 U.S. soldiers by the end of his first year in office. 58,000 American servicemen and an estimated 250,000 Vietnamese dead. The total cost of all U.S. aid to Afghanistan through FY2016 is $115.3 billion, which is 16 percent of the total OCO cost of $728.9 billion from FY2001 to FY2016. The Wars End. The fighting ability of pro-Hanoi forces in the South had been badly wounded in . The cost of all-volunteer forces limits the total force pool. He believed that if one Southeast Asian nation fell to communism, more would follow. In 1968 and 1969, there were hundreds of protest marches and gatherings throughout the country. For more information on usage, please refer to our Terms of Use. Posted 7 years ago. Although North Vietnamese and Viet Cong casualty counts vary wildly, it is generally understood that they suffered several times the number of American casualties. The Vietnam War was fought for civilians, by civilians and among civilians and the majority of casualties were civilians. Meaning of human cost. introduction in the play Vietnam War, (1954-75), 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. 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. by Anthony H. Cordesman. These pressuresplus political sensitivity over U.S casualtieshelped create plans and/or the willingness to withdraw quickly from Iraq and Afghanistan. The arguments about the war were heated and visceral and led Americans to question one anothers morality and good faith. The civil war in Vietnam lasted from 1955 to 1975, with direct U.S. military involvement from 1964 to 1973. . . Those who argue that the United States won the war point to the fact that the U.S. defeated communist forces during most of Vietnams major battles. Direct link to Angela Hilario's post Clarification: Sal said i, Posted 4 years ago. The United States defeat in Vietnam led to a period of despondency in America. In December 1960, Diems many opponents within South Vietnamboth communist and non-communistformed the National Liberation Front (NLF) to organize resistance to the regime. He authorized a series of bombing campaigns, most notably Operation Rolling Thunder, and also committed hundreds of thousands of US ground troops to the fight. The true figures, however, are probably much higher. Warfare had demolished the countrys infrastructure and economy, and reconstruction proceeded slowly. Summary: Between 1945 and 1954, the Vietnamese waged an anti-colonial war against France, which received $2.6 billion in financial support from the United States. The difficulties in defining military expenditures do create differences in estimates of the percent of GDP, but they are comparatively minor. More than 3 million people (including over 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War, and more than half of the dead were Vietnamese civilians. 1) It became involved in Vietnam because of the fear of the domino theory potentially happening in Vietnam. Learn about the war that enmeshed the United States in a battle against communism in Southeast Asia for more than twenty years. The Special Inspector Generals also have not been tasked with addressing the overall cost of each conflict, the overall effectiveness of U.S. civil and military efforts, or the nature and success of U.S. plans and strategies. Opponents of the war argued that civilians, not enemy combatants, were the primary victims and that the United States was supporting a corrupt dictatorship in Saigon. Reporting by the Executive Branch seems almost designed to obscure the real costs of conflict, and avoid linking them to an examination of strategy, its effectiveness, and the prospects for conflict termination. Direct link to Jeff Kelman's post How come there was a "Vie, Posted 7 years ago. 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. The bombing was not limited to Vietnam; from 1964-1973, the United States covertly dropped two million tons of bombs on neighboring, neutral Laos during the CIA-led Secret War in Laos. If the vietnam war was about the north spreading communism articles say that vietnam battled america instead of saying that the south battled the north alongside america , so is it saying that america fought the whole vietnam gov. The economic impact of the war was felt in both nations, especially Vietnam, where years of sustained American bombing and defoliation caused inestimable damage to farmland and infrastructure. The most important key figures provide you with a compact summary of the topic of "U . But while Ho and his supporters wanted a nation modeled after other communist countries, Bao and many others wanted a Vietnam with close economic and cultural ties to the West. Other charts summarize work by Todd Harrison of CSIS showing the extent to which non-OCO expenditures became included in the OCO budget accounts. Why did the United States become involved in Vietnam? B. Summary This CRS report provides estimates of the costs of major U.S. wars from the American Revolution through current conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. The symptoms of PTSD include depression, anxiety, nervousness, sleep deprivation, flashbacks and social isolation. Both sides wanted the same thing: a unified Vietnam. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. : Assessing Chinas April 2023 Military Exercises Against Taiwan, ROK President State Visit to Washington: The Capital Cable #69, The Future of U.S. Natural Gas: A Conversation with Charif Souki, Download PDF file of "U.S. Military Spending: The Cost of Wars", Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs Project, Energy Security and Climate Change Program, As is discussed in several parts of this report, work by Amy Belasco of the CRS has provided two reports that attempted to cost America's wars. Active duty strength has gotten far more expensive relative to DoD civilian full time employees and U.S. and foreign contractors. This section updates part of another CRS studyone by Stephen Daggetthat attempted to cost past American wars from the American Revolution through the Persian Gulf War, and the early phases of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. To log in and use all the features of Khan Academy, please enable JavaScript in your browser. Based on the current dollar value, the Vietnam War cost the equivalent of about $1 trillion. Though the majority of Vietnam veterans returned home without serious problems, a large number found the readjustment to civilian life difficult. The nation grew to distrust its leaders as a result of governmental deceit, and Americans with differing views of the war were distrustful of and hostile to one another. The Baseline level has average 2.8% since then, but the total including OCO rose back to a high of 3.4% in FY2010. Those who argue that the United States opponents won the war cite the United States overall objectives and outcomes. As the war stretched on, some soldiers came to mistrust the governments reasons for keeping them there, as well as Washingtons repeated claims that the war was being won. Reports of the Tet Offensive stunned the U.S. public, however, especially after news broke that Westmoreland had requested an additional 200,000 troops, despite repeated assurances that victory in the Vietnam War was imminent. Long term budget projections by the CBO and others invariably assume the end to war with one or two years in the future and no major contingency thereafter. The report, leaked to the Times by military analyst Daniel Ellsberg, further eroded support for keeping U.S. forces in Vietnam. Authors: Jennifer Llewellyn, Jim Southey, Steve Thompson Other allies later joined the war. Or would he have gone in a quote better direction based upon how he handled other things as president? How did the fear of the Soviet Union and Communism affect American culture and society? Between three million and five million people were also disabled, disfigured or seriously wounded. That is simply how they viewed the war from their perspective.
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