FYI

I am posting this in response to the large volume of emails I have received requesting general statistics on the Vietnam War.

Here are a Few Facts About Vietnam:

· 50,000 American Servicemen served in Vietnam between 1960 and 1964.

· 9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam era (Aug.5, 1964-May 7, 1975).

· 3,403,100 (including 514,300 offshore) personnel served in the Southeast Asia Theater (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, flight crews

based in Thailand, and sailors in adjacent South China sea waters).

· 7,484 American women served in Vietnam. 6,250 were nurses.

· 8 nurses died-1 was killed in action.

· Vietnam Veterans represented 9.7% of their generation.

· 240 men were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam era.

· Hostile deaths: 47,378

· Non-hostile deaths: 10,800

· Missing in action: 2,338

· POWs: 766 (114 died in captivity).

· Wounded in action: 303,704

· Severely disabled: 75,000--23,214 100% disabled; 5,283 lost limbs; 1,081 sustained multiple amputations.

· Married men killed: 17,539

· Men under the age of 21 killed: 61%

· Average age of men killed: 22.8 years.

· Highest political office attained by a Vietnam veteran to date: Vice President Al Gore.

· Most successful Vietnam veteran/businessman to date: Frederick Smith of Federal Express.

· 79% of the men who served in Vietnam had a high school education or better when they entered the military service.

· The suicide rate of Vietnam veterans has always been well within the 1.7% norm of the general population.

· 97% of Vietnam-era veterans were honorably discharged.

Primary source: "Myth vs. Reality" by B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley