Technical Sergeant Richard Bernard Fitzgibbon Jr., USAF (June 21, 1920 – June 8, 1956) was the first American to die in the Vietnam War.
997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam .. 1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam.
Errol Noack was the first Australian conscript to die in the Vietnam War.
Dan Bullock (December 21, 1953 – June 7, 1969) was a United States Marine and the youngest U.S. serviceman killed in action during the Vietnam War, dying at the age of 15. Goldsboro, North Carolina, U.S. Elmwood Cemetery, Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina, U.S.
First Americans killed in South Vietnam | July 8, 1959 | HISTORY.
Though other soldiers died after the cease-fire prior to the American withdrawal in 1975, Bill Nolde is considered to be the last American combat casualty of the war in Vietnam. On Feb. 3, 1973, a funeral was held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Mount Pleasant with 600 fellow townspeople in attendance.
In the first two weeks of 1968, PAVN/VC forces shelled 49 district and provincial capitals in South Vietnam and temporarily occupied two of them. General Westmoreland described the fighting to Time magazine "as the most intense of the entire war." MACV claimed that 5,000 PAVN/VC had been killed.
Charles Benjamin "Chuck" Mawhinney (born 1949) is a former United States Marine who holds the Corps' record for the most confirmed sniper kills, having recorded 103 confirmed kills and 216 probable kills in 16 months during the Vietnam War. Lakeview, Oregon, U.S.
As the longest held prisoner during the Vietnam era, Colonel Thompson demonstrated truly magnificent powers of faith, physical endurance, and trust in the Nation during years of almost unfathomable deprivation and hardship.
Joseph Ernest Atkins (1947 – January 23, 1999) was an American serial killer and Vietnam War veteran who murdered three people in South Carolina. He murdered his half-brother in 1969 and received a life sentence. After Atkins' adoptive father pleaded with officials for his release, he was released on parole in 1980.
"The Battle of Coral/Balmoral during the 12th of May to the 6th of June, 1968, was by far Australia's largest, longest, bloodiest battle involving more soldiers of both forces, Australian and enemy, and suffering more casualties than any other battle of the Vietnam War."
Statistics: Total Australian service casualties in the Vietnam War, 1962–72. Note: The total of 500 deaths comprises 426 battle casualties and 74 non-battle casualties.
Joe Ronnie Hooper, his moment lasted about seven hours — fitting, considering he's one of the most decorated soldiers of the Vietnam War. Hooper was born Aug. 8, 1938, in Piedmont, South Carolina, but he grew up in Washington state. He enlisted in the Navy at 17, serving until his honorable discharge in 1959.
The Mỹ Lai massacre (/ˌmiːˈlaɪ/; Vietnamese: Thảm sát Mỹ Lai [tʰâːm ʂǎːt mǐˀ lāːj] ( listen)) was a war crime committed by United States Army personnel on 16 March 1968, involving the mass murder of unarmed civilians in Sơn Tịnh district, South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War.
As a branch of the US forces, however, the Marine Corps lost the highest percentage of its own men (5.0%) which in turn accounted for 25.5% of all casualties.
The Civil War was the deadliest war in American history. Altogether, over 600,000 died in the conflict, more than World War I and World War II combined. A soldier was 13 times more likely to die in the Civil War than in the Vietnam War.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency lists 684 POWs returned home alive from the Vietnam War — the majority after the U.S. pulled out of the war in 1973. (The war officially ended April 30, 1975). There are 1,582 Americans still unaccounted for, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
There are no known living POWs left in Vietnam from the American War. Many veterans and survivors of those terrible years have returned to the country to visit and pay respects to their peers left behind.
Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) was a highly classified, multi-service United States special operations unit which conducted covert unconventional warfare operations before and during the Vietnam War.
Surprise attacks by elite Communist units known as sappers were one of the most serious—and feared—threats to Americans in Vietnam. The all-volunteer MACV-SOG (most were U.S. Army Special Forces “Green Berets”) carried out some of the most dangerous and challenging special operations of the Vietnam War.
James Lockhart's combat memoir The Luckiest Guy in Vietnam, is a two-for-one surprise. In one book we hear about both his tours as an infantry officer in Vietnam. He first details his initial deployment, where he served as a mortar platoon and recon platoon leader in the famous “Americal” Division.
As the conflict continued, efforts were centralized under the VC Security Service, estimated to number 25,000 men by 1970. As well as targeted murders and kidnappings, the VC and the PAVN frequently mortared refugee camps and placed mines on highways frequented by villagers.
VA's Veteran Population Projection Model estimates the number of living Vietnam War Veterans to be 6.1 million (11). In 2019, approximately 3.4 million Vietnam War Veterans were enrolled for Veterans Health Administration services (12).
The heaviest action took place near Dak To, in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. The presence of the PAVN 1st Division prompted a 22-day battle there and had some of the most intense close-quarters fighting of the entire conflict.
The draft was specifically designed to trigger volunteer enlistments before age 18 1/2 had been reached. Volunteers were allowed to enlist as early as age 17 (with parental consent) & were required to serve for 3 years on active duty followed by 3 years as inactive reservists.