Vietnam emerged from the war as a potent military power within Southeast Asia, but its agriculture, business, and industry were disrupted, large parts of its countryside were scarred by bombs and defoliation and laced with land mines, and its cities and towns were heavily damaged. Reporting adds up to half a budget at best. To fight off both Japanese occupiers and the French colonial administration, political leader Ho Chi Minhinspired by Chinese and Soviet communismformed the Viet Minh, or the League for the Independence of Vietnam. 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. The Department of Defense's OCO costs of the Afghan conflict since FY2001 will rise to $840.7 billionif the President's FY2018 budget request is met. 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. Nixon and Johnson's thoughts on protesters thought they were communists, dangerous, too radical - encouraged the FBI to investigate the movement What does human cost mean? - Definitions.net In the early 1900s the country was part of a French colony. Direct link to Carla Cristina Almeida's post I have a question about t, Posted 6 years ago. Some war fighting and support costs are not included in the OCO request. Whereas the men of World War II had been welcomed home with crowds, ticker tape and fanfare, Vietnam veterans returning to the US were received with a combination of indifference, embarrassment and contempt. Over the following years, additions to the list have brought the total past 58,200. Direct link to Jacob, Samour's post 1) It became involved in , Posted 7 years ago. The report, leaked to the Times by military analyst Daniel Ellsberg, further eroded support for keeping U.S. forces in Vietnam. The Wooden Horse: A Gift Aside from independent efforts by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), neither the Executive Branch nor the Congress have ever issued an official report on the costs of American's ongoing wars, examined the trends in these costs, or insisted on meaningful reporting on their effectiveness. More than 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam, and more than 150,000 were wounded. URL: https://alphahistory.com/vietnamwar/costs-of-the-vietnam-war/ Efforts to integrate net assessment with budget submissions were effectively killed by the Joint Staff decades earlier, during the Reagan Administration. 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. The size of U.S. military spending is difficult to estimate in comparable terms. On June 25, 1950, Kim launched a surprise invasion of South Korea. This illustrates another critical failure in the preparation and review of both Baseline and War budgets. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died. During one, on May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, National Guardsmen shot and killed four students. Fearful that the war would jeopardize his domestic agenda, Johnson concealed the extent of the military escalation from the American public. When a draft took place, it randomly selected men between the ages of 18 to 25. Further, without such an estimate, there is no credible basis for either Executive Branch or Congressional review of the budgets and plans for such wars, much less of the ability to effectively execute given strategies, and provide credible indicators of the cost effectiveness and progress of key elements of military and civil activity. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. 58,000 American servicemen and an estimated 250,000 Vietnamese dead. Confidence in the Domino Theory was undermined, if not destroyed. The arguments about the war were heated and visceral and led Americans to question one anothers morality and good faith. In 1910, Japanese armies conquered Korea and occupied it until their defeat in 1945 at the end of World War II. Date published: July 3, 2019 U.S. military advisers, present in small numbers throughout the 1950s, were introduced on a large scale beginning in 1961, and active combat units were introduced in 1965. The Vietnam War and active U.S. involvement in the war began in 1954, though ongoing conflict in the region had stretched back several decades. Germany, and the U.K. In 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., inscribed with the names of 57,939 members of U.S. armed forces who had died or were missing as a result of the war. Both sides wanted the same thing: a unified Vietnam. Lip service references to a "whole of government approach" thinly disguise a real-world separation of what should be a fully integrated civil-military approach, and what is really a "hole in government" approach where the State Department and USAID often seem at least partially decoupled from the realities of warfighting and the Department of Defense focuses on tactical success rather than the political, economic, or broader strategic goals in warfare. Work by Todd Harrison, for example, shows that total U.S. defense-related costs totaled some $905 billion in FY2017: At the same time, if one does use the $619.7 billion total for the U.S., it is: U.S. military spending has risen steadily over time, but without any serious net assessment of the patterns in that growth, the comparative efficiency of U.S. spending on baseline and war activity, and how allied and potential threat states use their budgets and resources. Discussions of the cost of the Vietnam War have tended to underemphasize human capital considerations. America was deeply affected by these heavy losses and struggled to understand the meaning, significance and lessons of the Vietnam War. The U.S. military reported 58,220 American casualties. Vietnam War - The Nixon administration and the Vietnam War The final charts summarize the FY2018 budget submission data for the OCO accounts in the detail provided by the DoD budget summary. In 2016, Vietnam's GDP growth was 6.2%, driven by export-oriented manufacturing and robust domestic demand. Fall of Saigon, capture of Saigon by North Vietnamese forces, which occurred from March 4 to April 30, 1975. In peace negotiations at Geneva, the decision was reached to divide Vietnam into northern and southern halves. Consequences of the war for the USA - The Vietnam War - CCEA - GCSE With the Cold War intensifying worldwide, the United States hardened its policies against any allies of the Soviet Union, and by 1955 President Dwight D. Eisenhower had pledged his firm support to Diem and South Vietnam. 10.5 times the IISS estimate of $58.9 billion for Russia, and 9.0 times the SIPIRI estimate of $69.2 billion. It gives the Greeks a In 1955, however, the strongly anti-communist politician Ngo Dinh Diem pushed Emperor Bao aside to become president of the Government of the Republic of Vietnam (GVN), often referred to during that era as South Vietnam. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! However, from a constitutional perspective, this conflict did not technically count as a war. Vietnam War: Causes, Facts & Impact - History Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Congress authorized troop deployment in Vietnam, but, because it did not issue a declaration of war on North Vietnam or the Viet Cong, the Vietnam War is, technically speaking, not considered a war in the United States. It also entered into a period of dtente (agreement) with Cold War rivals the Soviet Union and communist China. Once again, a valid approach to resourcing and costing the war must look beyond the number of military personnel and justify the total number of personnel. He died of cancer at 44. The Human Cost | Outrider It contains 186,751 words in 265 pages and was updated last on March 27th, 2022. The total defense burden is projected to decline from 2.8% in FY2017 to 2.5% in FY2021 and FY2.3% in 2030. War protesters: it costs too much money, social problems at home, it's not our war, it can't be won, begins WWII against China and Russia, we should not be the 'police power' around the world. See the Vietnam War unfold through the gripping firsthand accounts of 13 brave men and women forever changed by their experiences. The main reason the war escalated so badly and quickly was because LBJ and Nixon right? Neighbouring countries Laos and Cambodia both suffered enormous human loss and material devastation, as well as the rise of terroristic and genocidal regimes. They show the cost by war, by service, and by broad cost category for the entire OCO account. If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked. The Human Cost - NHHC After Hos communist forces took power in the north, armed conflict between northern and southern armies continued until the northern Viet Minhs decisive victory in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in May 1954. Though the majority of Vietnam veterans returned home without serious problems, a large number found the readjustment to civilian life difficult. It would take years to recover. 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. OCO costs alone were 10.3% of $560.7 billion and 9.5% of the total of $619.7 billion. Past estimates of spending have been consistently wrong, and the inputs have been consistently undercosted. Some battled with alcoholism and drug abuse while many succumbed to suicide. The United States pays $22 billion per year in war compensations to Vietnam veterans and their families. OMB tables for FY2017 show total cost of homeland defense for all Departments and agencies was $71.8 billion in FY2015, $72.9 billion with supplemental, $71.7 billion in FY2016, and $70.5 billion in FY2017. Vietnam was ruined. This section supplements the OCO cost data with some brief metrics on the overall size of the U.S. effort in Afghanistan. Kissinger and North Vietnamese representatives drafted a peace agreement by early fall, but leaders in Saigon rejected it, and in December Nixon authorized a number of bombing raids against targets in Hanoi and Haiphong. The true figures, however, are probably much higher. Total was $43.5 billion in FY2015, $44.4 billion with supplemental, $45.2 billion in FY2016, and $50.4 billion in FY2017 less DoD. The Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis Continued? 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. The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 . In March 1965, Johnson made the decisionwith solid support from the American publicto send U.S. combat forces into battle in Vietnam. As many as one-quarter of these boat people as they became known are believed to have perished at sea. The effort to create meaningful Future Year Defense Programs seem to have been given a final death blow by the Budget Control Act (BCA)legislation originally designed to be so stupid that the Congress could not possibly accept it. Meanwhile, the United States, its military demoralized and its civilian electorate deeply divided, began a process of coming to terms with defeat in what had been its longest and most controversial war. What effect did Nixon's promise to unify the nation and restore law and order have on his . It remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Some argued that Americas violence against civilians in Vietnam from incidental killings to atrocities like My Lai and indiscriminate carpet bombing made the United States no better than the communist regimes it was seeking to contain. an estimated 25,000 American servicemen and 757,143 Vietnamese dead. It was 146% of the $619.7 billion total ($560.7 Baseline plus the $58.8 billion in OCO costs). Any full costing of America's wars needs to include these costs. Vietnam veterans also had to contend with physical problems, such as the effects of chemical defoliants. The United States entered Vietnam with the principal purpose of preventing a communist takeover of the region. 2023 Center for Strategic & International Studies. "War" may not be the normal state of U.S. national security planning indefinitely into the future, but warand/or the constant risk of waris a grim reality of our time. Roughly half of the OCO budget ($30 billion) is now being used for programs and activities that were previously funded in the base budget. Or were both parties perhaps working together? Background Vietnam had many troubles before the Vietnam War. The French loss at the battle ended almost a century of French colonial rule in Indochina. In 1976, Vietnam was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, though sporadic violence continued over the next 15 years, including conflicts with neighboring China and Cambodia. Many were unfairly harassed and abused by anti-war protestors. From 1975 to the early 1980s, the world press was filled with horror stories about refugee boats sinking or disintegrating at sea, while thousands of refugees drowned, starved or were murdered by pirates. This meant that often wealthier men (who could afford college tuition) could avoid being sent to Vietnam, while men from poorer families could not avoid it. Was the war in Vietnam a civil war or a global Cold War confrontation? B. This section supplements the OCO cost data with some brief metrics on the overall size of the U.S. effort in Syria. Five years after the country's partition, the communist leader of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, decided to attempt to reunify Korea under his control. Vietnams infrastructure, one of the few positive legacies of French colonialism, was left in ruins. The American death toll in Vietnam is dwarfed by the devastating losses suffered by local people. Feeding, supplying and paying the armies and navies was, by far, the largest expenditure of the war. The Congress has also created a Special Inspector General for Iraq (SIGIR) and then a Special Inspector General for Afghanistan (SIGAR). The United States lost almost 60,000 personnel and civilians in Vietnam: 58,269 servicemen were killed and another 1,672 recorded as missing. When the United States technically "lost" the war, did it seem like an utter waste of time and resources? One of the most common defoliants used in Vietnam, Agent Orange, was later found to contain carcinogenic dioxins. Meaning of human cost. He fully subscribed to the domino theory and to the containment strategy, and also feared appearing weak in the eyes of his domestic political opponents. These issues are discussed in more detail later in this study. A Brief History of the Vietnam War: Combatants, Casualties and The Korean War (article) | 1950s America | Khan Academy A third estimate, by Neta Crawford, puts costs at more than $4.8 trillion through FY2017, plus more than $7.9 trillion in cumulative interest on past appropriations, or more than $12.7 trillion. Learn about the war that enmeshed the United States in a battle against communism in Southeast Asia for more than twenty years. 1. Among other countries that fought for South Vietnam on a smaller scale, South Korea suffered more than 4,000 dead, Thailand about 350, Australia more than 500, and New Zealand some three dozen. A. In the United States, the effects of the Vietnam War would linger long after the last troops returned home in 1973. The costs of U.S. empire's 'forever wars' - People's World HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. By Winnie Smith Morrow, 352 pages, $22 Until recently, the critical role played by women in the Vietnam War as Army nurses, dedicated to treating the wounded and dying despite being endangered. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Neighbouring Laos and Cambodia similarly fell to communists. Vietnam Veterans Memorial | Facts, Designer, & Controversy Center for Strategic and International Studies How did the American public react when they heard the news? Congress passed the. Were LBJ and Nixon bad decision makers or was it just too much to handle? The charts and tables in this section summarize the actual and projected cost of U.S. wars as reported for the OCO accountdrawing heavily largely on earlier work by the Congressional Research Service. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW Vietnam War - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help The U.S. War in Vietnam - Statistics & Facts | Statista peoples' experiences? He expected that France would become a stronger ally if assisted by the United States. There was little that had not been bombed, blasted or shot up from roads to railways, buildings to bridges, ports to power stations. The South Vietnamese then led their own invasion of Laos, which was pushed back by North Vietnam. Heavy bombing by B-52 aircraft or shelling made these zones uninhabitable, as refugees poured into camps in designated safe areas near Saigon and other cities. 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. Several charts summarize GAO criticism of the way DoD included given costs in the OCO account, and indicate that DoD may correct its reporting in the future. He received his B.A. These war costs stalled some of Lyndon Johnsons Great Society reforms, including anti-poverty measures and improvements to social security. There were debates and recriminations over American involvement and a loss of faith in the US government. The two countries were divided along the 17th Parallel, also known as the Line of Demarcation. Cost and force size pressures also tend to create pressure to rely on sudden and temporary "surges," which may or may not be effective, and the use of short rotations and temporary duty personnelaffecting levels of experience and capability. Johnson raised the number of South Vietnam deployments to 23,000 U.S. soldiers by the end of his first year in office. The question of who won the Vietnam War has been a subject of debate, and the answer depends on the definition of victory. In 1965, Johnson dramatically escalated US involvement in the war. 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. 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. Per capita GDP as of 2013 was $2,073, with an unemployment rate of just 2.1% and a poverty rate of 13.5%. The war claimed between 2.5-4 million lives, the vast majority Vietnamese civilians plus more than 58,000 Americans. 3. Civilian casualties are not assessed in spite of the fact that this has become a critical political and operational issue, and subject of both debate and threat propaganda. 5. The War Powers Resolution The chart shows that the number of draftees _____ before the War Powers Resolution. Unit 3 Turmoil (Vietnam) | American History Quiz - Quizizz DoD did so although they were Baseline efforts and should not technically have been counted as war costs because Congress gave it the option of making such a request. Public trust in the United States government was shattered by the Vietnam War and Watergate. Yes, to me (who served in Vietnam with the US Army for 11 months in 1970) it seemed like an utter waste of time and resources. The Civil War: Human, Economic and Social Costs - Study.com This inevitably has reduced the number of military in the force mix and made reporting military, civilian, and contract personnel a critical aspect of reporting on force costs and trends. The Korean peninsula off the east cost of Asia has had a long history of foreign invaders. Given the costs omitted from the OCO budget, the real total cost will almost certainly be well over $2 trillion, even using OCO data as the only costs of the wars. An even greater number were maimed, disfigured, orphaned, displaced or forced to flee as refugees. those where some times helped by the VC but the VC attacked ares around the mekondelta and around the borders of laos and cambodia. Key metrics are provided for the U.S. use of airpower, showing a major rise in support of Afghan forces in CY2017. Why did the United States become involved in Vietnam? By 1966, large areas of South Vietnam had been designated as free-fire zones, from which all innocent civilians were supposed to have evacuated and only enemy remained. Did you know? Vietnam War memory quiz events 1946-1964, Vietnam War memory quiz events 1965-1975, Vietnam War memory quiz terms and concepts (I), Vietnam War memory quiz terms and concepts (II). Direct link to Davin V Jones's post That is simply how they v, Posted 5 months ago. The struggle for Vietnam was one of the 20th centurys great human tragedies. Westmoreland pursued a policy of attrition, aiming to kill as many enemy troops as possible rather than trying to secure territory. The conflict. During the course of the conflict . With his approval ratings dropping in an election year, Johnson called a halt to bombing in much of North Vietnam (though bombings continued in the south) and promised to dedicate the rest of his term to seeking peace rather than reelection. D. It allows the reader to They will be $770.5 billion for Iraq. A related estimate by the Watson Institute puts the cost at $4.8 trillion through FY2016. Direct link to Bill Vu's post If the vietnam war was ab, Posted 7 years ago. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., lists more than 58,300 names of members of the U.S. armed forces who were killed or went missing in action. A coup by some of his own generals succeeded in toppling and killing Diem and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, in November 1963, three weeks before Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Seeking to regain control of the region, France backed Emperor Bao and set up the state of Vietnam in July 1949, with the city of Saigon as its capital. The Memorial is dedicated to honor the courage . Only limited break outs of these key data are provided by war. We strive for accuracy and fairness. 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. Share Facebook Share Twitter Share. Here, simply seeing OCO spending data is essentially useless. Following its 1945 defeat in World War II, Japan withdrew its forces from Vietnam, leaving the French-educated Emperor Bao Dai in control. Throughout both conflicts, reporting has focused on total personnel rather than on the function and capability of the personnel engaged. 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. Vietnam War, (195475), 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. This was 161% of the $560.7 billion Baseline that include base, defense-related nuclear and other related budget costs. The U.S. Constitution grants Congress sole authority to issue declarations of war. 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). Some of the papers from the archive of Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971, Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images, https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history.
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