US Casualties in Iraq 2003-04 exceed US Casualties in Vietnam 1961-65

[TomClash]

According to the website Iraq Coalition Casualties, US casualties are currently 1,215 killed, 8,956 wounded for a total of 10,171.

http://icasualties.org/oif/

Casualties for Vietnam from 1961-65, including the infamous battle at La Drang in '65 were 1,864 killed, 7,337 wounded for a total of 9,201.

http://www.rjsmith.com/kia_tbl.html

[Mistress Quickly]

1. I think La Drang

is actually Ia Drang. Isn't that the battle of "We Were Soldiers Once and Young"?

[TomClash]

4. Yes, typo n/t

[NewYorkerfromMass]

2. much higher per capita too.

The poulation of Iraq is currently 25 million- in 1965 North and South Vietnam's was 35 million.

[Ernesto]

3. No surprise here

Since we didn't actually invade Vietnam with full units until the spring of '65 when amphibious Marines landed in Danang. By the end of June, '65, the US only had 50,000 men in country.

[TomClash]

5. But by the end of '65 there waere about 180,000 in country nt

[Ernesto]

7. Your number & date are correct

But things were just getting warmed up @ that time. I know, I was in USMC boot camp @ the end of '65. By 1966, the reserve 5th Marine division had been activated. The new 26th, 27th & 28th infantry regiments were now on there way to join the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, & 9th Marines in country. By the end of '68 we had over a half million US people on the ground!
And guess what.... We didn't win their hearts or minds. Soud familiar?

[TomClash]

10. You're right . . .

. . . on both counts. Things were just getting warmed up and it sounds familiar.

Thank you very much for your service.

Were you in country in '66? If so, that's pretty damn early in the war.

In Iraq, there seem to be a disproportionate number of wounded compared to deaths. Do you think kevlar has kept down the number of deaths in Iraq?

[Ernesto]

16. Got there in'67 as a casualty replacement.

"Enjoyed" the hell out of the '68 Tet offensive when the "light at the end of the tunnel" suddenly went out..... And yes kevlar and better technology in general has had to help save our people's lives.
I was always amazed at the determination of our enemy. No matter how much gear and firepower we had they had somthing that we could never own: it was their god damn country, not ours.
Sound familiar?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. I got out of the marines in June '65. They asked me to extend my

enlistment for 18 months to go to Vietnam. Got 30 days mess duty for my
"unpatriotic" reply. Helped ship "our boys" to Canada later.

[Ernesto]

14. "30 days mess duty" sounds like my Marine Corps experience!

All us older Marines know how much that sucked..... I wonder they even do that now days.

[rinsd]

15. Yup....

The casualties afterwards skyrocketed along with the troop committment.

[Name removed]

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[K-W]

8. Yah, only "advisors"

For some reason our advisors looked an aweful lot like troops.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. Yeah, some of those "advisors" stayed in our barracks on their way home.

Showed us a lot of photos of dead "VC". Funny how a lot of the dead "VC" looked like women, children, and old people.

They were CIA "contractors" who just spent one day and night with us. Creepy bunch of thugs.

On edit: That was in 1963. Earlier that year we were put on alert to go to Laos. But, it was called off.

[firebee]

9. Really???

So those 9,201 casualties before 1965 were just advisors????

[Javaman]

13. Actually we had more than "advisors" over there by 65...

I just finished a couple of books on the Kennedy admin. We had a little secret war going on there since 61. The advisors have been there since 1952.