Who Qualifies As a Vietnam Veteran?
To qualify as a Vietnam veteran, a person must be an armed service member of a military force that participated in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was a military conflict that occurred between North Vietnam and South Vietnam between 1959 and 1975.
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Types of Vietnam Veterans
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Not all Vietnam-era veterans served directly in the conflict, as many remained in their home countries to assist the war effort or where stationed elsewhere. Members of armed forces that served on the ground in the countries that the war took place-Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia- are known as "in-country" Vietnam veterans.
Total Number of Veterans
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The total number of Communist forces and its allies numbered approximately 3 million. The total number of Anti-Communist forces that participated in the war numbered 140 million soldiers, including an addition 5 million non-combatant soldiers.
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Women Veterans
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The United States Armed Forces employed 7,500 women during the Vietnam conflict. They served as air traffic controllers, legal officers, nurses and physical therapists. Vietnamese woman served in active combat positions. The North Vietnamese army had 100,000 enlisted women.
Veterans Organizations
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Hundreds of Vietnam Veterans organizations exist worldwide. One the largest and most widely known is the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA).
Casualties
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At the end of the war in 1975, the number of veterans from Communist forces numbered 1.8 million. In all, 1.2 million soldiers were killed, while 600,000 were wounded. The number of veterans from Anti-Communist forces number 139.7 million. More than 316,000 soldiers had been killed while 1.5 million were wounded.
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