The Vietnam War was a war fought between 1964 and 1975. In the name of stopping communism, 58,226 American troops were either Killed in Action (KIA) or Missing in Action (MIA) and 153,303 Americans were wounded. In total, 211,529 American lives were taken or affected physically. Many more troops went home addicted to drugs and/or psychologically damaged.

The North Vietnamese casualties are impossible tally with many bodies simply blasted to pieces by bombs and chemical weapons. However, figures (estimated) released in 1995 by the Vietnamese put casualties at one million combat troops and four million civilians. The number of wounded was impossible to calculate. 10% of the country was left permanently deforested by chemical weapons.

Underestimating the Enemy:

Know thy enemy, good advice; it can save many lives in war. The enemy was the Viet Cong (The National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam), which was a guerrilla force, and The Peoples Army of...