Vietnam War

As a result of more than eight years of these methods of warfare, it is estimated that more than 2 million Vietnamese were killed, 3 million wounded, and hundreds of thousands of children orphaned. It has been estimated that about 12 million people became refugees. Between April 1975 and July 1982, approximately 1,218,000 were resettled in more than 16 countries. About 500,000, the so-called boat people, tried to flee Vietnam by sea; according to rough estimates, 10 to 15 per cent of these died, and those who survived the great hardships of their voyages were eventually faced with immigration barriers, and quotas even in the countries that agreed to accept them for resettlement.

In the Vietnam War US casualties rose to a total of 57,685 killed and about 153,303 wounded. At the time of the ceasefire agreement there were 587 US military and civilian prisoners of war, all of whom were subsequently released. A current unofficial estimate puts the number of personnel still unaccounted for in the neighbourhood of 2,500.