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==Cost of the War==

==Cost of the War==

The war exacted a huge human cost, including an estimated one to two million North and South Vietnamese,<ref>http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/vietnam/index.cfm</ref> 100,000 to 300,000 Cambodians<ref>http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/deaths.htm</ref> and 30-50,000 Laotians.<ref>http://www.vietnamgear.com/casualties.aspx</ref>  The "most comprehensive demographic survey" ever conducted on casualties during the war, as endorsed by the Associated Press, estimated that nearly one million Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians were killed throughout the two decades of conflict.<ref>Associated Press, April 3, 1995; Charles Hirschman et al., “Vietnamese Casualties During the American War: A New Estimate,” Population and Development Review, December 1995</ref>  R.J. Rummel originally put the total at 1.2 million Indochinese killed on all sides.<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/WSJ.ART.HTM</ref>  Rummel later revised the estimate to over 2 million in all of Indochina, including 1.7 million in North and South Vietnam.<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/DBG.TAB11.1.GIF/ref>  Communist propaganda claimed that 3-6 million died in the war, and some radical anti-war protestors endorsed these figures, although they are not demographically possible.

The war exacted a huge human cost, including an estimated one to two million North and South Vietnamese,<ref>http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/vietnam/index.cfm</ref> 100,000 to 300,000 Cambodians<ref>http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/deaths.htm</ref> and 30-50,000 Laotians.<ref>http://www.vietnamgear.com/casualties.aspx</ref>  The "most comprehensive demographic survey" ever conducted on casualties during the war, as endorsed by the Associated Press, estimated that nearly one million Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians were killed throughout the two decades of conflict.<ref>Associated Press, April 3, 1995; Charles Hirschman et al., “Vietnamese Casualties During the American War: A New Estimate,” Population and Development Review, December 1995</ref>  R.J. Rummel originally put the total at 1.2 million Indochinese killed on all sides.<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/WSJ.ART.HTM</ref>  Rummel later revised the estimate to over 2 million in all of Indochina, including 1.7 million in North and South Vietnam.<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/DBG.TAB11.1.GIF</ref>  Communist propaganda claimed that 3-6 million died in the war, and some radical anti-war protestors endorsed these figures, although they are not demographically possible.

The most widely cited/accepted estimate, and the middle value of the plausible range (1-2 million Vietnamese) is 1.5 million.  This figure is often used in US school textbooks.  Keeping in mind that there was not a 50/50 split for casualties between Hanoi and Saigon, and that North Vietnam suffered losses far heavier than the South, we could put the casualty ratio at 60/40.  This would yield a rough estimated total of 875,000 North Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed in the war compared to 625,000 soldiers and civilians killed in South Vietnam.   

The most widely cited/accepted estimate, and the middle value of the plausible range (1-2 million Vietnamese) is 1.5 million.  This figure is often used in US school textbooks.  Keeping in mind that there was not a 50/50 split for casualties between Hanoi and Saigon, and that North Vietnam suffered losses far heavier than the South, we could put the casualty ratio at 60/40.  This would yield a rough estimated total of 875,000 North Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed in the war compared to 625,000 soldiers and civilians killed in South Vietnam.