Does anyone have a comparison of Vietnam and Iraq death tolls?

[prolesunited]

Just wondering what it looked like at the start of Vietnam?

Also, did they use the National Guard and reserves as well? What were those levels?

How far were we in on Vietnam before the draft was started?

Just curious about the parallels here.

[flowomo]

1. try this site:

http://www.thinkingpeace.com/pages/arts2/arts174.html

The Vietnam War started with a slower death rate (than Iraq). The United States had been involved in Vietnam for six years before total fatalities surpassed 500 in 1965, the year President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a massive buildup of forces. There were 20,000 troops in Vietnam by the end of 1964. There were more than 200,000 a year later.

By the end of 1966, U.S. combat deaths in Vietnam had reached 3,910. By 1968, the peak of U.S. involvement, there were more than 500,000 troops in the country. During the same two-week period of April that year, 752 U.S. soldiers died, according to National Archives records.

[Worst Username Ever]

2. Now I can't find them, but here is a synposis:

Vietnam, 1961-1965: approx 1800 killed, 7500 wounded, total casualties around 9500 or so (and that is over a 3-5 year period).

Iraq, 2003-2004: 1200 killed, 9200 wounded, total casualty number is over 10,000. That is just over a year and a half.

[DrWeird]

3. Levels are higher than the start of Vietnam.

Haven't got the statistics.

There's a nice graph somewhere that shows number of GIs killed versus day of the war. Big jump during the last push in Fallujah. Haven't seen it in several months do. It would be interesting to see again.

[flowomo]

4. stats are above

[Sanity Claws]

5. Draft ongoing

I believe the draft was ongoing and not just instituted for Vietnam. I was young (really young!!) at the time but that is my recollection. We went from WW II to Korea to Vietnam, and in the interim had people stationed throughout Europe and elsewhere. You need a lot of bodies for all that.
As for the death count, Vietnam was much, much higher, particularly at its height. Someone posted it here maybe a week or so ago. I forgot what thread it appeared in.

[__Inanna__]

6. One thing to keep in mind

On 60 minutes last night, an analyst said they are not defining someone whose leg is blown off in a non-combat (direct) accident as a casualty. Don't know if semantics will make a difference in doing a comparison. The guy said if you include those, actual casualties so far are 20K plus in this Iraq situation.

[Career Prole]

7. Here's Vietnam...

http://www.archives.gov/research_room/research_topics/vietnam_war_casualty_lists/statistics.html

As for the casualties among reserves in Vietnam (97 Natl. Guard)

Service Component
Military Reserves 5,760
National Guard 97
Regular Military 34,475
Selective Service 17,672
Unknown, Not Reported 189
Total 58,193

Out of the 58,193 only 8 were women.
We still don't pay them as well as men in the civilian occupations, but they've made great strides in cannon fodder equality.

[Career Prole]

8. And here's Vietnam casualties by the year...

http://www.archives.gov/research_room/research_topics/vietnam_war_casualty_lists/statistics.html#year