15 Most Incredible Facts About the Vietnam War

Did you know that the United States Congress never declared war against Vietnam? Therefore, should it be called the Vietnam conflict instead of the Vietnam war? This is just one of many incredible facts about the Vietnam war. I’ll be summing up a few of these facts.

Here they are 15 incredible facts about the Vietnam war

#1. Although there was a military draft during the war, nearly two-thirds of the American men who served in the Vietnam war were volunteers.

 #2. During the Vietnam War, an estimated 125,000 Americans fled to Canada to avoid the military draft. Around half returned to the US when President Carter, granted them amnesty in his very first day in office.

 #3. It was reported that American soldiers were engaged in actual combat 240 days on average per year during the Vietnam war compared to 40 days of combat in 4 years during World War II.

 #4. The Vietnam war which lasted for approximately 20 years, is the longest war in the entire U.S history.

  #5. A Congressional Medal of Honor Winner Peter Lemon was high on marijuana when he single-handedly fought-off two waves of Vietcong troops and dragged a wounded soldier to safety.

#6. The shooter in the infamous Vietcong execution photo opened a pizzeria in suburban Virginia after the Vietnam War. A lot of people see this picture and think he’s the bad guy, but really he was executing a Vietcong officer. (Bad in the eye of the Vietcong).

#7.  The United States used agent orange during the Vietnam War which resulted in 400,000 people being killed or maimed, and 500,000 birth defects.

More incredible facts about the Vietnam war

#8. During the Vietnam War, a US Prisoner of War was forced to do a press conference saying that they were treated well. He managed to convey the truth by blinking “TORTURE” in Morse code.

#9. Medics used super glue during the Vietnam War to slow the bleeding of the wounded until soldiers could get to a hospital.

#10. Helicopter crewmen on some instances used duct tapes to perform minor emergency repairs on helicopter rotor blades.

#11. A US task force that is known as ‘Tiger Force’ routinely cut off the ears of its victims to make necklaces from them.

#12. In total over 2.7 million American soldiers served on active duty in the Vietnam War between 1964 and 1975 with 58,220 killed and 75,000 disabled. Over half, the American soldiers killed were under 21 years.

#13. There were 5 American soldiers killed in Vietnam who were only 16 years of age while the oldest was 62 years old.

 #14. As of January 2004, there are 1,875 Americans still unaccounted for in Vietnam.

#15. In the end North Vietnam won the war because America withdrew from the Vietnamese theatre. Vietnam was reunified as one nation under North Vietnamese rule.

Some people argue that the U.S. didn’t lose the war but withdrew before they likely lost.

And here’s a bonus fact: The most famous draft dodger during the Vietnam war was Muhammad Ali; one of the greatest boxer in history.

 There you have it 15 most incredible facts about the Vietnam war.