VIETNAM STATISTICS This list tells it all. These statistics could change many hearts. Pass this on. We, the U.S. have lost over 158,000 American lives to the Vietnam war and that count is still rising. Approx 58,000 in Vietnam. 100,000 or more to suicide and most of those occurred after the men came home. This accurate accounting gives us persepective on the cost of current and future wars. from Fallen Leaves, Broken Lives By Edward Tick Utne magazine January-February 2005 Issue CASUALTIES OF THE VIETNAM WAR THERE ARE MORE THAN 58,000 NAMES OF AMERICAN DEAD ON THE WALL IN WASHINGTON, D.C., BUT THE TOTAL COSTS ARE STILL BEING TALLIED. THE PEOPLE American Veterans Vietnamese People In Country 2.5 million est. 1970 pop. 41 million In Combat 1.5 million unknown Killed in Action 58,000+ 2.5 million Wounded 300,000+* 4 million Missing in Action 2,000+ 250,000 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 1.5 million+ unknown Suicides 100,000+ unknown Homeless 150,000 nightly unknown Boat People 0 1 million (Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia) Lost at Sea 0 500,000 Disabled Street People unknown 3 million New Agent Orange Deformities unknown 35,000/year Peacetime Deaths Due to Unexploded Bombs & Mines 0 50,000+ (Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia) Maimed by Bombs and Mines (1975-98) 0 67,000 Reeducation Camps 0 400,000 in 100 camps * includes U.S: 74,000 quadriplegics and multiple amputees THE VIETNAMESE LAND Total Herbicides Used 19.4 million gallons Agent Orange Sprayed 11.7 million gallons Mangrove Forest Destroyed 60% Forest & Jungle Destroyed 18% Cultivated Land Destroyed 8% U.S. BOMBING 8 billion+ pounds (4 times more than WWII total; equal to 600 Hiroshima-size bombs) 23 million bomb craters 2,257 U.S. aircraft lost Over 4,000 of toal 5,778 villages bombed, 150 completely destroyed DESTROYED 10 million cubic meters of dikes 815 hydroelectric works 1,100 lake embankments 8 forestries 48 agricultural research centers with 6,000 agricultural machines and 46,000 water buffalo 400 factories 18 power stations 13,000 boats 15,100 bridges 2,923 high schools and universities 350 hospitals 1,500 maternity hospitals 484 churches 465 pagodas 240,540 thatched huts TOTAL COST TO THE UNITED STATES: $925 Billion Edward Tick collected these statistics by searching history books, newspapers, and archives, and interviewing survivors and scholars throughout the United States and Southeast Asia. Following is a partial list of his sources. In the United States: Disabled American Veterans; The New York Times; Hell, Healing and Resistance by Daniel Hallock; The Vietnam War: A History in Documents, by Young, Fitzgerald & Grunfel; Webster's New World Dictionary of the Vietnam War. In Viet Nam: Army Museum, Ha Noi; Hong Ngoc (Rosy Jade) Humanity Center, Sao Do; Research Center for Gender, Family, and Environment in Development, Ha Noi; Women's Museum, Ha Noi; War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh City. EDWARD TICK (left) is director and senior psychotherapist of the Sanctuary: A Center for Mentoring the Soul in Albany, New York (www.mentorthesoul.com). He is known for his groundbreaking work with Viet Nam veterans -- as well as veterans of World War II, Korea, El Salvador, Lebanon, the first Gulf War, and the present war in Iraq -- suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The author of The Practice of Dream Healing (Quest, 2001), he has two books forthcoming this year: The Golden Tortoise: Viet Nam Journeys (Red Hen, April 2005) and War and the Soul (Quest, November 2005). Tick recently presented his work at the Bioneers Conference, an annual gathering of those who seek "visionary & practical solutions for restoring the earth and people" in Marin, California. To read about the work of other Bioneers, go to www.utne.com/bioneers.