PAVN vs. PLAF casualties

From: "Ed Miller" <Edward.G.Miller@Dartmouth.EDU>

Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 14:22:01 -0400

Subject: [Vsg] PAVN vs. PLAF casualties

Dear List:

Does anyone know of any estimates which *compare* the number of casualties during the 2nd Indochina War suffered by the People’s Army of Vietnam and the People’s Liberation Armed Forces? So far as I know, Hanoi has yet to release any official figures for either force, and the only estimates I have seen purport to be the sum of PAVN and PLAF casualties lumped together. If anybody could direct me to an estimate that distinguished between the two (either in terms of actual numbers or in terms of relative size of each force’s losses) I would appreciate it.

My own totally impressionistic guess is that PLAF casualties would have been much higher than PAVN’s up to 1968, but that PAVN rates would have risen post-Tet since the PLAF had been so badly mauled. Presumably, PAVN would have accounted for the bulk of the casualties on the pro-communist side during the big conventional clashes of the 1970s (i.e. the 1972 offensive). Since both the North and South Vietnamese armies were much bigger in the 1970s than previously, perhaps the total number of PAVN casualties eventually exceeded those of the PLAF?

Thanks,

Ed Miller

Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 11:36:40 -0700 (PDT)

From: "Thi Minh Tran" <minhthi@u.washington.edu>

Subject: [Vsg] Re: Vietnamese casualties document

Dear Miller,

Following is the link to an article estimating number of Vietnamese

casualties during the American War. Hopefully it may help.

http://www.soc.washington.edu/users/charles/pubs/VietnameseCasualtiesDuringAmerican.pdf

Best,

Thi