The US, in its “Operation Northwoods” of the Vietnam war, killed more than 200,000 people.
It is estimated that as many as half of the men who fought there were killed in action, including the notorious “Nam Nam” (North Vietnamese) guerrilla forces, and many of their dead were never identified.
The US military says that only around 1,000 of its dead were identified, and it is estimated at least another 100,000 were killed during the war.
It also says that “only” 6,000 Vietnamese were ever identified.
We reached out to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF), which holds the largest Vietnam war memorial in the US.
Its executive director, Richard Haney, told VICE News that the US government has never made public what percentage of those who died in Vietnam were identified.
He said: “The VVMF is committed to providing accurate information to the public and is committed in that effort to release any and all information on the death toll of those in the VVMTF who were killed.”
Haney said the government will soon release information on who actually died in the war, but said it would be difficult to do so because of the nature of the conflict.
“I think the public is going to have to be patient with the VA and will have to wait for the VA to make those decisions,” he said.
The VA declined VICE News’ request for comment.
Haney and other veterans groups argue that the public has a right to know who was killed in Vietnam, and that the VA should be allowed to do the job.
“The government has been in denial that there was a war in Vietnam,” Haney told VICE.
“We know that there were over 100,00 deaths, but the VA has not come forward and publicly acknowledged that fact.”
Haneys organization says the government should provide a breakdown of the number of US service members killed in the conflict to the families of the dead.
Haney said the families should also be provided with a breakdown on how many Vietnamese soldiers were killed and wounded.
“It would be helpful to know what percentage were killed by their own side, and why those were those soldiers who died,” he added.
The VVMFs Vietnam Veterans memorial in Washington, DC.
Honeys group has been pushing for the government to release data on the war since 2004, when it first filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the US military.
The agency, which received an initial request from the family of one of the soldiers killed in Laos in 1954, responded that the information was not in the public domain and would not be released.
In 2004, the VvmF began seeking more detailed information on US military personnel killed in service to the war on its website.
The group has published a database of thousands of Vietnam war deaths, with the names of nearly 3,000 US service personnel.
It has also collected data on Vietnam war veterans from the National Archives and Military Records Administration, as well as the Vietnam Veteran Resource Center.
Hanes group has also filed Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests for documents pertaining to the military’s role in the invasion of South Vietnam.
The groups FOIA requests have yet to be fulfilled.
However, in 2013, the Department of Defense released a list of the most lethal US soldiers killed during Vietnam, including soldiers who fought alongside US troops in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
Of the more than 5,000 killed in South Vietnam, nearly half were killed while attempting to assassinate President Ho Chi Minh.
Hones group said the data on those who were shot dead in Laos was incomplete, and said the US should release it.
“If the government is going do the work of finding out who was in the Vietcong, who were the VC, what were the Viet Cong doing in Laos during that time, then we have a right and an obligation to know that information,” Hanes said.
“And we do know that the American public is entitled to that information.”
The US government declined VICE Video’s request for an interview.
HONES GROUP ISSUES INFRASTRUCTURE The VVMF says that the military is under pressure to release information about Vietnam war casualties to the Vietnamese public.
It points to the recent release of a US soldier’s personal medical records.
The Vietnam Veterans Association is suing the US Department of Veterans Affairs over the release of his medical records, and the VA is trying to block the release.
“They have a responsibility to make sure that their records are accurate, and we hope that the government does that,” Hones said.
