I am a Vietnam Veteran, of 1971 1ARU vintage, and damned proud of it! I put this site together for the benefit of those who wish to know a bit more about the Vietnam War, and are sick of jumping from site to site to get the information they need. I have stuck to the facts as best as I could, and may conflict with other printed works on the subject. However, let me explain some things you may have found confusing.

The figures come from the Nominal Roll of Vietnam Veterans, and the Encyclopedia of Australians at war from the Australian War memorial. You will read a lot about the numbers of National Servicemen, both those called up in total, and the number of those who served in Vietnam. This has come about for several reasons, one of which being that some elements of society completed the registration forms when they were not eligible for National Service anyway. Others were called up and enlisted in the Regular Army either immediately, during training, while still in Vietnam, or at the end of their conscription period. So the number of 17,424 National Servicemen serving in Vietnam is the best figure available to date.

The number of Australian Servicemen killed in Vietnam has steadily changed over the years as well. At one time the figure was 500, then 501, then 504, and now stands at 520. again there are a number of reasons. Original figures produced by Department of Defence did not include the 6 Missing In Action, and the 7 Civilians killed. Nor were those who died of their wounds in Australia, after being medically evacuated from Vietnam. Then, when researchers tried to align the numbers correctly, they found anomalies with name cross referencing created by personnel who were killed, or went missing, while not with their defined, or last known unit. As well, while reporting on the number of KIA, some authors included only the number of Army personnel and not those of the Navy or RAAF.

It must be remembered also, that The Nominal Roll of Vietnam Veterans itself proclaims that 48 names are not included because of their wish to not be included in the roll. The figures you encounter in this site then, are the best as at the time of putting them together, and may be corrected as the details come to light. That said, it is now over to you, to question any other matter you wish to raise about the comments and observations made within this site. Read my Rules of Engagement first, please.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT:

Never ever send junk, smut, or your Vietnam story. This is not the place to air them.
Constructive citicism will be accepted only if you are right.
Students seeking more information on the Vietnam War shall have priority
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