Vietnam War Casualties by State 2026

1. California (5,572 Estimated Casualties)

Some Vietnam War veterans that died between 1966 and 1968 came from Los Angeles, Sacramento, Yuba City, San Diego, Santa Ana and Whittier or Stockton.

California has the highest veteran count of all the U.S. states, totaling 596,130. Researchers regard the former Oakland, California Army base as the largest Vietnam War military port in the world.

2. New York (4,117 Estimated Casualties)

New York, Hartsdale, Valley Stream, Delmar, McClean and Binghamton include some of the many cities where Vietnam War veterans lived before serving between 1965 and 1970. It has the sixth-highest veteran count for this war of all the states.

NY had some of the largest war protests in all the nation, one of which involved 400,000 demonstrators on April 15, 1967. About 247,595 veterans came from New York state, the sixth-highest state total.

3. Texas (3,414 Estimated Casualties)

About 479,483 veterans served in the Vietnam War. A Texas historical society associated with the Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument says that many Vietnam veterans returned home to a “cold shoulder,” but government supports honoring them. This state has the third-highest veteran count.

4. Pennsylvania (3,142 Estimated Casualties)

This state sent 280,628 soldiers to serve in Vietnam either voluntarily or upon being drafted, which makes it the region with the fourth-highest number of veterans.

University of Pennsylvania students organized a marching band in protest of the war in 1965. By this time, the conflict had persisted for at least more than 10 years from 1955.

5. Ohio (3,092 Estimated Casualties)

Approximately 257,488 soldiers went to Vietnam to serve in the war, and it has the fifth-highest number of veterans that did serve.

Case Western Reserve University facilitated war protests where Euclid Ave meets Adelbert Road. About 403 the 15,000 Cuyahoga County soldiers who went to Vietnam died while there.

6. Illinois (2,930 Estimated Casualties)

An estimated 208,588 veterans from Illinois served in Vietnam, and this state has the ninth-largest number of veterans who served. In 1970s, protests against the war became more violent on the University of Illinois campus.

On March 1, 1970, the campus experienced the first of three fire bombings. These occurred in the ROTC Lounge and in Altgeld Hall.

7. Michigan (2,649 Estimated Casualties)

An approximate total of 208,883 veterans served in the Vietnam War in Michigan, the state with the eighth-highest number of veterans overall. Groups of University of Michigan students organized sit-ins at the Selective Service Office in October 1965, and law enforcers arrested several of them.

8. Florida (1,950 Estimated Casualties)

Florida has the second-highest number of Vietnam War veterans, totaling 519,307. On October 15, 1969, a Student Mobilization Committee (SMC) wore and sold red and black armbands on them with the number of “644,000” printed on them. These bracelets signified the US war casualty count, and the SMC held a “Gentle Wednesday” rally at the University of Florida Campus.

9. North Carolina (1,609 Estimated Casualties)

NC has 227,028 Vietnam veterans, which makes it the seventh-highest number that served in this war from this state. University of North Carolina students held war protests between 1965-1970. One strike held more than 2,000 students, after which the university met to control protest actions.

10. Georgia (1,582 Estimated Casualties)

Approximately 207,684 Vietnam veterans came from this state, and it has the tenth-highest veteran count for this war over all states. 11 black people in Georgia attempted to carry out Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) protest event at the 12th Army Corps.