How much financially did the Vietnam war cost the US?

Answer 1

Cost of Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War ended up costing the US around $584 billion.

Here is more input from others:

• $30 billion in 1969

• The real cost of Vietnam? For 58,000 Americans it cost them everything: The chance to ever see their families again, their chance to have a future, their chance to laugh, to cry, to have kids and grandkids, the chance to work at a job and experience life - all gone. For those of us who survived: The nights when you wake up with a flashback when you can still smell the burning flesh or remember the blood that splattered on you from a friend that you were talking to as an enemy's bullet hits him in the head. The terrible stomach problems that you endure because of Agent Orange and the VA will not recognize that its cause because the chemical makers have so much clout. The PTSD that makes people around you wonder what is wrong with you, the limp you have because a mine destroyed a leg. The real cost of the war? Far beyond $133 Billion.

• The financial cost of the Vietnam War was $111 billion.

• I believe that the cost of the Vietnam War was $133 billon dollars. This war did affect our economy but, not as severely as World War 2.

Can we be more specific about if that money includes the money we gave to France to support their efforts to colonize Vietnam after WW2?

FYI The US government is borrowing more money in one month than what the entire Vietnam War cost over 10ish years! Now obviously Present economy much bigger and we've had 34 years of inflation, but one could draw a conclusion that the current financial crisis is only just beginning! The total US debt could be pushing 100 trillion (of which some cost from Vietnam could still be part of the present total debt)! Vietnam (along with oil shocks) created the inflation of the 70's and it was tiny compared to todays debt...

Answer 2

You ask a challenging question; the answer depends upon how you do the accounting. There are a lot of different "costs" being reported by different sources, many of whom did not get their information from reliable primary sources. What items should be included in the "cost"? And do you use the value of the dollar in 1965-1975 or the current value of the dollar? A 2008 report of the Congressional Review Service of the US Library of Congress has estimated the direct financial cost of the Vietnam War at 111 billion 1975 dollars, which is 676 billion 2008 dollars. However, this is the excess cost over-and-above the estimated cost of maintaining a "normal" military force in peacetime, not the actual total spent. Another approach to looking at the cost is to look at the total of military spending for the Vietnam War period 1965-1975. 1965 -- 51 $billion .......... 1971 -- 79 $billion 1966 -- 58 $billion .......... 1972 -- 79 $billion 1967 -- 71 $billion .......... 1973 -- 77 $billion 1968 -- 82 $billion .......... 1974 -- 79 $billion 1969 -- 83 $billion .......... 1975 -- 87 $billion 1970 -- 82 $billion On this basis, the US spent 828 billion 1975 dollars on all military operations during the Vietnam War period, which is $5 trillion 2008 dollars. The CRS report mentioned above is assuming that we would have spent 80% of this amount even if there had been no Vietnam War. Please click the link below for the CRS report quoted in this answer.

Answer 3

The war cost the United States 58,220 American lives and 153,303 wounded and 1,643 missing. Later somewhere from 70,000 to 300,000 veterans attempted or committed suicide and up to 700,000 had or have psychological trauma. The US spent $168 billion directly on the war and up to $900 billion on other expenses including veterans benefits and interest on borrowing money.

http://thevietnamwar.info/how-much-vietnam-war-cost/

Answer 4

The Vietnam War ended up costing American tax payers approximately 140 billion dollars. The US was directly involved with the war from 1965 to 1973.

Answer 5

Approximately $700 Billion in 2007 dollars.

Answer 6

The total expenses of the Vietnam War totaled about $686 billion dollars.

Source: USA Today

Answer 7

460 billion dollars

Answer 8

Approximately $140 billion.

Answer 9

Today's cost, 700 billion.