More Americans Have Died of the Coronavirus Than in the Vietnam War

A man in a mask stands in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call/AP Images

For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.In a solemn milestone that highlights the historic nature of the pandemic, the death toll of the coronavirus in the United States has surpassed the number of American soldiers killed in the Vietnam War.
During the decades that American troops fought in Vietnam, the US military recorded 58,220 fatal casualties. The number of Vietnamese killed was far greater; more than a million North and South Vietnamese fighters died, as did two million civilians on either side. The conflict spanned nearly 20 years and sparked anti-war protests across the United States.
By comparison, the coronavirus has killed 58,365 people in the United States since it first came to the country in January, according to data from Johns Hopkins’ Coronavirus Research Center, which includes counts of probable COVID deaths.