More than 2 million Americans served in Vietnam, and only 500,000 of those soldiers actually saw the battle front. There were 47,244 deaths during the war, of which 8,000 were airmen, and there were 10,446 non-combat deaths. 153,329 soldiers were seriously injured, including 10,000 amputees. And finally, over 2,400 American POWs and MIAs were missing in action in 1973. Military-wise, I would have to say that the United States lost the Vietnam War with the fall of the South Vietnamese government in 1975. The United States had become tougher with the Winter Soldier (Mai Lai) investigations and the continuation of the war after the loss of Saigon was untenable without recourse to the nuclear option. Now, wondering if America was "at war" with a country it didn't recognize, or if it was only there to advise/assist a legitimate government, is really just a question. 'a question of semantics. It was very obvious that the country was at war, and the war was lost since its mission was to follow the Truman Doctrine to curb the spread of communism in Asia, and this could not be done.