Don't forget that we first got into Viet Nam in 1954 when the French got their asses kicked royally at Dien Ben Phu. 1954 is when our first "advisors" went in country. So our 50000 lives lost in a senseless war amounted to an average of just under 2400 per year, but in the initial years there were considerably less. Hopefully this senseless war won't drag on for 21 years.