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20 Deadliest U.S. Battles of the Vietnam War, 1965 – 1973
| Battle | Deaths | Dates |
| Ia Drang Valley* | 300 | Oct 23 – Nov 26, 1965 |
| Khe Sanh | 205 | Jan 20 – Apr 14, 1968 |
| Dak To** | 192 | Nov 1 – Dec 1, 1967 |
| Cu Nghi | 121 | Jan 28 – 31, 1966 |
| Hue | 119 | Feb 2 – Mar 2, 1968 |
| Kim Son Valley | 107 | Feb 16 – 28, 1966 |
| Con Thien | 84 | Jul 2, 1967 |
| Nine Days in May | 79 | May 18 – 28, 1967 |
| Dak To | 76 | June 22, 1967 |
| Firebase Ripcord*** | 75 | July 1 – 23, 1970 |
| Vin Huy | 73 | May 30 – Jun 2, 1967 |
| Ong Thang | 70+ | Oct 17, 1967 |
| Hamburger Hill (Ap Bia) | 70 | May 10 – 20, 1969 |
| Dong Ha | 68 | Apr 29 – May 4, 1968 |
| Tam Quan | 58 | Dec 6 – 20, 1967 |
| LZ Bird | 58 | Dec 27, 1966 |
| Dong Son | 54 | Sept 4, 1967 |
| Con Thien | 51 | July 2 – 3, 1967 |
| Thom Tham Khe | 48 | Dec 27 – 28, 1967 |
| Tan Son Nhut AB | 48 | Mar 2, 1968 |
* LZ Albany alone claimed 155 KIA on Nov 17, making it the single deadliest U.S. action of the war. LZ X-Ray resulted in another 79 KIA over two days, Nov 14 – 16.
** 158 of the KIA were sustained at Dak To over six days, Nov 17 – 23.
*** Editor’s Note: Battle deaths in Sigler’s book for FSB Ripcord are listed as 61. Based on Keith Nolan’s research a better figure is 75 KIA, including one ARVN interpreter attached to A Co., 2/506th Infantry. This makes the battle of Fire Base Ripcord the 10th deadliest battle of the Vietnam War. – Chuck Hawkins, editor
Note: Lengthy operations are excluded. Only actions that could be categorized as single or directly related engagements are tabulated.
Source: From VFW magazine, November 2001; reprinted from Sigler, david B. Vietnam Battle Chronology; U.S. Army and marine Corps Combat Operations, 1965 – 1973.
Special thanks go to Rick Blythe (HHC, 2/506) for supplying this information to Ripcord report.