From the book While the Vietnam War, remained the dominant factor in Army affairs during fiscal year 1969, the closing month of the year brought a milestone in the conflict when President Richard M. Nixon, meeting with the Republic of Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu on Midway Island in the Pacific, announced on June 8 that 25,000 American troops would be withdrawn from the war zone by the end of August 1969. Active and relatively sustained operations throughout the year produced high casualties, of the 11,338 American battle deaths in the 12-month period, the Army lost 7,653. Of the 77,391 Americans wounded by hostile action in the period, 53,034 were Army personnel, of whom more than 30,000 were returned to duty without requiring hospital care. On the last day of March 1969, the number of American battle deaths surpassed the losses (33,629) sustained in the Korean War. The Vietnam War thus became the fourth costliest after the Civil War and the two World Wars in our history. Over the full course of our involvement, from January 1961 through June 1969, 36,954 Americans have died and 237,024 were wounded as a result of hostile action. During fiscal year 1969 the army reached its highest strength since the Korean War and operated on its highest budget since World War II

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