55,000 Viets Died in Cambodia : Vietnam Starts Cambodia Pullout

Vietnam withdrew its top commanders and military advisers from Cambodia today and disclosed that its nearly 10-year war against resistance forces has cost the lives of 55,000 Vietnamese soldiers--about the same number as U.S. troops lost in the Vietnam War.

The disclosure of losses by Lt. Gen. Le Kha Phieu, deputy commander of the Vietnamese forces in Cambodia, was the first official acknowledgment of his country’s casualties. The withdrawal came as part of a plan to cut Vietnam’s 100,000 troops in Cambodia in half by the end of the year. Vietnam invaded Cambodia in December, 1978, and ousted the brutal, Chinese-backed Pol Pot regime.