July 3, 1963 - A U.S. Air Force spokesman said today that nearly 9,000 Communist guerrillas had been killed in South Vietnam in the last year. The spokesman said the Viet Cong also suffered record losses of installations and sunken boats. He said the figures include only Communist dead actually counted and ground targets whose destruction was established by inspection. “The actual number of Viet Cong killed by our air strikes undoubtedly is much higher,” said Colonel William Erhard. “These statistics are only confirmed kills, not estimates. They were made with only a slightly larger striking force than was in use last year.” Authoritative Air Force sources said the results were achieved with less than 100 strike aircraft flying from Vietnamese bases during the 12-month period ending June 1.
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