The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. The files are quite large in order that we could save in Rich Text Format Records of U.S. Military Casualties, Missing in Action, and Prisoners of War from the Era of the Vietnam War are available through the National Archives. There are 58,267 names now listed on Vietnam Wall, including those added in 2010. It should be emphasized that 55 percent of all Navy and Air Force officer casualties came as a result of reconnaissance and bombing sorties into North Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. The numbers on the wall ascend from the center out toward the left and right extremes. Lins intention from the beginning was to have the names appear chronologically, beginning and ending at the apex. Honoring the men and women who served in the controversial Vietnam War, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial chronologically lists the names of 58,318 Americans who gave their lives in service to their country. 5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old. the "save as" menu command to store each text file on your media. Most of these casualties are documented in the Military Index, a FamilySearch file. The virtual Wall of Faces features a page dedicated to honoring and remembering every person whose name is inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. And there are the Vietnam veterans, who come to recognize the sacrifice of their fellow warriors, wondering why their own names are not there, too. Derek Turner is a freelance writer and a former senior editor of On Patrol. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010: see the "National Cemeteries and Beneficiaries" section below. The directories are organized alphabetically by last name. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. What the MIT study almost certainly showed was that members of the so-called working class consisting of carpenters, electricians, plumbers, firemen, policemen, technicians, skilled factory operatives, farmers, etc., were living in middle class communities and were, therefore, part of our burgeoning middle class. In an effort to further preserve the legacy of those who sacrificed all in Vietnam, VVMF is committed to finding a photo to go with each of the more than 58,000 names on The Wall. He was a Navy enlisted man during World War II and has a degree in Political Science from Duke University. The draft policy at the time of the Vietnam War was called the Universal Military Training and Service Act. Chiseled on the wall are the names of the 58,196 men and women who either died or are still listed as missing in Southeast Asia between 1959 and 1975. . 12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old. VVMF does not have the authority to overrule those who adjudicate these matters. 244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties. All of this was one of the great and abiding agonies of the Vietnam War, causing repercussions within families and on the national political scene to this day. The article was written by Bill Abbott, an independent researcher and writer. The Vietnam Wall at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park features the names of local fallen soldiers. The west wall is on the left when standing facing the vertex, and the east wall is to the right. While VVMF finances the name additions to the Wall, it is the Department of Defense that makes these difficult and often technical decisions. There were no indexes created prior to the fire. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morencis mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. When the sound of exploding hand grenades rang out in the hall, Buis and others ran toward the sound. The DOD database shows that of the 2,100,000 men and women who served in Vietnam, 58,152 were killed. 8 Women are on the Wall. The 58,152 names of those who died in Vietnam are etched onto the two rising black marble slabs of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. It is located north of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. along Constitution Avenue NW between 21st and 23rd streets. | In the event a service members remains are returned or accounted for, then a diamond symbol is engraved over the plus sign. In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. But given the draft policies, the hard-sell recruitment, the severe escalation from month to month and the refusal by President Lyndon Johnson to call up the older reserves and National Guard, it could not have been otherwise. Many of the 17- and 18-year olds were simply late in maturing. Names can also be located on The Wall of Faces on VVMFs web site, www.vvmf.org/wall-of-faces, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund | 3033 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300 | Arlington VA 22201 | 202.393.0090 Marlin on March 19, 1967 and Norman on August 18, 1968 Brothers Bennett and Dennis Herrick were both killed in Vietnam. Patricia Krause. This was long before the advent of integrated computer databases. Some have tried for years before receiving approval from DoD. Beginning Research in United States Military Records, National Vietnam War Veterans Day - Wikepedia, National Park Service Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Vietnam War Casualties, MIA and POWs. Thats a tragic 2,415 more names on the Vietnam Wall in a single month. About 58 thousand of the 7 million American service men and women who served in Vietnam died. In addition, millions of documents had been lent to the Department of Veterans Affairs before the fire occurred. If a service member were to return alive, a circlethe symbol of lifewould be inscribed around the plus sign. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. By and large, with the exception of the officer corps, most of the college bound and educated skipped the Vietnam War at the urging of, and with the approval of, their own government. At some The Moving Wall sites, the sponsor makes arrangements But in 1966, President Johnson and Secretary of Defense McNamara decided to institute Project 100,000 that would allow category IV men to enter the military. ), EDUCATIONAL LEVELS OF ENLISTED CASUALTIES. More than 200 names have been added to the Wall The result: no comprehensive master list of Vietnam War casualties existed. And, as in every American war, it is the very young who are the most willing to volunteer. Naval Academy, 130; Texas A & M, 112; The Citadel, 66; Virginia Military Institute, 43; Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 26; Norwich University, 19. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965. Since then, 379 names have been added, for a total of 58,318 (as of Memorial Day 2017). Proving a direct correlation to the injuries is a challenge, Pontes explained. The resulting aptitude scores were used to classify entrants into four categories and this would, for the most part, determine their subsequent assignments. Officer casualties in Vietnam, including warrant officers, numbered 7,874, or 13.5 percent of all casualties. In 2004, the total is 58,241 names. It should be noted, however, that the draft was specifically designed to trigger volunteer enlistments. As the Vietnam War dragged on, Kurt tried twice to enlist. The Army lost the greatest number of officers 4,635 or 59 percent of all officer casualties. Lower end category IVs consisting of those who scored below 20 on the AFQT were usually rejected for service. An aunt came and loaded the three boys into the car. The Army as a branch had 134,982 killed or wounded (9.5 percent), but the Marines suffered 66,227 killed or wounded (22.5 percent) or almost one of every four Marines who served. Items are gathered by park staff. The Vietnam War was no different. What happens to items left at the memorial? No other moniker for Sammy Davis Jr. was more accurate. Army Center of Military History103 3rd AvenueFort Lesley J. McNair, DC 20319-5058Telephone: (202) 685-4042, NavyU.S. Full casualty records may be retrieved online through the National Archives' Access to Archival Databases resource. Though blessed with talent, his life wasnt without struggles. Folded American flags were presented to his parents and an Air Force helicopter flew over the ceremony. The draftee, if found physically and mentally fit, would be inducted for a period of two years, to be followed by another two year period in the active reserves and a subsequent two years in the inactive reserves. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. The vision of VVMF is to ensure a society in which all who have served and sacrificed in our nation's Armed Forces are properly honored and receive the recognition they justly deserve. Please say a prayer for our fallen heroes, their family members, and our hero Vietnam War Veterans during your visit. Vandegeers message also depicted a man who believed the worst was behind him. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act, creating the countrys first peacetime draft and officially establishing the Selective Service System. They went for a ride and she gently told them that their father would not be coming home. Locate the corresponding panel at the Memorial. The Air Force lost the highest percentage of officers. As she wisely predicted, this would help bring the veterans back in timeand a cathartic healing would occur for many by facing this loss again.. And they are so respectful when they do the engraving. Millions more come to experience this Memorial each year. On November 7, 2021 VVMF began a daily virtual Reading of the Names. It called for the registration of all 18 to 26-year old males, with induction to take place at 18 1/2 if so ordered by the local draft board. On average, 43 percent of white enlisted entrants placed in categories I and II (scoring 65 to 100) and 57 percent in categories III and IV (scoring 10 to 64). compiled by Military Records and Research Library, Department of Military Affairs; edited by Julia D. Rather and Jeffrey Michael Duff, Research Our Records. This, they felt, would offer these men the opportunity to get remedial training in the service and then be able to compete successfully when they returned to civilian life. effort, but is a very effective means to express the enormity of the war and By his estimate, he helped pull out close to 2,000 people. You could also keep these files on a computer at your A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study released in 1992, found that our Vietnam casualties were only marginally greater from the economically lowest 50 percent of our communities (31 deaths per 100,000 of population), when compared with the economically highest 50 percent (26 deaths per 100,000 population). Every day at 3:00 p.m. EST, VVMF will play a daily reading of all the individuals who died upon that day in alphabetical order. The Selective Service System it said, has the responsibility to deliver manpower to the armed forces in such a manner as to reduce to a minimum any adverse effect upon the national health, safety, interest and progress. The Army refused him, for medical reasons, both times. Many others joined the reserves or National Guard, which were not mobilized in any appreciable numbers during the war. The panel numbers are inscribed at the bottom of each panel. Its been more than 20 years since Forrest Gump debuted on the silver screen and nearly a generation later, its characters still resonate with todays service members. The USO relies on your support to help service members and their families. Family members are invited to witness the inscription and also to attend the annual Memorial Day ceremony when the new names are read at the Wall. Copies of WWII though Vietnam era (men born April 28, 1877 to March 28, 1957) Selective Service Records may be obtained from the National Personnel Records Center, in St. Louis, for a fee. The directory can be purchased on the VVMF store. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of President John F. Kennedys assassination. What will be the evolving historical judgment for those names on the Wall? The Marine Corps lost 14,836, or 5 percent of its own men. A diamond symbol signifies that the service members death was confirmed. do this, be sure to have an alternate reader assigned to take over in case On the Vietnam Veterans Memorial site in Washington, D.C., a special plaque reads: "In Memory of the men and women who served in the Vietnam War and later died as a result of their service. As we have pointed out earlier, more than 80 percent of our casualties were Army and Marine enlisted men with an average age of 19- to 20-years. This is the most accurate database online. Although the names are not listed alphabetically, it is not difficult for visitors to find a name on the Memorial. Buis can be found at the top middle of a slab designated Panel 1E. And there is an end. A relatively small number refused to register for the draft at all. As one walks the Wall slowly, examining the ineffably American names, one is struck by the same recurring surnames. John Kennedy, discussing military assignments, said that, life is unfair. Together, we can make sure our heroes will get the reverence they deserve and the stories and sacrifices of our heroes will never be forgotten. They refer to older or younger siblings who are either in or on their way to college. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands as a symbol of America's honor and recognition of the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War. the person they know. A more precise equation would be that the college bound stayed home while the non-college bound served and died. We searched the National Archives Catalog and located a series titled Muster Rolls and Personnel Diaries, 1941-1980 in the Records of the U.S. Marine Corps (Record Group 127). Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics, Korean War and Vietnam War casualties listed at the National Archives, Hospital Admission Card Files, ca. Except for the last file, there are approximately 10,000 names per file. It may come as a surprise to some that 63.3 percent of all Vietnam enlisted casualties were not draftees but volunteers. Many of them, as experienced pilots, were older (two thirds were thirty or older) and many were high ranking. Together, we can make sure our heroes will get the reverence they deserve and the stories and sacrifices of our heroes will never be forgotten. Note the panel and line number for the name listed. Air Force Historical Research Agency 600 Chenault Circle Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-6424Telephone: (334) 953-2395, ArmyU.S. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. A new Department of Defense (DOD) database computer tape released through the National Archives allows researchers to take a much closer look at our 58,152 Vietnam casualties. As one stands before the Wall one feels that no other judgment is acceptable to their living memory. Nevertheless, 336,111 men were phased into the service under this plan (mostly the Army) and 2,072 were killed. I could tell you about how real the fear was that I felt, since from the time we crossed the Delta and made the run into Saigon, we were over enemy territory. Compounding these difficulties was the issue that many casualties, particularly from the Air Force, were not always straightforward in terms of locale. But after World War II a kind of educational apartheid had settled over the United States. The popularity of the GI Bill after Vietnam emphasized this yearning. During and after the Vietnam War, the Department of Defense (DoD) compiled a list of combat zone casualties according to criteria in a 1965 Presidential Executive Order. There are students on field trips, some solemn and curious, but some just happy to get out of class. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund | 3033 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300 | Arlington VA 22201 | 202.393.0090 Less than 1 percent (0.8) were Jewish, Hindu, Thai, Buddhist or Muslim combined, and 5.7 listed no religion. It is instructive to read the literature of the war, the letters written home from those who died, the novels and narrative accounts of those who served in combat and then returned. AGE 17 TO 21 PREFERRED ARMY AND MARINE COMBAT MATERIAL. Instead its nearly in the center. How to Order a Draft Record. Once additions are approved by DoD, VVMF receives the list of approved names, coordinates the inscribing and absorbs the costs. He did it allsing, dance, create music and crack wise. . The unit diary portion of the muster roll should indicate when members of the Lima Company, 3rd platoon. If the demographic is expanded to 17- to 21- years, then we find there were 83 percent of Marine enlisted casualties, and 65 percent of Army enlisted casualties. You must refer to a database, which gives the names in alphabetical order and includes the position of each on the Memorial. Doubek contacted the National Personnel Records Center, Archives and Records Service, in St. Louis, Mo. This change prompted the addition of 110 names in 1986. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. . The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Fallen comrades could be together on the Wall, as theyd been in death. He admitted no particular feelings about the righteousness of the war, and allowed himself to look ahead into a future free of war and obligation. If your browser displays the text file, you can then use This memorial was built with private contributions from the American people. This uneven impact was caused by a number of factors: (1) While the South was home to some 53 percent of all blacks in the 1970 census, almost 60 percent of black casualties came from the South; (2) Although we cannot be as precise, we do know that a considerable majority of Hispanic-American casualties came from the West, (California, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado) and the South (Texas); (3) Better employment opportunities in the Northeast reduced the number of volunteers; (4) Greater college matriculation in the Northeast increased the number of status deferments for the regions 17- to 24- year olds; (5) More anti-war sentiment in the media and on college campuses in the Northeast. site, for searching with a word processor. ARMY AND MARINE OFFICER CASUALTIES BY RANK AND AGE. The VC had commandeered Air America Hueys, and they were flying them around, which simply made for a very interesting chess game. In order to have your name on the Wall, you had to have died within the war zone, explained Doubek. But you had stories of guys in the Air Force who would die in their aircraft over Thailand after having been shot over Vietnam. Technically, they were ineligible for inclusion on the Wall. For a photograph of an inscription of a close friend or relative, write: This website requires a paid subscription for full access. If officers are added, then almost 70 percent of those who died were volunteers. As we search for proper bookends to encapsulate the story of a generation at war, perhaps the best we can do is look at what is written in stone. The vast majority of Americans who were eligible by age but did not serve in the armed forces were exempted by reason of physical, mental, psychiatric, or moral failure; or they were given status deferments because they were college students, fathers, clergy, teachers, engineers or conscientious objectors. Dates of enlsitment or selective service registration will be helpful along with the name military units they served with. Many high-ranking military men (including General William C. Westmoreland, the U.S. commander in Vietnam) opposed the program, feeling that the effectiveness of some units would be reduced and that fellow soldiers would sometimes be put in greater jeopardy by these less mentally capable personnel. If a person died or went missing in those areas, DoD considered that individual to be a combat zone casualty and eligible for inclusion on the Wall. This can help veterans or relatives find other persons who died with The affected record collections are described below. In an audiotape recorded for a close friend shortly before Vandegeers death, and transcribed in Bernard Edelmans book Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam, he described the perilous mission in Saigon. is complete, or you've done a "save as", you can use any word processor Its unlikely that anyone who visits the memorial on a given day would have the time, the heart or the stomach to read and consider each one. A few years after the dedication, the issue of geographic criteria was expanded by DoD to include people who had been killed outside of the war zone while on or in support of direct combat missions. The Marines of Morenciled some of thebest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. The civilian and military men who formed the policy did not see it necessarily as a disadvantage. No duplicate copies of the records that were destroyed in the fire were maintained, nor was a microfilm copy ever produced. These officer casualties came more from the South and West regions, 4.1 deaths per 100,000, in contrast to 3.5 from the Northeast and Midwest regions. Alphabetical listing of the names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall . And they often show a heartbreakingly wry sense of humor with the same sensibilities as their college-bound peers. And mores the pity, because many of them were trying to escape this background and didnt make it. Of 2,590 total Air Force casualties, 1,674 or 65 percent were officers. Twenty years passed before Vandegeers remains were identified and another five passed before his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. Library of Congress, National Archives Reference Information Page 90 A Finding Aid to Records Relating to American Prisoners of War and Missing in Action from the Vietnam War Era, 1960-1994, Records on Military Personnel Who Died, Were Missing in Action or Prisoners of War as a Result of the Vietnam War, Missing Vietnam Military Resulting from Hostile Forces, Missing Vietnam Military NOT Resulting from Hostile Forces, Vietnam War, Awards and Decorations of Honor, 1965-1972, Medal of Honor Awards Case Files, 1965 - ca. Their sacrifices were honored July 8, 2009, in Washington during a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of their deaths. It forces us to the conclusion that many of those names on the wall were kids who just couldnt quite get it together in high school, a little late in maturing intellectually, and didnt have the resources or the guile to get out of the way when the war came. For families who have worked to have their loved ones name added, the journey can be long and exhausting. Written requests should be mailed to: National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. It stands near Panel 1W, which holds the name of the last to die in combat. As Maya Ling Lin, the architect of the Wall, has said: It was as if the black-brown earth were polished and made into an interface between the sunny world and the quiet dark world beyond that we cannot enter. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. When the Wall was dedicated in 1982, there were 57,939 names inscribed. The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis maintains Vietnam War Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF). These files are lists of the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, listed in chronological order of the casualty date and then alphabetical by last name within a given date. All other individual draftee files from that period were destroyed by the Selective Service System in 1978, in accordance with approved records retention schedules. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. I mean, it was bad.. They did not, in most cases, carry the burdens of wife or children. Although valuable, this study was almost certainly misinterpreted by its authors when they said that their data showed that most privileged and influential segments of American society were not insulated from the perils of Vietnam conflict. Others, later in the war, were simply ineligible because of high lottery number. If you The young enlisted volunteer or draftee had not had much time to form any complicated theories about our Vietnam commitment. The ship had been taken to the island of Koh Tang. The vision of VVMF is to ensure a society in which all who have served and sacrificed in our nation's Armed Forces are properly honored and receive the recognition they justly deserve. The black granite walls are engraved with the names of more than 58,000 men and women who laid down their lives or remained missing. There is some truth to this, but it is instructive to look at what the DOD database reveals in terms of race, ethnicity, national origin, religious preference and casualties by U.S. geographic areas. Bennett on March 25, 1968 and Dennis on August 02, 1970 Brothers Gabriel and Paul Trujillo were both killed in Vietnam. Some recent studies tend to refute what had been the perceived wisdom of social scientists and other commentators that our Vietnam dead came overwhelmingly from the poor communities. Coast Guard casualties are included in the Navy totals. Army and Marine officer casualties were also quite young. There is no question that all segments of American society were represented. The 1970 census which is being used as our Vietnam era population base did not list an Hispanic count but gave an estimate of 4.5 percent of the American population. There were 667; How many Andersons?, 178; Garcias?, 102; Murphys?, 82; Jenkins?, 66; One wants to know more about these Americans. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. Scholars debate about when the war really began and in many ways it has never ended. Concerning, How do I find a name on the Vietnam War Memorial wall? Only the Navy, with 50 percent of its enlisted casualties over 21, and the Air Force, with 75 percent over 21, showed an older, more experienced age demographic. They seem honored to be putting the names on the Wall.. Vietnam War Casualties- Main Alphabetical Index www.VirtualWall.org Find A Name Information Memorial pages honoring Vietnam War casualties, listed by their last names. The directories are organized alphabetically by last name. The vision of VVMF is to ensure a society in which all who have served and sacrificed in our nation's Armed Forces are properly honored and receive the recognition they justly deserve. This makeup, they say, was the very antithesis of what we stand for as a democracy a shameful corruption of our values and our historical sense of fairness and social justice. The memorial is free and open to the public 24 hours a day, with rangers on duty to answer questions from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Perhaps more important, many of them probably did not yet fully understand their own mortality and were therefore less likely to be hesitant in combat. An Air Force member, with his back to the camera, holds the POW/MIA flag during a full honors funeral for Air Force Second Lieutenant Richard Vandegeer at Arlington National Cemetery on October 27, 2000. Non-perishable items are archived in a storage facility. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. True enough, but many of the surviving Vietnam casualty families would reply that the ultimate unfairness is death at an early age, in a land far from home, for reasons not clearly defined. I can envision a small cottage someplace, with a lot of writing paper, and a dog, and a fireplace, and maybe enough money to give myself some Irish coffee now and then and entertain my two friends , I dont think it will be too terribly long until we are together again.. They lived only a few yards apart. If each As of 2017, there are 58,318 names inscribed on The Wall. Early in the war (1965 and 1966) when blacks made up about 11 percent of our Vietnam force, black casualties soared to more than 20 percent of the total.