A(1780 names - 239023 bytes) B(5502 names - 737972 bytes) C(4363 names - 586584 bytes) D(2790 names - 374290 bytes) E(1082 names - 144866 bytes) F(1979 names - 265759 bytes) G(3036 names - 407075 bytes) H(4463 names - 598834 bytes) I(218 names - 29278 bytes) J(1845 names - 247563 bytes) K(2039 names - 273818 bytes) L(2594 names - 347007 bytes) One additional factor, often overlooked, that influenced volunteer enlistment was military tradition the influence of fathers, grandfathers, brothers, uncles and others who had served in previous 20th century wars. 8 Women are on the Wall. The affected record collections are described below. U.S. Army Personnel and Dependent Casualties, 1961-1981 85% of the records in this database are related to the Vietnam Conflict. By providing your mobile phone number, you opt in to receive calls and texts from USO. Fallen comrades could be together on the Wall, as theyd been in death. Locate the corresponding panel at the Memorial. as the names on the Wall. There was no need to embellish. 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 Order it can be difficult but there are a few ways to find a name at either end of the memorial are stands with books inside these list the names in alphabetical. But there is a beginning. The Selective Service registration requirement was later suspended in April 1975. The Classification History (SSS Form 102) may contain: name; date of birth; classification and date of mailing notice; date of appeal to the board; date and results of armed forces physical examination; entry into active duty or civilian work in lieu of induction (may include date, branch of service entered and mode of entry, such as enlisted or ordered); date of separation from active duty or civilian work; and general remarks. For families who have worked to have their loved ones name added, the journey can be long and exhausting. The Selective Service System remains in place today. Kurt became the man of the house, even as a boy. 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. The directories are organized alphabetically by last name. The names of Army Master Sergeant Chester Ovnand and Major Dale Buis are inscribed on Panel 1E of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall. His name does not appear at either far end. information is available on this web site: These files are lists of the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, listed 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. This is close to, but not exactly in the same order as the names on the Wall. Each entry includes a panel number and letter; "W" is for "west" or the left half of the memorial, "E" is for east, or the right half of the memorial. The appearance of DoD visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. Tom was killed while assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl HarborDay. 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. 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. With few exceptions, almost all of the 6,600 commissioned officers who died in Vietnam were graduates of the service academies, college Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), or the Officer Candidate School (OCS) programs. 31 sets of brothers are on the Wall. This can help veterans or relatives find other persons who died with The makeup of U.S. combat forces in Vietnam has long been the subject of controversy among social scientists. The unit diary portion of the muster roll should indicate when members of the Lima Company, 3rd platoon. No other moniker for Sammy Davis Jr. was more accurate. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. While their names are not on The Wall, they are never forgotten. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. These directories help locate names on the wall. Although the names are not listed alphabetically, it is not difficult for visitors to find a name on the Memorial. Eight women were killed in Vietnam, five Army lieutenants, one Army captain, one Army lieutenant colonel and one Air Force captain. the "save as" menu command to store each text file on your media. We were being fired upon by anti-aircraft guns. site, for searching with a word processor. Photo credit DOD photo. Non-Archival records are those of service members who separated from the military less than 62 years ago. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. 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. Message & data rates may apply. Through the AFQT process, the men scoring in the higher categories were more likely to be channeled into further specialized training and eventually assigned to technical and administrative units. They did not, in most cases, carry the burdens of wife or children. Since then, 379 names have been added, for a total of 58,318 (as of Memorial Day 2017). NAVY AND AIR FORCE OFFICER CASUALTIES BY RANK AND AGE. The figures show that on average 65 percent of white enlisted men and 60 percent of black enlisted men were high school graduates. National Mall and Memorial Parks , Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Download the official NPS app before your next visit. The resulting aptitude scores were used to classify entrants into four categories and this would, for the most part, determine their subsequent assignments. This is the most accurate database online. As a result, the software improperly truncated or abbreviated names. The directories are organized alphabetically by last name. Yet, a civilian heroine who served in a different capacity during that difficult time also merits particular acknowledgment. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall. 997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam. This page has been viewed 167,336 times (0 via redirect). Ziomek's name was finally inscribed on the Washington memorial on Sept. 15, 2020; he was one of just three veterans added in 2020. The mission of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is to honor and preserve the legacy of service and educate all generations about the impact of the Vietnam War. 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. As they came through the door, Viet Cong guerrillas opened fire with machine guns. Note the panel and line number for the name listed. Nursing the wounded. These casualties came largely from the Northeast and North Central regions of the United States, many from the traditionally patriotic, Catholic working class neighborhoods. You may print these files and have the pages available for visitors to In terms of national origin/ancestries, an extensive sampling of the data-base reveals that Americans of French Canadian, Polish, Italian and other Southern and Eastern European surnames made up about 10 percent of the Vietnam casualties. Army Center of Military History103 3rd AvenueFort Lesley J. McNair, DC 20319-5058Telephone: (202) 685-4042, NavyU.S. Please be patient Vietnam War Casualties- Main Alphabetical Index www.VirtualWall.org Find A Name Information Memorial pages honoring Vietnam War casualties, listed by their last names. See Access to Non-Archival Records for more information. This was a reflection of the role of warrant officers as helicopter pilots (of the 1,277 warrant officer casualties, 95 percent were Army helicopter pilots), and of the young lieutenants and captains as combat platoon leaders or company commanders. 1972 NAID 305367, Silver Star Medal and Legion of Merit Award Case Files, 19711971 NAID 5721359. The Vietnam War is no different. Dear Mr. Huddleston, Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! Physical examination and test results, medical letters, laboratory work and other medical documentation that may have been included in these files no longer exist. There were no indexes created prior to the fire. COL LEWIS HERBERT ABRAMS SSG SAMUEL ABRAMS Jr PFC TIMOTHY C ABRAMS Jr WO ANDREW JOHN ABRAMSON CPL MIGUEL A ABREU-BATISTA Jr SP4 ANTHONY JOSEPH ABRUZESE PFC ROBERT ALEXANDER ABRUZESE PFC MICHAEL JOHN ABRUZZESA Jr SGT WILLIAM WALLACE ABSHEAR SGT RICHARD FRANKLIN ABSHIRE PFC JAMES ESTUS ABSTON Jr SSG ROBERT JOSEPH ACALOTTO SP5 PEPITO RIVERA ACERET Who were they? On Patrol caught up with Pete Peterson to find out how the U.S.-Vietnam relationship has progressed since the normalization of ties in 1995. Thus, the wars beginning and end meet. the requirements were expanded (by. He accepted the tradition of military service passed on to him by the popular culture and by President John F. Kennedys ringing words, Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty. 39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger. 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. EIN: 52-1149668, Copyright 2023 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display. Though 13 were rescued at sea, the rest died, either upon impact or soon after. What will be the evolving historical judgment for those names on the Wall? Several hundred such designation changes have been made since the Wall was built in 1982. Once a master list was compiled, the names were checked manually for errors. Note that the files are large, and are in Rich Text Format (RTF), with two This index includes those who died or who were declared dead from 1950 to 1957 in Korea and from 1957 to 1975 in Southeast Asia. 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. Your donation to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund will help expand our mission to honor, educate and heal. Locate the line on which the name is inscribed. Coast Guard casualties are included in the Navy totals. Coast Guard Historians OfficeCommandant (CG-09224)U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters 2100 Second Street SW Washington, D.C. 20593. About 58 thousand of the 7 million American service men and women who served in Vietnam died. And they all went to Vietnam. NAID 5709942, U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency, National Archives Command Chronologies:Vietnam War, National Archives Command Chronologies: Vietnam War: Index to Reports, National Archves. Count down from the top of the panel. VVMF does not have the authority to overrule those who adjudicate these matters. The names of Army Master Sergeant Chester Ovnand and Major Dale Buis are inscribed on Panel 1E of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall. Of the 7,877 officer casualties, 7,595, or 96.4 percent, were white; 147, or 1.8 percent, were black; 24, or 0.3 percent, were Asian; 7, or .08 percent, were Native American; 104, or 1.3 percent, were unidentified by race. Full casualty records may be retrieved online through the National Archives' Access to Archival Databases resource. Her name? 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. To put a circle around the symbol beside their names would not provide the correct historical context related to their situation. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morencis mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. In many of these families it was considered unpatriotic and indeed reprehensible to avoid active duty by requesting a status deferment or seeking out a draft counselor for advice on how to avoid the draft. 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. It is forgotten now, but in the beginning Congress and most of the American people were behind our containment effort in Vietnam. Fill out the tour request form. Thats a tragic 2,415 more names on the Vietnam Wall in a single month. The names of those who gave their lives and of those who remain missing are inscribed in the order they were taken from us. The war is complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angles open side and contained within the earth itself. Sad to say, many of these recruitment promises were fudged in one way or another, and many of these young men found themselves shipped directly to Vietnam after basic training. Some have tried for years before receiving approval from DoD. Their names, however, have been removed from the printed Directory of Names. offer to read the block of names that includes their special names. I respect the process, but it can be hard to prove something thats in your heart., Thats what makes it so special when you see the name going up, she added. Except for the last file, there are approximately 10,000 names per file. Vietnam War Casualties, MIA and POWs. The beginnings and endings are often hazy and the facts of the story lie at the mercy of the teller. Brothers Marlin and Norman Eversgerd were both killed in Vietnam. The training for American officers is thought by most foreign military authorities to be the best in the world. | 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. Protestants were 64.4 percent (37,483), Catholics were 28.9 percent (16,806). For more information on this index on, Records relating to American prisoners of war and missing in action from the Vietnam War, including lists and descriptions of the record groups covering the Vietnam War that are held by the National Archives are also found in the FS Library US/CAN Book. They were struggling through or dropping out of high school, or if a high school graduate, had tested poorly for college entrance. The shining surface is intended to reflect the sun, the ground and those who stand before it. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. 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. . The Vietnam Wall. She wanted the names to tell the journey, or the timeline, of the war. Why are names added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall? Many others joined the reserves or National Guard, which were not mobilized in any appreciable numbers during the war. With the glitch discovered, Doubek and his team located and hand-corrected each error. Army Major Dale Buis name is etched into the granite half an inch tall, no bigger or smaller than any of the others. 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. An aunt came and loaded the three boys into the car. For weeks and weeks, a team worked through the list, verifying spellings and ensuring that the computer printout that was to be used for the stenciling was correct. I went through the whole list of names eight times, because I was concerned about the correct formatting, remembered Doubek. Interested in a tour as part of your visit? Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Since its controversial beginnings, feelings toward the Vietnam Veterans Memorial have changed drastically. All classes were drafted or volunteered and all served and died equally, although it must be noted that most blacks died separately. There is no question that all segments of American society were represented. 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. The numbers on the wall ascend from the center out toward the left and right extremes. There were 667; How many Andersons?, 178; Garcias?, 102; Murphys?, 82; Jenkins?, 66; One wants to know more about these Americans. 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. Adding to the problem was Project 100,000. Inscription at the beginning of The Wall. I looked at the record to determine whether mortal wounds were sustained, Doubek said of the men whose names were listed by the Army, but not by DoD. I.. J.. K.. L.. M. N.. O.. P.. Q.. R.. S.. T.. U.. V.. W.. X.. Y.. Z Their sacrifices were honored July 8, 2009, in Washington during a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of their deaths. Blacks were 85 percent Protestant. They were at their peak physically. In high school, he joined ROTC and kept his fathers medals pinned next to his own awards on a piece of crimson cloth. 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. It was fitting that Vandegeer finally returned home to American soil, because he spent his last weeks at war evacuating Americans as Saigon fell. This number of deaths per 100,000 compared strikingly with the 23.5 in the Northeast region, 29.9 in the West and 28.4 in the North Central (Midwest) region. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, "'The Vietnam War' Sponsor Bank of America Teams With The Lumineers to Support the USO ", Programs for Service Members and Their Families. What happens to items left at the memorial? 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. This memorial was built with private contributions from the American people. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of President John F. Kennedys assassination. They also died quickly, many within a few weeks or months of arriving in Vietnam. 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. November 11, 1982. Gather facts from sources at home,and talk to relatives. 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. 1970 NAID 570973, State-Level Fatal Casualty Lists sorted Alphabetically by Last Name, List of United States servicemembers and civilians missing in action during the Vietnam War (196165) Wikipedia, U.S., Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Unaccounted-for Remains, Group A (Recoverable), 1941-1975, U.S., Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Unaccounted-for Remains, Group B (Unrecoverable), 1941-1975, Vietnamw-Era POW/MIA Databases & Documents. For blacks, however, only 7 percent placed in categories I and II and 93 percent placed in categories III and IV. Compounding these difficulties was the issue that many casualties, particularly from the Air Force, were not always straightforward in terms of locale. As Vietnam War Veterans Day nears March 29, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation's Wall of Faces is nearly complete but needs help from the public to track down the last few dozen photos. The names are listed chronologically by date of death, the first to last. 54 soldiers on the Wall attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia. Army Major Dale Buis' name is etched into the granite half an inch tall, no bigger or smaller than any of the others. The men and women who valiantly fought in the Vietnam War certainly deserve the title of hero. "Home of record" does not necessarily refer to the place of birth, residence of next of kin, place of longest residence, nor other common uses of the term "hometown." Twenty years passed before Vandegeers remains were identified and another five passed before his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. The index gives birth and death dates, country of death, cause of death (air, ground, or sea), town and state of residence at time of enlistment, race, religious affiliation, marital status, service number, rank, and branch of service. Look for discharge papers, pictures, medals,etc. As a result, the black casualty rate was reduced to 11.5 percent by 1969. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for all who wish to visit. The National Archives prepared these state level casualty lists by creating extracts from the Korean War Extract Data File and the Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File, both as of April 29, 2008, of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Files, part of Record Group 330: Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. They went for a ride and she gently told them that their father would not be coming home. The event begins on November 7, 2022 at 3 p.m. EST and ends at midnight on November 10, 2022. 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. As a result, it was mainly the families of Navy and Air Force pilots and crewmen who suffered the great agony of the POW (prisoner of war) and MIA (missing in action) experience that came out of the Vietnam War. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. The civilian and military men who formed the policy did not see it necessarily as a disadvantage. Order records from the National Personnel Records Center, in St. Louis at the Start your Military Service Record Request page at the National Archives website. Inscribed dots in the margins of every other panel mark every 10 lines to aid in counting. Postscript: Since 1982, there have been 89 names added to The Wall. Written requests should be mailed to: National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. The panel numbers are inscribed at the bottom of each panel. Chronological order by date of casualty allows friends and family members to pick out their loved one from all of the others with the same name. This was long before the advent of integrated computer databases. Text STOP to opt out, HELP for help. 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. The memorial consists of three separate parts: The Three Soldiers statue, the Vietnam Women's Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, also known as The Wall That Heals, which is the most popular feature. Another browser may inform you that it does not know how to display the file Although it is a truism that the young die in war, one is still unprepared for the fact that 40 percent of Marine enlisted casualties in Vietnam were teenagers; that more than 16 percent of Army enlisted casualties were also teenagers; and that nearly a quarter of all enlisted casualties in Vietnam were between the ages of 17- and 19-years old.