The numbers on the wall ascend from the center out toward the left and right extremes. 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. 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. 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. This can be in the form of a book, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Directory of Names, or one of the various databases. 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. EIN: 52-1149668, Copyright 2023 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display. The Names - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund The Names When the Wall was dedicated in 1982, there were 57,939 names inscribed. 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. Buis was in Vietnam by his own volition. Colleen Pontes, whose father Kevin Joyce was added in 2003, remembered the rush of emotions she felt as she and her brother watched their dads name being inscribed in the granite. ".for those who have died." Naval Academy, 130; Texas A & M, 112; The Citadel, 66; Virginia Military Institute, 43; Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 26; Norwich University, 19. Often that advice, especially for professional athletes, rock stars, sons of politicians and other celebrities, was to join the never-to-be-called-up reserves or National Guard. 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. You could also keep these files on a computer at your The panel numbers are inscribed at the bottom of each panel. This approach would allow veterans, friends and family members to find a loved one by his or her date of casualty. The Navy had a similar profile: 55 percent of its 622 officer casualties were 30 years of age or older, and 45 percent were ranked at lieutenant commander or above when they died. 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. Nursing the wounded. Only 3 returned home. 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) It was fitting that Vandegeer finally returned home to American soil, because he spent his last weeks at war evacuating Americans as Saigon fell. In the event a service members remains are returned or accounted for, then a diamond symbol is engraved over the plus sign. Compounding these difficulties was the issue that many casualties, particularly from the Air Force, were not always straightforward in terms of locale. The directories are organized alphabetically by last name. Doubek contacted the National Personnel Records Center, Archives and Records Service, in St. Louis, Mo. 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. The USO is a not-for-profit organization and not part of the Department of Defense (DoD). Text STOP to opt out, HELP for help. On the west wall, the symbol precedes the name; on the east wall, the symbol follows the name. On the stencil printouts, each line contained five names per row. Please take a moment to let our troops know how much we appreciate their service and sacrifice. 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. The training for American officers is thought by most foreign military authorities to be the best in the world. Look for clues about where he or she lived and served. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. I mean, it was bad.. If the veteran is still alive, ask his or her help finding records. NAVY AND AIR FORCE OFFICER CASUALTIES BY RANK AND AGE. On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at the NPRC destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files. 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. 244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall. Protestants were 64.4 percent (37,483), Catholics were 28.9 percent (16,806). Your donation to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund will help expand our mission to honor, educate and heal. It specified the geographic areas of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and surrounding coastal areas as combat zones. 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. Vietnam War, Awards and Decorations of Honor, 1965-1972. He tried to make the best call he could when adding names to the list. 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. And they all went to Vietnam. . 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. Beside each name is a symbol that denotes a service members status: either missing or confirmed dead. 1972 NAID 305367, Silver Star Medal and Legion of Merit Award Case Files, 19711971 NAID 5721359. For families who have worked to have their loved ones name added, the journey can be long and exhausting. 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. 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. 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. These casualties came largely from the Northeast and North Central regions of the United States, many from the traditionally patriotic, Catholic working class neighborhoods. Only 10 percent of enlisted men had even some college to their credit and only 1 percent were college graduates. Since then, 379 names have been added, for a total of 58,318 (as of Memorial Day 2017). 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.. The unit diary portion of the muster roll should indicate when members of the Lima Company, 3rd platoon. ARMY AND MARINE OFFICER CASUALTIES BY RANK AND AGE. On that panel, above the names is this inscription: In honor of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States who served in the Vietnam War. The Selective Service System remains in place today. A relatively small number refused to register for the draft at all. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. Note the panel and line number for the name listed. The same profile holds true for the Marine Corps, where 87 percent of all officer casualties (821 of 938) were warrant officers, lieutenants or captains. It would also enable veterans to find groups of friends who died during the same incident. Alphabetical listing of the names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall . All were nurses, all were single and all but one were in their 20s. Thus, there were 211,455 killed and wounded, or one in every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam. Another browser may inform you that it does not know how to display the file The idea that American enlisted dead were made up largely of societys poverty stricken misfits is a terrible slander to their memory and to the solid working-class and middle-class families of this country who provided the vast majority of our casualties. Those who could have qualified for college probably did not have the funds or motivation. I.. J.. K.. L.. M. N.. O.. P.. Q.. R.. S.. T.. U.. V.. W.. X.. Y.. Z 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 war is complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angles open side and contained within the earth itself. We worked very hard with volunteers from the Gold Star Mothers, recalled Doubek. http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/vietna.. The numbers on the wall ascend from the center out toward the left and right extremes. Download our app to find events, locations and programs near you. Naval History & Heritage CommandWashington Navy Yard, Bldg 57 (3rd Floor)Washington, DC 20374Telephone: (202) 433-3224, Marine CorpsU.S. Vietnam War: in Country, Notice: Scanning of Vietnam-era Deck Logs, Vietnam War, 1961-1975. Coast Guard Historians OfficeCommandant (CG-09224)U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters 2100 Second Street SW Washington, D.C. 20593. In this study we will refer to casualties as the 58,152 who died in Vietnam, but it should be emphasized that there were 153,303 who were wounded seriously enough to be hospitalized. National Mall and Memorial Parks , Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Download the official NPS app before your next visit. 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. You may print these files and have the pages available for visitors to In 2004, the total is 58,241 names. Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics, Korean War and Vietnam War casualties listed at the National Archives, Hospital Admission Card Files, ca. columns per page. Of 2,590 total Air Force casualties, 1,674 or 65 percent were officers. Officers of all services, by tradition largely Protestant, remained so during the Vietnam war, sustaining casualties in comparison with Catholics by a 5 to 2 ratio. For men who registered for the draft prior to 1976, the only Selective Service System information available is that of the individual Draft Registration Card (SSS Form 1) and Classification History (SSS Form 102) records. Of all enlisted men who died in Vietnam, blacks made up 14.1 percent of the total. 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. This memorial was built with private contributions from the American people. but will allow you to download it after you specify a file name. | In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of President John F. Kennedys assassination. Locate the corresponding panel at the Memorial. Search the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s database of names on the wall. Most of the young American enlisted men who served in Vietnam were not college prospects at the time they entered the service. They drew on every segment of American society. The names of the 2,504 Americans missing in action from the Vietnam War are on the Tablets of the Missing at the ABMC Honolulu Memorial. 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. At the time, approximately 1,300 names were designated as servicemen who were either missing or prisoners of war. 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. The Wall of Faces allows family and friends to share memories, post pictures and connect with each other. 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 DOD database provides no civilian or military educational levels for the Vietnam casualties specifically, but it does give us general levels for all enlisted men across all the services during the Vietnam era. Instead its nearly in the center. Blacks were 85 percent Protestant. Of course, the Marine, Navy, and Air Force enlisted casualties were all volunteers, but as it turned out, almost 50 percent of Army enlisted casualties were also volunteers. The slabs meet at a vertex of 125 degrees, 10 feet above ground level to form the Wall. while they download, thank you. 12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old. Concerning, How do I find a name on the Vietnam War Memorial wall? The chronological order allows veterans who were in a battle to see their friends forever united on the Wall, he explained. Count down from the top of the panel. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties. 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. 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. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. has the names listed in chronological order by date of loss. Additionally, many of the names on the wall were other teenagers from the suburban white collar communities with siblings who were in, or would go on to college, but who, as individuals themselves, were slow to mature, struggled through high school and were therefore very available for the Vietnam War. Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons. The Channeling Memo of July 1965, instructed all local draft boards to give status deferments to college undergraduate and post-graduate students. On the other end of that phone call was an former Air Force officer who had served in Vietnam. 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. 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 . His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. A more precise equation would be that the college bound stayed home while the non-college bound served and died. The Vietnam War is no different. 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. Dear Mr. Huddleston, Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! Making these arrangements and printing the pages takes considerable Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund | 3033 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300 | Arlington VA 22201 | 202.393.0090 HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. 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 names are listed chronologically by date of death, the first to last. In civilian life, poor aptitude testing can have a tremendous negative impact, whether for college placement or for simple job advancement. His name does not appear at either far end. AGE 17 TO 21 PREFERRED ARMY AND MARINE COMBAT MATERIAL. 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 most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 245 deaths. . 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. that each name was a real person. Ziomek's name was finally inscribed on the Washington memorial on Sept. 15, 2020; he was one of just three veterans added in 2020. If each In order to have your name on the Wall, you had to have died within the war zone, explained Doubek. While their names are not on The Wall, they are never forgotten. They were at their peak physically. They were struggling through or dropping out of high school, or if a high school graduate, had tested poorly for college entrance. What happens to items left at the memorial? The names of Army Master Sergeant Chester Ovnand and Major Dale Buis are inscribed on Panel 1E of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall. Buis can be found at the top middle of a slab designated Panel 1E. There are 58,267 names now listed on Vietnam Wall, including those added in 2010. Thus we can see that the channeling philosophy continued within the armed forces. Some common names appear on the Memorial more than once. 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 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. This can help veterans or relatives find other persons who died with 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. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morencis mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And, as in every American war, it is the very young who are the most willing to volunteer. Army Center of Military History103 3rd AvenueFort Lesley J. McNair, DC 20319-5058Telephone: (202) 685-4042, NavyU.S. With this list in hand, he went to the various locations where individual service records were kept to review files. It is not surprising, for instance, that West Virginia, Montana, and Oklahoma had a casualty rate almost twice that of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Those designated by a plus sign were considered to be missing in action when the war ended. Our combat arms were thought to be completely classless. is complete, or you've done a "save as", you can use any word processor This is the genius of Mayas design, said Scruggs. One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old. 31 sets of brothers are on the Wall. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. Once additions are approved by DoD, VVMF receives the list of approved names, coordinates the inscribing and absorbs the costs. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest. At some The Moving Wall sites, the sponsor makes arrangements However, if officer casualties are added to the total, then this overrepresentation is reduced to 12.5 percent of all casualties. To put a circle around the symbol beside their names would not provide the correct historical context related to their situation. 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. Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Kansas, Sheridan County, Viet Nam records, 1955-1975, Vermont, National Guard, Vietnam war, 1950-1953, University of Utah - American West Center - Saving the Legacy/ Vietnam Veterans, https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/index.php?title=United_States_Vietnam_War_1964_to_1972&oldid=5123794, Personnel discharged November 1, 1912 to January 1, 1960, Personnel discharged, September 25, 1947 to January 1, 1964, The Military Index is available at the FamilySearch Library and at most FamilySearch centers. As they came through the door, Viet Cong guerrillas opened fire with machine guns. Its now one of the most popular memorials in Washington. In a massive sampling of the database, it was established that between 5 and 6 percent of Vietnam dead had identifiable Hispanic surnames. Certainly, some who died did come from poor and broken homes in the urban ghettos and barrios, or were from dirt-poor farm homes in the South and Midwest. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. It is forgotten now, but in the beginning Congress and most of the American people were behind our containment effort in Vietnam. The event begins on November 7, 2022 at 3 p.m. EST and ends at midnight on November 10, 2022. VVMF receives numerous requests each year from individuals who wish to have particular names added to the Memorial. Indeed, officer casualties of all branches were overwhelmingly white. 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. She wanted the names to tell the journey, or the timeline, of the war. 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. 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 is a symbol of American honor and appreciation for the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives during the Vietnam War. Their sacrifices were honored July 8, 2009, in Washington during a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of their deaths. This was long before the advent of integrated computer databases. the "save as" menu command to store each text file on your media. The Wall USA is a non-profit endeavor maintained by veterans . "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." In the military it can be somewhat more deadly. Hed volunteered to join a small U.S. military advisory team attached to the South Vietnamese army, and hed been in the village of Bien Hoa for only two days. How many women soldiers died in the Vietnam War? information is available on this web site: These files are lists of the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, listed Although the names are not listed alphabetically, it is not difficult for visitors to find a name on the Memorial. 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. 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. This takes about 72 hours. Physical examination and test results, medical letters, laboratory work and other medical documentation that may have been included in these files no longer exist. As a region, the South experienced the greatest numbers of dead, nearly 34 percent of the total, or 31.0 deaths per 100,000 of population. Interested in a tour as part of your visit? Senate. Gather facts from sources at home,and talk to relatives. 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 Full casualty records may be retrieved online through the National Archives' Access to Archival Databases resource. Though 13 were rescued at sea, the rest died, either upon impact or soon after. 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. Army Major Dale Buis name is etched into the granite half an inch tall, no bigger or smaller than any of the others. 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. https://www.historynet.com/names-on-the-wall-a-closer-look-at-those-who-died-in-vietnam/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, When 21 Sikh Soldiers Fought the Odds Against 10,000 Pashtun Warriors, Few Red Tails Remain: Tuskegee Airman Dies at 96. The first group, added in 1983, included 53 Marines who were killed when their R&R (rest and relaxation) flight crashed in Hong Kong. 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. The civilian and military men who formed the policy did not see it necessarily as a disadvantage. Fully 50 percent were in the 17- to 24-year age group, and astonishingly, there were 764 Army officer casualties who were 21 or younger. This change prompted the addition of 110 names in 1986. The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, MA; he was listed by theDepartment of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. There are over 58,000 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. Non-perishable items are archived in a storage facility. The Selective Service registration requirement was later suspended in April 1975.