The slabs meet at a vertex of 125 degrees, 10 feet above ground level to form the Wall. Vietnam War Casualties, MIA and POWs. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965. The Marines of Morenciled some of thebest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. It is hard to believe it has been 36 years since the last casualties. Beginning at the apex on panel 1E and going out to the end of the East wall, appearing to recede into the earth (numbered 70E May 25, 1968), then resuming at the end of the West wall, as the wall emerges from the earth (numbered 70W continuing May 25, 1968) and ending with a date in 1975. A correspondingly greater tradition of military service in the other regions had its effect on U.S. regional casualties. Kurt became the man of the house, even as a boy. The first two names listed on Panel 1, East Wall, at the apex are from July 8, 1959. At the time, approximately 1,300 names were designated as servicemen who were either missing or prisoners of war. A relatively small number refused to register for the draft at all. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 245 deaths. When the Wall was dedicated in 1982, there were 57,939 names inscribed. VVMF receives numerous requests each year from individuals who wish to have particular names added to the Memorial. As one walks the Wall slowly, examining the ineffably American names, one is struck by the same recurring surnames. The Names - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund The Names When the Wall was dedicated in 1982, there were 57,939 names inscribed. 5th Marines were killed in . Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. Vandegeers message also depicted a man who believed the worst was behind him. The war is complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angles open side and contained within the earth itself. The panels are numbered beginning from the center out toward the ends of each wall. Only 5 to 10 percent of enlisted men in the combat units were estimated to have had some college, and less than 1 percent of these enlisted men were college graduates. Since its adoption in 1951, at the time of the Korean War, this policy had been renewed by Congress every four years. On the stencil printouts, each line contained five names per row. 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. 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. The Vietnam War was no different. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at the NPRC destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files. In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. This is close to, but not exactly in the same order 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. More than 200 names have been added to the Wall columns per page. 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. 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. Written requests should be mailed to: National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. 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. 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 civilian and military men who formed the policy did not see it necessarily as a disadvantage. . The officer corps has always drawn heavily on English/Scottish/Welsh, German, Irish and Scandinavian-American ancestries from middle-class white collar homes, with other large percentages from ambitious working class blue collar and, of course, career military families. What will be the evolving historical judgment for those names on the Wall? 244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall. EIN: 52-1149668, Copyright 2023 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display, Look up the name in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Lower end category IVs consisting of those who scored below 20 on the AFQT were usually rejected for service. Almost 50 percent were majors, lieutenant-colonels, colonels and three were generals. The Vietnam Wall at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park features the names of local fallen soldiers. No single persons service or sacrifice would be any greater than anyone elses. 1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. 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. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. 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. Only 10 percent of enlisted men had even some college to their credit and only 1 percent were college graduates. Authority Record - NARA, Records of the U.S. The panel number is a number/letter combination, such as 10W or 35E. He was a Navy enlisted man during World War II and has a degree in Political Science from Duke University. Of all enlisted men who died in Vietnam, blacks made up 14.1 percent of the total. 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. Less than 1 percent (0.8) were Jewish, Hindu, Thai, Buddhist or Muslim combined, and 5.7 listed no religion. but will allow you to download it after you specify a file name. 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. . His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Vietnam War Casualties- Main Alphabetical Index www.VirtualWall.org Find A Name Information Memorial pages honoring Vietnam War casualties, listed by their last names. 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. When the sound of exploding hand grenades rang out in the hall, Buis and others ran toward the sound. On November 7, 2021 VVMF began a daily virtual Reading of the Names. ARMY AND MARINE OFFICER CASUALTIES BY RANK AND AGE. Click to learn about the In Memory program . prepared by Frances A. Hortsch for the Phoenix Genealogical Society. THE NAMES ON THE WALL: AN HISTORICAL JUDGMENT. Naval Academy, 130; Texas A & M, 112; The Citadel, 66; Virginia Military Institute, 43; Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 26; Norwich University, 19. The slabs meet at a vertex of 125 degrees, 10 feet above ground level to form the Wall. offer to read the block of names that includes their special names. Early on President Johnson, his advisers and especially the Congress, realized that if the draft was to be truly equitable and had included combat assignments in Vietnam for the sons of the educationally advantaged and influential Americans from the professional and managerial classes, then the resulting uproar would have shut down the war. The Selective Service System remains in place today. Non-Archival records are those of service members who separated from the military less than 62 years ago. 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. There are officially 58,228 names on the Wall, but the database these files were derived . They often reveal a typically warm American family atmosphere. 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. This page has been viewed 167,336 times (0 via redirect). Officer casualties in Vietnam, including warrant officers, numbered 7,874, or 13.5 percent of all casualties. EIN: 52-1149668, Copyright 2023 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display. The Vietnam War is no different. 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. During the Vietnam War, the Navy and Air Force became substantially white enclaves enlisted and officer casualties were 96 percent white. 1970 - ca. In the event a service members remains are returned or accounted for, then a diamond symbol is engraved over the plus sign. Some went to Canada or Sweden, but few of those who evaded the draft were actually prosecuted and most were eventually pardoned by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. 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. They also died quickly, many within a few weeks or months of arriving in Vietnam. There are the still-grieving family members who come to pay respects as they would at a cemetery, to leave mementos and make chalk renderings of a loved ones name. information is available on this web site: These files are lists of the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, listed 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. 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. 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. All classes were drafted or volunteered and all served and died equally, although it must be noted that most blacks died separately. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. How many women soldiers died in the Vietnam War? Twenty years passed before Vandegeers remains were identified and another five passed before his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. The names of those who gave their lives and of those who remain missing are inscribed in the order they were taken from us. 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. It is more notable, perhaps, only because his was the first name engraved into The Wall. Congress and the Johnson administration, therefore, sought to protect our college-bound and educated young men. The ceremony is held on Mothers Day and the additions might be as simple as rectifying a clerical error or as heartbreaking as a veteran dying, all these years later, from a wound suffered during the war. Its now one of the most popular memorials in Washington. The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 2,415 casualties were incurred. It should be noted, however, that the draft was specifically designed to trigger volunteer enlistments. 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. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. 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. Individual Award Case Files, 1969 - 1970. effort, but is a very effective means to express the enormity of the war and The draft continued from 1948, during both peacetime and war, to 1973, when President Richard M. Nixon signed legislation officially ending the draft. the reader loses composure. 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. site, for searching with a word processor. 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.. 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. the "save as" menu command to store each text file on your media. And they all went to Vietnam. How many names are on the wall? Since the days of Alexander the Great and the Roman Legions, it has always been the young, inexperienced, low-ranking enlisted man who has taken the brunt of combat casualties. Forces in Southeast Asia, 1950 - 1976 NAID 745, RG, 472, Meritorious Unit Commendations, 1967 - 1971 NAID 4726287, Medal of Honor Awards Case Files, 1965 - ca. is complete, or you've done a "save as", you can use any word processor Thus it is safe to say that Hispanic-Americans were over-represented among Vietnam casualties an estimated 5.5 percent of the dead against 4.5 percent of the 1970 population. This takes about 72 hours. Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics, Korean War and Vietnam War casualties listed at the National Archives, Hospital Admission Card Files, ca. With the glitch discovered, Doubek and his team located and hand-corrected each error. Most of these casualties are documented in the Military Index, a FamilySearch file. This video can help you find the name of someone you'd like to honor. She wanted the names to tell the journey, or the timeline, of the war. This can be in the form of a book, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Directory of Names, or one of the various databases. The Army refused him, for medical reasons, both times. 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 Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall USA website is dedicated to honoring those who died in the Vietnam War. The central idea of the poem is that the Vietnamese War took hundreds of lives away from the United States of America. Some are drawn to the Wall like pilgrims to Mecca. peruse. Much more detailed No duplicate copies of the records that were destroyed in the fire were maintained, nor was a microfilm copy ever produced. 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. You could also keep these files on a computer at your 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. The widely held notion that the poor served and died in Vietnam while the rich stayed home is way off the mark. Written requests should be mailed to: National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. Gather facts from sources at home,and talk to relatives. 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. 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. 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. Therefore, a complete listing of the records that were lost is not available. There is no question that all segments of American society were represented. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties. Interesting Veterans Statistics Of The Vietnam Memorial Wall There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010. All were nurses, all were single and all but one were in their 20s. . 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. in chronological order of the casualty date and then alphabetical by last 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. Once a master list was compiled, the names were checked manually for errors. Richard Sandza received the message on the morning of May 15, 1975, the day his friend became the last American to die in combat during the Vietnam War. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Learn about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in this brief introductory video. There were 667; How many Andersons?, 178; Garcias?, 102; Murphys?, 82; Jenkins?, 66; One wants to know more about these Americans. Alphabetical listing of the names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall . 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 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 casualty date is the date the person was killed or wounded in combat or injured during an accident; for the missing, the date is when the person was reported missing. Army and Marine officer casualties were also quite young. There was no need to embellish. The burden of combat fell on the very available non-college-bound young. 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. Protestants were 64.4 percent (37,483), Catholics were 28.9 percent (16,806). 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. He did it allsing, dance, create music and crack wise. All other individual draftee files from that period were destroyed by the Selective Service System in 1978, in accordance with approved records retention schedules. 54 soldiers on the Wall attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia. 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.