for all 58,228 names to be read aloud. The names would become the memorial. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest. . 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. This is the most accurate database online. prepared by Frances A. Hortsch for the Phoenix Genealogical Society. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. 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. It is more notable, perhaps, only because his was the first name engraved into The Wall. The combination of the selective service policies with the skills and aptitude testing of both volunteers and draftees (in which blacks scored noticeably lower) conspired to assign blacks in greater numbers to the combat units of the Army and Marine Corps. The Names - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund The Names When the Wall was dedicated in 1982, there were 57,939 names inscribed. As of 2017, there are 58,318 names inscribed on The Wall. But after World War II a kind of educational apartheid had settled over the United States. Military Reunions, Screensavers, Rubbings, Personal Guestbook for all Names. All would be represented equally, with generals listed alongside infantrymen. 26 Similar Questions In order to have your name on the Wall, you had to have died within the war zone, explained Doubek. U.S. Army Personnel and Dependent Casualties, 1961-1981 85% of the records in this database are related to the Vietnam Conflict. 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. Although the names are not listed alphabetically, it is not difficult for visitors to find a name on the Memorial. While their names are not on The Wall, they are never forgotten. Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics, Korean War and Vietnam War casualties listed at the National Archives, Hospital Admission Card Files, ca. This video can help you find the name of someone you'd like to honor. How many Smiths can there possibly be who died in Vietnam? Photo credit DOD photo. When the Wall was dedicated in 1982, there were 57,939 names inscribed. Congress and the Johnson administration, therefore, sought to protect our college-bound and educated young men. The DOD percentages reveal that nearly 75 percent of Army enlisted casualties were privates or corporals. effort, but is a very effective means to express the enormity of the war and Most of the young American enlisted men who served in Vietnam were not college prospects at the time they entered the service. Those designated by a plus sign were considered to be missing in action when the war ended. . No other moniker for Sammy Davis Jr. was more accurate. Authority Record - NARA, Records of the U.S. 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. 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. Please take a moment to let our troops know how much we appreciate their service and sacrifice. Derek Turner is a freelance writer and a former senior editor of On Patrol. A relatively small number refused to register for the draft at all. It would also enable veterans to find groups of friends who died during the same incident. In the event a service members remains are returned or accounted for, then a diamond symbol is engraved over the plus sign. 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. The wall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington is 493 feet and 6 inches long, built of thick, polished black Bangalore granite. This can be in the form of a book, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Directory of Names, or one of the various databases. And they often show a heartbreakingly wry sense of humor with the same sensibilities as their college-bound peers. 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. Folded American flags were presented to his parents and an Air Force helicopter flew over the ceremony. "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." Dates of enlsitment or selective service registration will be helpful along with the name military units they served with. Vietnam War Casualties- Main Alphabetical Index www.VirtualWall.org Find A Name Information Memorial pages honoring Vietnam War casualties, listed by their last names. 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. Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons. Quite a different profile emerges among the Navy and Air force officer corps. They went for a ride and she gently told them that their father would not be coming home. The directories are organized alphabetically by last name. 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. It gives the names in alphabetical order and . In addition, millions of documents had been lent to the Department of Veterans Affairs before the fire occurred. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on November 10, 1982, with 57,939 names. For families who have worked to have their loved ones name added, the journey can be long and exhausting. 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. 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. Photo credit DOD photo by Army Sgt. The popularity of the GI Bill after Vietnam emphasized this yearning. 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. This memorial was built with private contributions from the American people. The Order of Precedence For Military Ribbon Wear, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pubH-5CulqI, Military Funeral Guide for Families & Funeral Homes, The Ultimate Military Gift Guide for Unique Military Gifts, Black Military History and Black Medal of Honor Recipients. Frequently relatives or buddies of casualties Look for discharge papers, pictures, medals,etc. 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. If your browser displays the text file, you can then use Kurt became the man of the house, even as a boy. The Selective Service System remains in place today. 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. . He was a Navy enlisted man during World War II and has a degree in Political Science from Duke University. The VC had commandeered Air America Hueys, and they were flying them around, which simply made for a very interesting chess game. Search the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s database of names on the wall. Patricia Krause. The names of those who gave their lives and of those who remain missing are inscribed in the order they were taken from us. Only 10 percent of enlisted men had even some college to their credit and only 1 percent were college graduates. 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. She wanted the names to tell the journey, or the timeline, of the war. The panels come together to form a point, linking the first and last together in enduring tribute. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. Access to Non-Archival Military Service Records is limited. Buis died, as did Army Master Sergeant Chester Ovnand, whose name is second on the wall. The names are listed in chronological order, according to the date of casualty. The event begins on November 7, 2022 at 3 p.m. EST and ends at midnight on November 10, 2022. Thus, there were 211,455 killed and wounded, or one in every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam. 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. We honor and remember their sacrifice.". Written requests should be mailed to: National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. I went through the whole list of names eight times, because I was concerned about the correct formatting, remembered Doubek. What happens to items left at the memorial? The National Archives has an online searchable database, entitled "Records on Military Personnel Who Died, Were Missing in Action or Prisoners of War as a Result of the Vietnam War," documenting the period 6/8/1956 - 1/21/1998. Unfortunately, he mistakenly added a small number of names of men who were still alive. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Records of individuals who left service more than 62 years ago are considered Archival Records and become records of the National Archives open to the general public. Where previously a high school diploma had been an acceptable goal, now it was college and all the benefits it would bring. Indeed, officer casualties of all branches were overwhelmingly white. 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). As a result, the software improperly truncated or abbreviated names. They did not, in most cases, carry the burdens of wife or children. Some common names appear on the Memorial more than once. The Army suffered the most total casualties, 38,179 or 2.7 percent of its force. Since then, 379 names have been added, for a total of 58,318 (as of Memorial Day 2017). 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 Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) was given to all entering enlisted men. Message & data rates may apply. About 58 thousand of the 7 million American service men and women who served in Vietnam died. The casual visitor might not immediately recognize that Buis name is the first. The files are quite large in order that we could save in Rich Text Format The draft policy at the time of the Vietnam War was called the Universal Military Training and Service Act. The result: no comprehensive master list of Vietnam War casualties existed. 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. Who were they? Non-perishable items are archived in a storage facility. He tried to make the best call he could when adding names to the list. 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. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. For information regarding official military unit histories, contact: Air ForceU.S. Doubek contacted the National Personnel Records Center, Archives and Records Service, in St. Louis, Mo. Bennett on March 25, 1968 and Dennis on August 02, 1970 Brothers Gabriel and Paul Trujillo were both killed in Vietnam. The Army refused him, for medical reasons, both times. Tom was killed while assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl HarborDay. 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. There were no indexes created prior to the fire. The first Americans to die did not perish in a foxhole or beneath stars obscured by a jungle canopy. At some The Moving Wall sites, the sponsor makes arrangements 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. Much more detailed They came largely from California and Texas, with lesser numbers from Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Florida, New York and a few from many other states across the country. For blacks, however, only 7 percent placed in categories I and II and 93 percent placed in categories III and IV. The Air Force lost the highest percentage of officers. 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.. If officers are added, then almost 70 percent of those who died were volunteers. 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. VVMF does not have the authority to overrule those who adjudicate these matters. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Vietnam Magazine today! The feeling is that the poor, the undereducated and the minorities made up the vast majority of the combat arms during that war. Army Major Dale Buis' name is etched into the granite half an inch tall, no bigger or smaller than any of the others. There are 58,267 names now listed on Vietnam Wall, including those added in 2010. NAVY AND AIR FORCE OFFICER CASUALTIES BY RANK AND AGE.
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