It would also enable veterans to find groups of friends who died during the same incident. 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. Your donation to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund will help expand our mission to honor, educate and heal. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. The DOD database shows that of the 2,100,000 men and women who served in Vietnam, 58,152 were killed. 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. Its still fought in the bodies and minds of the men who waged it all those decades ago. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morencis mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. prepared by Frances A. Hortsch for the Phoenix Genealogical Society. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of President John F. Kennedys assassination. I.. J.. K.. L.. M. N.. O.. P.. Q.. R.. S.. T.. U.. V.. W.. X.. Y.. Z How many Smiths can there possibly be who died in Vietnam? 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 Vietnam Veterans Memorial is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for all who wish to visit. Frequently relatives or buddies of casualties Many others joined the reserves or National Guard, which were not mobilized in any appreciable numbers during the war. The result: no comprehensive master list of Vietnam War casualties existed. To put a circle around the symbol beside their names would not provide the correct historical context related to their situation. They refer to older or younger siblings who are either in or on their way to college. 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. They went for a ride and she gently told them that their father would not be coming home. Please be patient 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. It may come as a surprise to some that 63.3 percent of all Vietnam enlisted casualties were not draftees but volunteers. Where previously a high school diploma had been an acceptable goal, now it was college and all the benefits it would bring. 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. 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. 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. If a service member were to return alive, a circlethe symbol of lifewould be inscribed around the plus sign. With this list in hand, he went to the various locations where individual service records were kept to review files. The event begins on November 7, 2022 at 3 p.m. EST and ends at midnight on November 10, 2022. Count down from the top of the panel. These were Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban and other Latino-Americans with ancestries based in Central and South America. 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. 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. 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. Once a master list was compiled, the names were checked manually for errors. I mean, it was bad.. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall USA website is dedicated to honoring those who died in the Vietnam War. In a massive sampling of the database, it was established that between 5 and 6 percent of Vietnam dead had identifiable Hispanic surnames. is complete, or you've done a "save as", you can use any word processor In honor of the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States who served in the Vietnam War. 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. Though 13 were rescued at sea, the rest died, either upon impact or soon after. The DOD percentages reveal that nearly 75 percent of Army enlisted casualties were privates or corporals. Non-perishable items are archived in a storage facility. West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. effort, but is a very effective means to express the enormity of the war and Senate. It is forgotten now, but in the beginning Congress and most of the American people were behind our containment effort in Vietnam. 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. Bennett on March 25, 1968 and Dennis on August 02, 1970 Brothers Gabriel and Paul Trujillo were both killed in Vietnam. 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. During the Vietnam War, the Navy and Air Force became substantially white enclaves enlisted and officer casualties were 96 percent white. This amounted to 4.1 percent of all enlisted casualties in Vietnam. Charles Holley; chief editor, Robert J. Martin, 4th Infantry Division. John Kennedy, discussing military assignments, said that, life is unfair. 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. In civilian life, poor aptitude testing can have a tremendous negative impact, whether for college placement or for simple job advancement. Authority Record - NARA, Records of the U.S. 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. Thats a tragic 2,415 more names on the Vietnam Wall in a single month. 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. This page has been viewed 167,336 times (0 via redirect). However, if officer casualties are added to the total, then this overrepresentation is reduced to 12.5 percent of all casualties. But there is a beginning. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. 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. (The 58,000 Names) Our fallen Vietnam War heroes are herethe 58,000 heroes who died in Vietnam. Folded American flags were presented to his parents and an Air Force helicopter flew over the ceremony. There were no indexes created prior to the fire. Nevertheless, 336,111 men were phased into the service under this plan (mostly the Army) and 2,072 were killed. With the glitch discovered, Doubek and his team located and hand-corrected each error. 1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam. EIN: 52-1149668, Copyright 2023 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display. You must refer to a database, which gives the names in alphabetical order and includes the position of each on the Memorial. On the last day of his life, in the moments before our nations history changed forever, Dale Buis was sitting around a rec center watching a movie called The Tattered Dress, starring Jeff Chandler. The trigger came when the recruiters pointed out that the volunteer could enlist as early as 17 (with parental consent); that he was allowed to select his branch of service; that he would receive specialized training if he qualified; that he could request a specific overseas assignment; and that his three year enlistment followed by three years in the inactive reserves satisfied his military obligation immediately. The Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) was given to all entering enlisted men. Written requests should be mailed to: National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. This can help veterans or relatives find other persons who died with Indeed, officer casualties of all branches were overwhelmingly white. 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. Thus, the wars beginning and end meet. Each name is listed with great honor and respect. 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. However, there have been no such cases. Every one of the names on the Wall has a story worth telling, as do all who served in our nation's Armed Forces during that time. Army Center of Military History103 3rd AvenueFort Lesley J. McNair, DC 20319-5058Telephone: (202) 685-4042, NavyU.S. How many women soldiers died in the Vietnam War? Inscription at the beginning of The Wall. 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. Your donation to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund will help expand our mission to honor, educate and heal. 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. If officers are added, then almost 70 percent of those who died were volunteers. For blacks, however, only 7 percent placed in categories I and II and 93 percent placed in categories III and IV. Please say a prayer for our fallen heroes, their family members, and our hero Vietnam War Veterans during your visit. No single persons service or sacrifice would be any greater than anyone elses. The Wall of Faces allows family and friends to share memories, post pictures and connect with each other. VVMF receives numerous requests each year from individuals who wish to have particular names added to the Memorial. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on November 10, 1982, with 57,939 names. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. 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 These young men were trained quickly and shipped to Vietnam quickly. The Names - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund The Names When the Wall was dedicated in 1982, there were 57,939 names inscribed. Coast Guard Historians OfficeCommandant (CG-09224)U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters 2100 Second Street SW Washington, D.C. 20593. 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. The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. Tom was killed while assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl HarborDay. 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. Since its adoption in 1951, at the time of the Korean War, this policy had been renewed by Congress every four years. The panels come together to form a point, linking the first and last together in enduring tribute. Though the memorial continues to grow and evolve, the last name on the wall still belongs to Air Force Second Lieutenant Richard Vandegeer, a pilot who died after his helicopter crashed on May 15, 1975, during the wars final combat action. Getting to Washington, D.C. Non-Archival records are those of service members who separated from the military less than 62 years ago. Officer casualties in Vietnam, including warrant officers, numbered 7,874, or 13.5 percent of all casualties. The Wall USA is a non-profit endeavor maintained by veterans . 1972, United States, National Archives, Military Records, 1885-2004, United States, National Archives, Korean War and Vietnam War Records, Start your Military Service Record Request, National Archives at St. Louis, Selective Service Records. All would be represented equally, with generals listed alongside infantrymen. 1972 NAID 305367, Silver Star Medal and Legion of Merit Award Case Files, 19711971 NAID 5721359. The Navy fatalities were 2,556 or 2 percent. 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 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. 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.