Dates of enlsitment or selective service registration will be helpful along with the name military units they served with. Despite their inexperience, they were thought to accept discipline readily. 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 most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 2,415 casualties were incurred. Army and Marine officer casualties were also quite young. No single persons service or sacrifice would be any greater than anyone elses. 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 chronological order allows veterans who were in a battle to see their friends forever united on the Wall, he explained. offer to read the block of names that includes their special names. This is close to, but not exactly in the same order as the names on the Wall. During one review, Doubek found a glitch with the computer software: it did not recognize the spaces that appeared within a last name, such as van der Meide. Nor could it properly discern a compounded first name, such as Billy Bob, versus a traditional first and middle name. Alphabetical listing of the names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall . 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. 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. However, in 1980, President James E. Carter resumed Selective Service registration in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. 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. If the veteran is still alive, ask his or her help finding records. The Names - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund The Names When the Wall was dedicated in 1982, there were 57,939 names inscribed. Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics, Korean War and Vietnam War casualties listed at the National Archives, Hospital Admission Card Files, ca. THE NAMES ON THE WALL: AN HISTORICAL JUDGMENT. Unfortunately, the Department of Defense and the individual service branches maintained separate casualty lists with slightly differing criteria. 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. 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. 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. The VC had commandeered Air America Hueys, and they were flying them around, which simply made for a very interesting chess game. In addition to WWII Draft Records, the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, MO maintains Post-WWII through Vietnam Era Selective Service Records, for all men born before 1960. The Vietnam War is no different. Of the 7,262 blacks who died, 6,955, or 96 percent, were Army and Marine enlisted men. The affected record collections are described below. Vandegeer was on a mission to rescue the crew of the SS Mayaguez, a merchant ship captured three days earlier off the coast of Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge. The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. 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. 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. Inscription at the beginning of The Wall. In civilian life, poor aptitude testing can have a tremendous negative impact, whether for college placement or for simple job advancement. In 2004, the total is 58,241 names. Each name is listed with great honor and respect. They also died quickly, many within a few weeks or months of arriving in Vietnam. EIN: 52-1149668, Copyright 2023 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display. United States. The Vietnam Wall. The Wall is about names. He did it allsing, dance, create music and crack wise. Compounding these difficulties was the issue that many casualties, particularly from the Air Force, were not always straightforward in terms of locale. 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. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. 1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam. 26 Similar Questions Text STOP to opt out, HELP for help. The Wall of Faces allows family and friends to share memories, post pictures and connect with each other. The appearance of DoD visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. VVMF does not have the authority to overrule those who adjudicate these matters. 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. 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. In honor of the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States who served in the Vietnam War. The remaining 70 percent of our Vietnam enlisted casualties were of English/Scottish/Welsh, German, Irish and Scandinavian-American ancestries, more from the South and Midwest than the other regions, many from small towns with a family military tradition. Those who could have qualified for college probably did not have the funds or motivation. The feeling is that the poor, the undereducated and the minorities made up the vast majority of the combat arms during that war. The names of Army Master Sergeant Chester Ovnand and Major Dale Buis are inscribed on Panel 1E of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall. But after World War II a kind of educational apartheid had settled over the United States. U.S. Army Personnel and Dependent Casualties, 1961-1981 85% of the records in this database are related to the Vietnam Conflict. VVMF receives numerous requests each year from individuals who wish to have particular names added to the Memorial. 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. Congress and the Johnson administration, therefore, sought to protect our college-bound and educated young men. Who were they? ".for those who have died." 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. The first group, added in 1983, included 53 Marines who were killed when their R&R (rest and relaxation) flight crashed in Hong Kong. The Wall USA is a non-profit endeavor maintained by veterans . The panel numbers are inscribed at the bottom of each panel. 39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger. 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. Physical examination and test results, medical letters, laboratory work and other medical documentation that may have been included in these files no longer exist. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study released in 1992, found that our Vietnam casualties were only marginally greater from the economically lowest 50 percent of our communities (31 deaths per 100,000 of population), when compared with the economically highest 50 percent (26 deaths per 100,000 population). With this list in hand, he went to the various locations where individual service records were kept to review files. person reads for 20 minutes, (270 names) this will require 216 volunteer name . Non-perishable items are archived in a storage facility. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010: see the "National Cemeteries and Beneficiaries" section below. 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. World War II had been, for the most part, a perfect war, clear of purpose, the forces of democracy and freedom lined up against the forces of fascism and tyranny. 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. Thus, there were 211,455 killed and wounded, or one in every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam. When the sound of exploding hand grenades rang out in the hall, Buis and others ran toward the sound. A relatively small number refused to register for the draft at all. All would be represented equally, with generals listed alongside infantrymen. Beside each name is a symbol that denotes a service members status: either missing or confirmed dead. 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. The beginnings and endings are often hazy and the facts of the story lie at the mercy of the teller. Others, later in the war, were simply ineligible because of high lottery number. 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. If you Military Reunions, Screensavers, Rubbings, Personal Guestbook for all Names. 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. By his estimate, he helped pull out close to 2,000 people. All other individual draftee files from that period were destroyed by the Selective Service System in 1978, in accordance with approved records retention schedules. Another browser may inform you that it does not know how to display the file Fallen comrades could be together on the Wall, as theyd been in death. 244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall. The event begins on November 7, 2022 at 3 p.m. EST and ends at midnight on November 10, 2022. The men and women who valiantly fought in the Vietnam War certainly deserve the title of hero. Many high-ranking military men (including General William C. Westmoreland, the U.S. commander in Vietnam) opposed the program, feeling that the effectiveness of some units would be reduced and that fellow soldiers would sometimes be put in greater jeopardy by these less mentally capable personnel. W denotes the west wall, and E denotes the east wall. 12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old. In the event a service members remains are returned or accounted for, then a diamond symbol is engraved over the plus sign. The Selective Service registration requirement was later suspended in April 1975. Protestants were 64.4 percent (37,483), Catholics were 28.9 percent (16,806). The civilian and military men who formed the policy did not see it necessarily as a disadvantage. It specified the geographic areas of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and surrounding coastal areas as combat zones. 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. Along with its wave of death, it scarred many people, especially those closest to the men that died fighting the . The article was originally published in the June 1993 issue of Vietnam Magazine and updated in November 2004. 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. Coast Guard casualties are included in the Navy totals. 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. As a result, the software improperly truncated or abbreviated names. 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. Some are drawn to the Wall like pilgrims to Mecca. The list of names begins at the vertex of the walls below the date of the first casualty, 1959, and continues to the end of the east wall. The Army refused him, for medical reasons, both times. Getting to Washington, D.C. Access to Non-Archival Military Service Records is limited. 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. However, if officer casualties are added to the total, then this overrepresentation is reduced to 12.5 percent of all casualties. This is the most accurate database online. This can help veterans or relatives find other persons who died with These names are followed by the inscription: Our nation honors the courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty and country of its Vietnam veterans. prepared by Frances A. Hortsch for the Phoenix Genealogical Society. The central idea of the poem is that the Vietnamese War took hundreds of lives away from the United States of America. The panels are numbered beginning from the center out toward the ends of each wall. The Marine Corps lost 14,836, or 5 percent of its own men. As one stands before the Wall one feels that no other judgment is acceptable to their living memory. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund | 3033 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300 | Arlington VA 22201 | 202.393.0090 Army Major Dale Buis' name is etched into the granite half an inch tall, no bigger or smaller than any of the others. effort, but is a very effective means to express the enormity of the war and It stands near Panel 1W, which holds the name of the last to die in combat. 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. in chronological order of the casualty date and then alphabetical by last while they download, thank you. Its still fought in the bodies and minds of the men who waged it all those decades ago. This is close to, but not exactly in the same order as the names on the Wall. In some instances, names needed to be shuffled in order to fit on a line. 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. Ninety-one percent of these Army officers were warrant officers, second lieutenants, first lieutenants or captains. 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. Be the first to learn about news, service member stories and fundraising updates from USO. 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. that each name was a real person. The slabs meet at a vertex of 125 degrees, 10 feet above ground level to form the Wall. These casualties came largely from the Northeast and North Central regions of the United States, many from the traditionally patriotic, Catholic working class neighborhoods. Many of them, as experienced pilots, were older (two thirds were thirty or older) and many were high ranking. Count down from the top of the panel. Once download 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. 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. Honor Vietnam Veterans you know with a gift from our VVA store, or a custom military embroidered shirt, jacket, or polo so they can proudly demonstrate their service to their grateful nation. Early in the war (1965 and 1966) when blacks made up about 11 percent of our Vietnam force, black casualties soared to more than 20 percent of the total. The popularity of the GI Bill after Vietnam emphasized this yearning. The unit diary portion of the muster roll should indicate when members of the Lima Company, 3rd platoon. National Mall and Memorial Parks , Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Download the official NPS app before your next visit. There is no question that all segments of American society were represented. The panel number is a number/letter combination, such as 10W or 35E. Lower end category IVs consisting of those who scored below 20 on the AFQT were usually rejected for service. 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. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. I went through the whole list of names eight times, because I was concerned about the correct formatting, remembered Doubek. 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. For information regarding official military unit histories, contact: Air ForceU.S. Interested in a tour as part of your visit? They refer to older or younger siblings who are either in or on their way to college. It would also enable veterans to find groups of friends who died during the same incident. With the glitch discovered, Doubek and his team located and hand-corrected each error. 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. 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. More than 200 names have been added to the Wall Only 10 percent of enlisted men had even some college to their credit and only 1 percent were college graduates. as the names on the Wall. Please be patient 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. A diamond symbol signifies that the service members death was confirmed. 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. We searched the National Archives Catalog and located a series titled Muster Rolls and Personnel Diaries, 1941-1980 in the Records of the U.S. Marine Corps (Record Group 127). Scholars debate about when the war really began and in many ways it has never ended. Except for the last file, there are approximately 10,000 names per file. 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. 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. His name does not appear at either far end. Bennett on March 25, 1968 and Dennis on August 02, 1970 Brothers Gabriel and Paul Trujillo were both killed in Vietnam.