U. S. Casualties in the Vietnam War by Branch of Service

Here’s another breakdown of U.S. casualties sustained during the Vietnam War. I have also added links to other posts on this website, which contain additional information at the end of this article.

The following chart was found on the following website: National Archives and Records Administration / Defense Casualty Analysis System

Casualty	Total	Army	Air Force	Space Force	Marines	Navy

Killed in Action	40,934	27,047	1,080	0	11,501	1,306
Died of Wounds	5,299	3,610	51	0	1,486	152
Missing in Action – Declared Dead	1,085	261	589	0	98	137
Captured – Declared Dead	116	45	25	0	10	36
TOTAL HOSTILE DEATHS	47,434	30,963	1,745	0	13,095	1,631
Missing – Presumed Dead	123	118	0	0	3	2
Other Deaths	10,663	7,143	841	0	1,746	933
TOTAL NON-HOSTILE DEATHS	10,786	7,261	841	0	1,749	935
TOTAL IN-THEATER DEATHS	58,220	38,224	2,586	0	14,844	2,566
Killed in Action – No Remains	575	173	206	0	102	94

Missing in Action – Declared Dead – No Remains	691	201	339	0	74	77
Captured – Declared Dead – No Remains	52	32	7	0	3	10
Non-hostile Missing – Presumed Dead – No Remains	91	86	0	0	3	2
Non-hostile Other Deaths – No Remains	332	69	30	0	37	196
TOTAL – NO REMAINS	1,741	561	582	0	219	379
WOUNDED – NOT MORTAL	153,303	96,802	931	0	51,392	4,178
NUMBER SERVING WORLDWIDE	8,744,000	4,368,000	1,740,000	0	794,000	1,842,000
NUMBER SERVING SOUTHEAST ASIA	3,403,000	2,276,000	385,000	0	513,000	229,000
NUMBER SERVING SOUTH VIETNAM	2,594,000	1,736,000	293,000	0	391,000	174,000

The following information is from www.lzsalley.com (101st Airborne)

9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the Vietnam Era   (28 February 1961 – 7 May 1975)

8,744,000 personnel were on active duty (worldwide) during the war (5 August 1964-28 March 1973)

3,403,100 (including 514,300 offshore) personnel served in the SE Asia Theater (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, flight crews based in Thailand, and sailors in adjacent South China Sea waters).

2,594,000 personnel served within the borders of South Vietnam ( I January 1965 – 28 March 1973)

Another 50,000 men served in Vietnam between 1960 and 1964

Of the 2.6 million, between 1 and 1.6 million (40-60%) either fought in combat, provided close combat support, or were at least fairly regularly exposed to enemy attack.

7,484 women served in Vietnam, of whom 6,250 or 83.5% were nurses.

The peak troop strength in Vietnam was 543,482 on 30 April 1969.

1,736,000 were US Army

391,000 were US Marines

293,000 were US Airmen

174,000 were US Sailors (this figure includes the US Coast Guard)

Casualties:

Hostile deaths: 47,359

Non-hostile deaths: 10,797

Total: 58,156 (including men formerly classified as MIA and Mayaguez casualties.

Highest state death rate: West Virginia–84.1. (The national average death rate for males in 1970 was 58.9 per 100,000).

WIA: 303,704 – 153,329 required hospitalization, 150,375 who did not.

      Severely disabled: 75,000, 23,214 were classified 100% disabled. 5,283 lost limbs, 1,081 sustained multiple amputations.

Amputation or crippling wounds to the lower extremities were 300% higher than n WWII and 70% higher than in Korea. Multiple amputations occurred at the rate of 18.4% compared to 5.7% in WWII.

MIA: 2,338

POW: 766, of whom 114 died in captivity.

Draftees vs. volunteers:

 25% (648,500) of the total forces in-country were draftees. (66% of U.S. armed forces members were drafted during WWII)

Draftees accounted for 30.4% (17,725) of combat deaths in Vietnam.

Reservists KIA: 5,977

National Guard: 6,140 served; 101 died.

Ethnic background:

88.4% of the men who actually served in Vietnam were Caucasian, 10.6% (275,000) were black, 1.0% belonged to other races.

86.3% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasian (including Hispanics)

     12.5% (7,241) were black.

     1.2% belonged to other races

170,000 Hispanics served in Vietnam, 3,070 (5.2%) of whom died there.

     34% of blacks who enlisted volunteered for the combat arms.

Socioeconomic status:

76% of the men sent to Vietnam were from lower middle/working class backgrounds

75% had family incomes above the poverty level

23% had fathers with professional, managerial, or technical occupations.

79% of the men who served in ‘Nam had a high school education or better.

63% of Korean vets had completed high school upon separation from the service)

Winning & Losing:

82% of veterans who saw heavy combat strongly believe the war was lost because of a lack of political will.

      Nearly 75% of the general public (in 1993) agreed with that.

Age & Honorable Service:

The average age of the G.I. in ‘Nam was 19 (26 for WWII)

      97% of Vietnam-era vets were honorably discharged.

Pride in Service:

91% of veterans of actual combat and 90% of those who saw heavy combat are proud to have served their country.

66% of Viet vets say they would serve again, if called upon.

87% of the public now holds Viet vets in high esteem.

Helicopter crew deaths accounted for 10% of ALL Vietnam deaths. Helicopter losses during Lam Son 719 (a mere two months) accounted for 10% of all helicopter losses from 1961-1975.

Other posts on this website cite casualties by age, race, country, category, year, state, enlisted vs. officer, married vs. single, and civilian contractors.

Fatal Casualties of the Vietnam War

Vietnam War Casualties #2

Casualty Lists of the Vietnam War

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