The Vietnam-Era Prisoner-of-War/Missing-in-Action Database
Subject: Vietnam-Era Unaccounted for Statistical Report
CURRENT AS OF: February
14, 2001
BACKGROUND: The Department of Defense, Washington
Headquarters Service, and the Department of State report the current
numbers of Americans who are unaccounted for in Southeast Asia:
AMERICANS UNACCOUNTED FOR IN SOUTHEAST
ASIA
COMPONENT
|
COUNTRY OF LOSS |
|
|
VN |
VS |
LA |
CB |
CH |
TOTALS |
|
ARMY |
10 |
484 |
105 |
35 |
0 |
634 |
|
NAVY |
277 |
92 |
28 |
1 |
8 |
406 |
|
MARINE CORPS |
24 |
202 |
18 |
8 |
0 |
252 |
|
AIR FORCE |
218 |
165 |
255 |
18 |
0 |
656 |
|
COAST GUARD |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
CIVILIANS |
0 |
21 |
12 |
5 |
0 |
38 |
|
TOTALS |
529 |
965 |
418 |
67 |
8 |
1,987 |
* |
|
|
|
|
|
|
FURTHER PURSUIT |
226 |
492 |
364 |
49 |
4 |
1,135 |
DEFERRED |
60 |
116 |
28 |
3 |
1 |
208 |
NO FURTHER PURSUIT |
243 |
357 |
26 |
15 |
3 |
644 |
TOTALS |
529 |
965 |
418 |
67 |
8 |
1,987 |
VN = VIETNAM, NORTH VS = VIETNAM, SOUTH CB = CAMBODIA
CH = CHINA LA = LAOS
* INCLUDES 459 AT SEA/OVER WATER LOSSES
ACCOUNTING FOR U.S. PERSONNEL: The Central Identification
Laboratory, Hawaii reports that since 1973, the U.S. has accounted
for 596 Americans from Southeast Asia.
AMERICANS ACCOUNTED FOR POST-1973
REPATRIATED BY:
VIETNAM |
429
|
* |
CHINA |
2 |
** |
LAOS |
149 |
|
CAMBODIA |
16 |
|
TOTAL |
596 |
*** |
NOTES:
* 34 remains from the Official Died in Captivity Lists provided
by the Vietnamese in 1973.
** 2 ashes returned from China.
*** 4 remains were recovered and turned over to the U.S. by indigenous
personnel; 1 from North Vietnam and 3 from Laos. They are included
in the country count.
U.S. GOVERNMENT EFFORTS: Since the fall of Saigon
in 1975, the U.S. Government has acquired 21,731 reports possibly
pertaining to Americans in Southeast Asia:
SUMMARY OF REPORTS
FIRSTHAND LIVE SIGHTINGS |
1,909
|
HEARSAY SIGHTINGS REPORTS |
4,845 |
CRASH/GRAVE SITES |
5,255 |
DOGTAGS |
9,752 |
TOTAL |
21,761 |
Of the 1,909 firsthand reports received since 1975, 1,896 (99.32%)
reports are resolved.
- 1,318 (69.04%) reports were equated to Americans who are accounted
for (i.e., PW returnees, missionaries, civilians jailed at various
times for violation of Vietnamese codes).
- 45 (2.36%) reports were correlated to wartime sightings of
military personnel or pre-1975 sighting of civilians who remain
unaccounted for.
- 533(27.92%) reports were determined to be fabrications.
The remaining 13 (0.68%) unresolved firsthand reports represent
the focus of the U.S. Government analytical and collection efforts:
- 12 (0.63% pertain to Americans reported in a captive environment.
- 1 (0.05%) reported sighting of an American in a non-captive
environment (i.e. working as truck drivers; married with Vietnamese
family).
The following timeline presents an overview of unresolved firsthand
sightings by the year of the sighting:
TIMELINE: UNRESOLVED LIVE SIGHTING REPORTS
Pre-76 |
76-80 |
81-85 |
86-90 |
91 |
92 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
96 |
97 |
98 |
99 |
Total
|
12
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
29 |
SUBJECT: VIETNAM-ERA UNACCOUNTED FOR STATISTICAL REPORT
BACKGROUND: The Department of Defense, Washington
Headquarters Service, and the Department of State report the current
numbers of Americans who are unaccounted for in Southeast Asia:
AMERICANS UNACCOUNTED FOR IN SOUTHEAST
ASIA*
COUNTRY
OF LOSS |
PW/MIA
|
KIA/BNR
|
TOTAL
|
NORTH VIETNAM |
283 |
246 |
529 |
SOUTH VIETNAM |
407 |
558 |
965 |
LAOS |
259 |
159 |
418 |
CAMBODIA |
35 |
32 |
67 |
CHINA |
6 |
2 |
8 |
TOTAL |
990 |
997 |
1,987 |
* Status as of Homecoming
Figure 2 summarizes all unaccounted for Americans in Southeast
Asia by components:
U.S. LOSSES BY SERVICE COMPONENT
COMPONENT |
PW/MIA
|
KIA/BNR
|
TOTAL
|
USA |
336 |
298 |
634 |
USN |
101 |
305 |
406 |
USMC |
90 |
162 |
252 |
USAF |
431 |
225 |
656 |
USCG |
0 |
1 |
1 |
CIVILIAN |
32 |
6 |
38 |
TOTAL |
990 |
997 |
1,987 |
KEY OBSERVATION ABOUT REPORTING: A Vietnamese
Government misinformation program has been associated with recent
reporting on missing Americans. Those reports all pertain to the
alleged recovery of remains and identifying data (i.e., dog tags)
by Vietnamese citizens.
Since mid-1982, 9,752 "dog tag" reports on 8,275 individuals reveal
the following trends:
7,719 (93.28%) of those names reported are individuals who returned
to the U.S. alive;
386 (4.66%) of the reports correspond to U.S. remains that have
been recovered/identified and buried in the U.S.
170 (2.05%) relate to individuals who remain unaccounted for.
In all instances, dog tag reports receive thorough investigative
attention, to include informing the military services of those
reports with valid names so next of kin can be advised as appropriate.
|