The Vietnam-Era Prisoner-of-War/Missing-in-Action Database
Subject: Vietnam-Era Unaccounted for Statistical Report
CURRENT AS OF: March 31, 1997
1. 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:
Figure 1
AMERICANS UNACCOUNTED FOR IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
COMPONENT COUNTRY
OF LOSS
|
NORTH
VIETNAM |
SOUTH
VIETNAM |
LAOS |
CAMBODIA |
CHINA |
TOTALS |
ARMY |
10 |
503 |
110 |
36 |
0 |
659 |
NAVY |
289 |
94 |
31 |
2 |
8 |
424 |
MARINE
CORPS |
31 |
205 |
22 |
14 |
0 |
272 |
AIR FORCE |
252 |
180 |
279 |
19 |
0 |
730 |
COAST
GUARD |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
CIVILIANS |
0 |
23 |
13 |
5 |
0 |
41 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTALS |
582 |
1006 |
455 |
76 |
8 |
2127* |
* INCLUDES 470 AT SEA/OVER WATER LOSSES
2. U.S. GOVERNMENT EFFORTS: Since the fall of Saigon in
1975, the U.S. Government has acquired 19927 reports pertaining
to Americans in Southeast Asia:
Figure 2
SUMMARY OF REPORTS
FIRSTHAND LIVE SIGHTINGS |
1846 |
HEARSAY SIGHTINGS REPORTS |
4196 |
CRASH/GRAVESITES |
4754 |
DOGTAGS |
9131 |
|
|
TOTAL |
19927 |
a. Of the 18 46 firsthand reports received since 1975, 1782(96%)
reports are resolved.
-- 1250(67%) 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(3%) reports were correlated to wartime sightings of military personnel
or pre-1975 sighting of civilians who remain unaccounted for.
-- 487(26%) reports were determined to be fabrications.
b. The remaining 64(4%) unresolved firsthand reports represent
the focus of the U.S. Government's analytical and collection efforts:
-- 52(3%) pertain to Americans reported in
a captive environment.
-- 12(1%) reported sightings of Americans in a non-captive environment (i.e.
working as truck drivers; married with a Vietnamese family).
c. The following timeline presents an overview of unresolved firsthand
sightings by the year of the sighting:
Figure 3.
TIMELINE: UNRESOLVED LIVE SIGHTING REPORTS
Pre-76 |
76-80 |
81 |
82 |
83 |
84 |
85 |
86 |
87 |
88 |
45 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
89 |
90 |
91 |
92 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
96 |
97 |
Total |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
64 |
3. ACCOUNTING FOR U.S. PERSONNEL: The Central Identification
Laboratory, Hawaii, reports that since 1973, the U.S. has accounted
for 456 Americans from Southeast Asia.
Figure 2
AMERICANS ACCOUNTED FOR POST-1973
VIETNAM |
338* |
CHINA |
2** |
LAOS |
111 |
CAMBODIA |
5 |
|
|
TOTAL |
456*** |
NOTES:
* 31 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.
|