But after World War II a kind of educational apartheid had settled over the United States. The essence of the Wall is the names and the reaction of the visitor to seeing his or her reflection in this sea of remembrance. They were struggling through or dropping out of high school, or if a high school graduate, had tested poorly for college entrance. For those and a handful of other unique circumstances, Doubek made his own list of men who had died due to the injuries in the combat zonesnames that may have been listed by an individual service branch, but not by DoD. The names of the 2,504 Americans missing in action from the Vietnam War are on the Tablets of the Missing at the ABMC Honolulu Memorial. but will allow you to download it after you specify a file name. A correspondingly greater tradition of military service in the other regions had its effect on U.S. regional casualties. We worked very hard with volunteers from the Gold Star Mothers, recalled Doubek. the "save as" menu command to store each text file on your media. The chronological order allows veterans who were in a battle to see their friends forever united on the Wall, he explained. Once additions are approved by DoD, VVMF receives the list of approved names, coordinates the inscribing and absorbs the costs. 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 The USO is a not-for-profit organization and not part of the Department of Defense (DoD). VVMF does not have the authority to overrule those who adjudicate these matters. They refer to older or younger siblings who are either in or on their way to college. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. Some are drawn to the Wall like pilgrims to Mecca. Colleen Pontes, whose father Kevin Joyce was added in 2003, remembered the rush of emotions she felt as she and her brother watched their dads name being inscribed in the granite. This is close to, but not exactly in the same order 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. As Vietnam War Veterans Day nears March 29, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation's Wall of Faces is nearly complete but needs help from the public to track down the last few dozen photos. Its been more than 20 years since Forrest Gump debuted on the silver screen and nearly a generation later, its characters still resonate with todays service members. Others think it is just another tourist stop until they feel the haunting power of this unique work of remembrance. Of 2,590 total Air Force casualties, 1,674 or 65 percent were officers. since it was dedicated because additional casualty records were found and The names are listed chronologically by date of death, the first to last. Of the 8000 Coast guardsmen who served in Vietnam, 3 officers and 4 enlisted men were killed and 59 were wounded. Records of individuals who left service more than 62 years ago are considered Archival Records and become records of the National Archives open to the general public. Their names, however, have been removed from the printed Directory of Names. 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. 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. 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. As many as 3 million people visit each year, according to some estimates, and they come for probably as many reasons. Its still fought in the bodies and minds of the men who waged it all those decades ago. effort, but is a very effective means to express the enormity of the war and Congress and the Johnson administration, therefore, sought to protect our college-bound and educated young men. 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. Photo credit DOD photo. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965. The first two names listed on Panel 1, East Wall, at the apex are from July 8, 1959. West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. Unfortunately, the Department of Defense and the individual service branches maintained separate casualty lists with slightly differing criteria. The burden of combat fell on the very available non-college-bound young. Where previously a high school diploma had been an acceptable goal, now it was college and all the benefits it would bring. The makeup of U.S. combat forces in Vietnam has long been the subject of controversy among social scientists. person reads for 20 minutes, (270 names) this will require 216 volunteer name (Surprisingly, as it turned out, the percentage of Vietnam veterans who applied for the GI Bill was higher than either World War II or Korea. An estimated 11,000 women served in Vietnam. Vietnam War Casualties, MIA and POWs. Congress. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. Less than 1 percent (0.8) were Jewish, Hindu, Thai, Buddhist or Muslim combined, and 5.7 listed no religion. They often reveal a typically warm American family atmosphere. The Navy fatalities were 2,556 or 2 percent. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. The Selective Service registration requirement was later suspended in April 1975. The Buddies of Midvale LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. It is hard to believe it has been 36 years since the last casualties. https://www.historynet.com/names-on-the-wall-a-closer-look-at-those-who-died-in-vietnam/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, When 21 Sikh Soldiers Fought the Odds Against 10,000 Pashtun Warriors, Few Red Tails Remain: Tuskegee Airman Dies at 96. The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 2,415 casualties were incurred. The Channeling Memo of July 1965, instructed all local draft boards to give status deferments to college undergraduate and post-graduate students. Her name? 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. Concerning, How do I find a name on the Vietnam War Memorial wall? At the time, approximately 1,300 names were designated as servicemen who were either missing or prisoners of war. There are over 58,000 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. These files are lists of the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, listed in chronological order of the casualty date and then alphabetical by last name within a given date. Inscription at the beginning of The Wall. Thats a tragic 2,415 more names on the Vietnam Wall in a single month. This number of deaths per 100,000 compared strikingly with the 23.5 in the Northeast region, 29.9 in the West and 28.4 in the North Central (Midwest) region. The National Archives has an online searchable database, entitled "Records on Military Personnel Who Died, Were Missing in Action or Prisoners of War as a Result of the Vietnam War," documenting the period 6/8/1956 - 1/21/1998. Be the first to learn about news, service member stories and fundraising updates from USO. 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. More than 200 names have been added to the Wall The panels are numbered beginning from the center out toward the ends of each wall. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest. The numbers on the wall ascend from the center out toward the left and right extremes. Please take a moment to let our troops know how much we appreciate their service and sacrifice. This takes about 72 hours. At the time, approximately 1,300 names were designated as servicemen who were either missing or prisoners of war. 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. Army Major Dale Buis name is etched into the granite half an inch tall, no bigger or smaller than any of the others. In this study we will refer to casualties as the 58,152 who died in Vietnam, but it should be emphasized that there were 153,303 who were wounded seriously enough to be hospitalized. Locate the corresponding panel at the Memorial. 5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old. Brothers Marlin and Norman Eversgerd were both killed in Vietnam. If your browser displays the text file, you can then use You must refer to a database, which gives the names in alphabetical order and includes the position of each on the Memorial. The Vietnam Wall at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park features the names of local fallen soldiers. Yet, a civilian heroine who served in a different capacity during that difficult time also merits particular acknowledgment. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, "'The Vietnam War' Sponsor Bank of America Teams With The Lumineers to Support the USO ", Programs for Service Members and Their Families. The names of those who gave their lives and of those who remain missing are inscribed in the order they were taken from us. How many Smiths can there possibly be who died in Vietnam? Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. In honor of the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States who served in the Vietnam War. The slabs meet at a vertex of 125 degrees, 10 feet above ground level to form the Wall. He was a Navy enlisted man during World War II and has a degree in Political Science from Duke University. Records of U.S. Military Casualties, Missing in Action, and Prisoners of War from the Era of the Vietnam War are available through the National Archives. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties. Written requests should be mailed to: National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. The training for American officers is thought by most foreign military authorities to be the best in the world. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. 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. Fallen comrades could be together on the Wall, as theyd been in death. 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. 3rd Battalion. Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons. The Wall of Faces allows family and friends to share memories, post pictures and connect with each other. Twenty years passed before Vandegeers remains were identified and another five passed before his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. The largest age group, 8,283 were just 19 years old. while they download, thank you. The National Archives prepared these state level casualty lists by creating extracts from the Korean War Extract Data File and the Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File, both as of April 29, 2008, of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Files, part of Record Group 330: Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. and have two columns per page, rather than only one column. Every day, Americas service members selflessly put their lives on the line to keep us safe and free. Some common names appear on the Memorial more than once. http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/vietna.. Please say a prayer for our fallen heroes, their family members, and our hero Vietnam War Veterans during your visit. NAID 5709942, U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency, National Archives Command Chronologies:Vietnam War, National Archives Command Chronologies: Vietnam War: Index to Reports, National Archves. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. The Air Force lost the highest percentage of officers. What happens to items left at the memorial? 8 Women are on the Wall. In high school, he joined ROTC and kept his fathers medals pinned next to his own awards on a piece of crimson cloth. By his estimate, he helped pull out close to 2,000 people. Officer casualties in Vietnam, including warrant officers, numbered 7,874, or 13.5 percent of all casualties. This can be in the form of a book, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Directory of Names, or one of the various databases. In the event a service members remains are returned or accounted for, then a diamond symbol is engraved over the plus sign. I looked at the record to determine whether mortal wounds were sustained, Doubek said of the men whose names were listed by the Army, but not by DoD. name within a given date. Dear Mr. Huddleston, Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! 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. the requirements were expanded (by. More names are added to the wall every year. There are the tourists who make the circuit of all the various monuments and landmarks in our nations capital. Nevertheless, 336,111 men were phased into the service under this plan (mostly the Army) and 2,072 were killed. Many of them, as experienced pilots, were older (two thirds were thirty or older) and many were high ranking. As we have pointed out earlier, more than 80 percent of our casualties were Army and Marine enlisted men with an average age of 19- to 20-years. Why are names added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall? Bennett on March 25, 1968 and Dennis on August 02, 1970 Brothers Gabriel and Paul Trujillo were both killed in Vietnam. Note that the files are large, and are in Rich Text Format (RTF), with two Along with its wave of death, it scarred many people, especially those closest to the men that died fighting the . But there is a beginning. From 1964 to 1973, 2,100,000 men and women served in Vietnam, but this was only 8 percent of the 26,000,000 Americans who were eligible for military service. The west wall is on the left when standing facing the vertex, and the east wall is to the right. I went through the whole list of names eight times, because I was concerned about the correct formatting, remembered Doubek. prepared by Frances A. Hortsch for the Phoenix Genealogical Society. Alphabetical listing of the names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall . 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. As one walks the Wall slowly, examining the ineffably American names, one is struck by the same recurring surnames. site, for searching with a word processor. Who were they? to open, search, edit, or print the name files. W denotes the west wall, and E denotes the east wall. 12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old. Though 13 were rescued at sea, the rest died, either upon impact or soon after. With this list in hand, he went to the various locations where individual service records were kept to review files. They seem honored to be putting the names on the Wall.. 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. As a result, the black casualty rate was reduced to 11.5 percent by 1969. offer to read the block of names that includes their special names. Richard Sandza received the message on the morning of May 15, 1975, the day his friend became the last American to die in combat during the Vietnam War. The major service academies and other military colleges provided close to 900 of the Vietnam officer casualties: the U.S. Military Academy, 278; the U.S. Air Force Academy, 205; the U.S. 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. Thus, the wars beginning and end meet. The names of Army Master Sergeant Chester Ovnand and Major Dale Buis are inscribed on Panel 1E of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall. . And there is an end. It is located north of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. along Constitution Avenue NW between 21st and 23rd streets. We were being fired upon by anti-aircraft guns. 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. As we search for proper bookends to encapsulate the story of a generation at war, perhaps the best we can do is look at what is written in stone. There is no question that all segments of American society were represented. Unfortunately, he mistakenly added a small number of names of men who were still alive. "Walking through this park-like area, the memorial appears as a rift in the earth, a long, polished, black stone wall, emerging from and receding into the earth.