His name does not appear at either far end. effort, but is a very effective means to express the enormity of the war and More names are added to the wall every year. Written requests should be mailed to: National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. The casual visitor might not immediately recognize that Buis name is the first. Black leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., protested, and President Johnson ordered black participation in combat units cut back. Once additions are approved by DoD, VVMF receives the list of approved names, coordinates the inscribing and absorbs the costs. Senate. The result: no comprehensive master list of Vietnam War casualties existed. And, as in every American war, it is the very young who are the most willing to volunteer. The USO is a not-for-profit organization and not part of the Department of Defense (DoD). At the time, approximately 1,300 names were designated as servicemen who were either missing or prisoners of war. This year, 14 names were etched into the wall. Beginning Research in United States Military Records, National Vietnam War Veterans Day - Wikepedia, National Park Service Vietnam Veterans Memorial. There is no question that all segments of American society were represented. It is more notable, perhaps, only because his was the first name engraved into The Wall. It called for the registration of all 18 to 26-year old males, with induction to take place at 18 1/2 if so ordered by the local draft board. 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. Beginning at the apex on panel 1E and going out to the end of the East wall, appearing to recede into the earth (numbered 70E May 25, 1968), then resuming at the end of the West wall, as the wall emerges from the earth (numbered 70W continuing May 25, 1968) and ending with a date in 1975. Most of the young American enlisted men who served in Vietnam were not college prospects at the time they entered the service. The draft policy at the time of the Vietnam War was called the Universal Military Training and Service Act. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. 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. Click to learn about the In Memory program . The names are listed chronologically by date of death, the first to last. Please say a prayer for our fallen heroes, their family members, and our hero Vietnam War Veterans during your visit. Little about it is concrete. The wall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington is 493 feet and 6 inches long, built of thick, polished black Bangalore granite. The last 18 names listed on the bottom of Panel 1, West, also at the apex, are from May 15, 1975. The draft continued from 1948, during both peacetime and war, to 1973, when President Richard M. Nixon signed legislation officially ending the draft. A diamond symbol signifies that the service members death was confirmed. This takes about 72 hours. And they are so respectful when they do the engraving. 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. By his estimate, he helped pull out close to 2,000 people. 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. An Air Force member, with his back to the camera, holds the POW/MIA flag during a full honors funeral for Air Force Second Lieutenant Richard Vandegeer at Arlington National Cemetery on October 27, 2000. 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. The central idea of the poem is that the Vietnamese War took hundreds of lives away from the United States of America. The ship had been taken to the island of Koh Tang. Why are names added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall? It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties. Vietnam War, Awards and Decorations of Honor, 1965-1972. We honor and remember their sacrifice.". The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. has the names listed in chronological order by date of loss. THE NAMES ON THE WALL: AN HISTORICAL JUDGMENT. columns per page. A(1780 names - 239023 bytes) B(5502 names - 737972 bytes) C(4363 names - 586584 bytes) D(2790 names - 374290 bytes) E(1082 names - 144866 bytes) F(1979 names - 265759 bytes) G(3036 names - 407075 bytes) H(4463 names - 598834 bytes) I(218 names - 29278 bytes) J(1845 names - 247563 bytes) K(2039 names - 273818 bytes) L(2594 names - 347007 bytes) 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 panels come together to form a point, linking the first and last together in enduring tribute. The slabs meet at a vertex of 125 degrees, 10 feet above ground level to form the Wall. It is more notable, perhaps, only because his was the first name engraved into The Wall. The largest age group, 8,283 were just 19 years old. Order it can be difficult but there are a few ways to find a name at either end of the memorial are stands with books inside these list the names in alphabetical. This page was last edited on 12 December 2022, at 18:28. The DOD database shows that of the 2,100,000 men and women who served in Vietnam, 58,152 were killed. 997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall. Frequently Asked Questions - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Another browser may inform you that it does not know how to display the file Authority Record - NARA, Records of the U.S. As one walks the Wall slowly, examining the ineffably American names, one is struck by the same recurring surnames. The west wall is on the left when standing facing the vertex, and the east wall is to the right. This was long before the advent of integrated computer databases. There are over 58,000 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. 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. This is close to, but not exactly in the same order as the names on the Wall. No other American war has presented such a young profile in combat. the "save as" menu command to store each text file on your media. There are students on field trips, some solemn and curious, but some just happy to get out of class. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. 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. 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. John Kennedy, discussing military assignments, said that, life is unfair. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. The Wall is about names. Twenty-five years later, in an interview with People magazine, he described playing with his two younger brothers as the news reached their home in Imperial Beach, California. He did it allsing, dance, create music and crack wise. Though the memorial continues to grow and evolve, the last name on the wall still belongs to Air Force Second Lieutenant Richard Vandegeer, a pilot who died after his helicopter crashed on May 15, 1975, during the wars final combat action. There were no indexes created prior to the fire. If a person died or went missing in those areas, DoD considered that individual to be a combat zone casualty and eligible for inclusion on the Wall. All would be represented equally, with generals listed alongside infantrymen. 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. But after World War II a kind of educational apartheid had settled over the United States. Together, we can make sure our heroes will get the reverence they deserve and the stories and sacrifices of our heroes will never be forgotten. 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. The Vietnam Wall at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park features the names of local fallen soldiers. In 2004, the total is 58,241 names. An estimated 11,000 women served in Vietnam. Written requests should be mailed to: National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. Dear Mr. Huddleston, Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! The index gives birth and death dates, country of death, cause of death (air, ground, or sea), town and state of residence at time of enlistment, race, religious affiliation, marital status, service number, rank, and branch of service. | However, there have been no such cases. The young enlisted volunteer or draftee had not had much time to form any complicated theories about our Vietnam commitment. About the Registry - The Vietnam Registry The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Several hundred such designation changes have been made since the Wall was built in 1982. These names are followed by the inscription: Our nation honors the courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty and country of its Vietnam veterans. Much more detailed All other individual draftee files from that period were destroyed by the Selective Service System in 1978, in accordance with approved records retention schedules. The vision of VVMF is to ensure a society in which all who have served and sacrificed in our nation's Armed Forces are properly honored and receive the recognition they justly deserve. Only 3 returned home. The first Americans to die did not perish in a foxhole or beneath stars obscured by a jungle canopy. Items are gathered by park staff. The officer corps has always drawn heavily on English/Scottish/Welsh, German, Irish and Scandinavian-American ancestries from middle-class white collar homes, with other large percentages from ambitious working class blue collar and, of course, career military families. Along with its wave of death, it scarred many people, especially those closest to the men that died fighting the . An aunt came and loaded the three boys into the car. Many of them, as experienced pilots, were older (two thirds were thirty or older) and many were high ranking. The Selective Service System remains in place today. 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. On the stencil printouts, each line contained five names per row. There are 58,267 names now listed on Vietnam Wall, including those added in 2010. Scholars debate about when the war really began and in many ways it has never ended. There was no need to embellish. If officers are added, then almost 70 percent of those who died were volunteers. information is available on this web site: These files are lists of the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, listed The Wall of Faces allows family and friends to share memories, post pictures and connect with each other. 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). Copies of WWII though Vietnam era (men born April 28, 1877 to March 28, 1957) Selective Service Records may be obtained from the National Personnel Records Center, in St. Louis, for a fee. 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. The individual Draft Registration Card (SSS Form 1) may contain information such as: name, Selective Service registration number, age, date and place of birth, ethnicity, place of residence at time of registration and basic physical description. It should be noted, however, that the draft was specifically designed to trigger volunteer enlistments. This is the most accurate database online. Congress and the Johnson administration, therefore, sought to protect our college-bound and educated young men. More Info At www.themovingwall.org Visit site They lived only a few yards apart. Full casualty records may be retrieved online through the National Archives' Access to Archival Databases resource. is complete, or you've done a "save as", you can use any word processor Thus, there were 211,455 killed and wounded, or one in every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam. Twenty years passed before Vandegeers remains were identified and another five passed before his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. Vietnam War Casualties- Main Alphabetical Index www.VirtualWall.org Find A Name Information Memorial pages honoring Vietnam War casualties, listed by their last names. The Marine Corps losses were skewed even more to the lower ranks, 91 percent were privates or corporals. Army Major Dale Buis name is etched into the granite half an inch tall, no bigger or smaller than any of the others. Many others joined the reserves or National Guard, which were not mobilized in any appreciable numbers during the war. I can envision a small cottage someplace, with a lot of writing paper, and a dog, and a fireplace, and maybe enough money to give myself some Irish coffee now and then and entertain my two friends , I dont think it will be too terribly long until we are together again.. Virtual Wall of Faces almost complete, needs remaining photos - VA News They often reveal a typically warm American family atmosphere. It is forgotten now, but in the beginning Congress and most of the American people were behind our containment effort in Vietnam. The directories are organized alphabetically by last name. Look for discharge papers, pictures, medals,etc. 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. Only 5 to 10 percent of enlisted men in the combat units were estimated to have had some college, and less than 1 percent of these enlisted men were college graduates. How many women soldiers died in the Vietnam War? The casualty date is the date the person was killed or wounded in combat or injured during an accident; for the missing, the date is when the person was reported missing. Fallen comrades could be together on the Wall, as theyd been in death. For men who registered for the draft prior to 1976, the only Selective Service System information available is that of the individual Draft Registration Card (SSS Form 1) and Classification History (SSS Form 102) records. but will allow you to download it after you specify a file name. The lists are based on the "home of record - state" data provided by the serviceman or woman upon last entrance into military service. 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. 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. Non-Archival records are those of service members who separated from the military less than 62 years ago. Those who died in the Vietnam War whose last names begin - Virtual Wall By providing your mobile phone number, you opt in to receive calls and texts from USO. Of course, the Marine, Navy, and Air Force enlisted casualties were all volunteers, but as it turned out, almost 50 percent of Army enlisted casualties were also volunteers. Making these arrangements and printing the pages takes considerable 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. . 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. since it was dedicated because additional casualty records were found and If each the reader loses composure. to open, search, edit, or print the name files. This is close to, but not exactly in the same order The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis maintains Vietnam War Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF). Seeking Names of Marines killed in Vietnam in D | History Hub Although it is a truism that the young die in war, one is still unprepared for the fact that 40 percent of Marine enlisted casualties in Vietnam were teenagers; that more than 16 percent of Army enlisted casualties were also teenagers; and that nearly a quarter of all enlisted casualties in Vietnam were between the ages of 17- and 19-years old.