The Vietnam Wall - vva310.org He would become instrumental in helping Doubek identify names and check spellings. Those who died in the Vietnam War whose last names begin - Virtual Wall In order to have your name on the Wall, you had to have died within the war zone, explained Doubek. I mean, it was bad.. 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. For a photograph of an inscription of a close friend or relative, write: This website requires a paid subscription for full access. The slabs meet at a vertex of 125 degrees, 10 feet above ground level to form the Wall. Wall Information - The Wall USA It is hard to believe it has been 36 years since the last casualties. Our combat arms were thought to be completely classless. that each name was a real person. Maya Lin - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund At the time, approximately 1,300 names were designated as servicemen who were either missing or prisoners of war. Interesting Veterans Statistics Of The Vietnam Memorial Wall There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010. Buis died, as did Army Master Sergeant Chester Ovnand, whose name is second on the wall. No other moniker for Sammy Davis Jr. was more accurate. The affected record collections are described below. Thus, there were 211,455 killed and wounded, or one in every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam. They drew on every segment of American society. However, if officer casualties are added to the total, then this overrepresentation is reduced to 12.5 percent of all casualties. Inscribed dots in the margins of every other panel mark every 10 lines to aid in counting. (The 58,000 Names) Our fallen Vietnam War heroes are herethe 58,000 heroes who died in Vietnam. Another browser may inform you that it does not know how to display the file Perhaps more important, many of them probably did not yet fully understand their own mortality and were therefore less likely to be hesitant in combat. 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. Each entry includes a panel number and letter; "W" is for "west" or the left half of the memorial, "E" is for east, or the right half of the memorial. The vast majority of Americans who were eligible by age but did not serve in the armed forces were exempted by reason of physical, mental, psychiatric, or moral failure; or they were given status deferments because they were college students, fathers, clergy, teachers, engineers or conscientious objectors. Marine Corps History Division2044 Broadway StreetQuantico, Virginia 22134Telephone: (703) 432-4877, Coast GuardU.S. Each entry includes a panel number and letter; "W" is for "west" or the left half of the memorial, "E" is for east, or the right half of the memorial. Military Reunions, Screensavers, Rubbings, Personal Guestbook for all Names. 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. Kurt Buis was 8 years old the day his father died. The slabs meet at a vertex of 125 degrees, 10 feet above ground level to form the Wall. How many Smiths can there possibly be who died in Vietnam? If officers are added, then almost 70 percent of those who died were volunteers. The Army suffered the most total casualties, 38,179 or 2.7 percent of its force. The central idea of the poem is that the Vietnamese War took hundreds of lives away from the United States of America. The numbers on the wall ascend from the center out toward the left and right extremes. Vietnam War: in Country, Notice: Scanning of Vietnam-era Deck Logs, Vietnam War, 1961-1975. Frequently Asked Questions - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund On the Vietnam Veterans Memorial site in Washington, D.C., a special plaque reads: "In Memory of the men and women who served in the Vietnam War and later died as a result of their service. Beside each name is a symbol that denotes a service members status: either missing or confirmed dead. On the other end of that phone call was an former Air Force officer who had served in Vietnam. We were being fired upon by anti-aircraft guns. Since the days of Alexander the Great and the Roman Legions, it has always been the young, inexperienced, low-ranking enlisted man who has taken the brunt of combat casualties. They also died quickly, many within a few weeks or months of arriving in Vietnam. Gather facts from sources at home,and talk to relatives. Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons. The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. 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. On the stencil printouts, each line contained five names per row. Unfortunately, the Department of Defense and the individual service branches maintained separate casualty lists with slightly differing criteria. We searched the National Archives Catalog and located a series titled Muster Rolls and Personnel Diaries, 1941-1980 in the Records of the U.S. Marine Corps (Record Group 127). They seem honored to be putting the names on the Wall.. The job of cross-referencing the information of individual branches with the DoD fell to Doubek. Instead its nearly in the center. The panels come together to form a point, linking the first and last together in enduring tribute. The casual visitor might not immediately recognize that Buis name is the first. Dear Mr. Huddleston, Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! Almost 50 percent were majors, lieutenant-colonels, colonels and three were generals. Locate the line on which the name is inscribed. And, as in every American war, it is the very young who are the most willing to volunteer. columns per page. Many of them, as experienced pilots, were older (two thirds were thirty or older) and many were high ranking. In a massive sampling of the database, it was established that between 5 and 6 percent of Vietnam dead had identifiable Hispanic surnames. The trigger came when the recruiters pointed out that the volunteer could enlist as early as 17 (with parental consent); that he was allowed to select his branch of service; that he would receive specialized training if he qualified; that he could request a specific overseas assignment; and that his three year enlistment followed by three years in the inactive reserves satisfied his military obligation immediately. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. A correspondingly greater tradition of military service in the other regions had its effect on U.S. regional casualties. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Vietnam Magazine today! The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 245 deaths. There were 667; How many Andersons?, 178; Garcias?, 102; Murphys?, 82; Jenkins?, 66; One wants to know more about these Americans. 31 sets of brothers are on the Wall. Doubek was tasked with identifying all of the names to be included on the Wall. The Marine Corps lost 14,836, or 5 percent of its own men. The Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) was given to all entering enlisted men. 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. 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. 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.. AGE 17 TO 21 PREFERRED ARMY AND MARINE COMBAT MATERIAL. 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. and have two columns per page, rather than only one column. 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. Written requests should be mailed to: National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. But there is a beginning. As Maya Ling Lin, the architect of the Wall, has said: It was as if the black-brown earth were polished and made into an interface between the sunny world and the quiet dark world beyond that we cannot enter. 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. the "save as" menu command to store each text file on your media. the person they know. Why are names added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall? It is more notable, perhaps, only because his was the first name engraved into The Wall. 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. The Air Force lost the highest percentage of officers. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. About 58 thousand of the 7 million American service men and women who served in Vietnam died. Coast Guard casualties are included in the Navy totals. They refer to older or younger siblings who are either in or on their way to college. There are 58,267 names now listed on Vietnam Wall, including those added in 2010. Joe Moore's VN Memorial Wall Start Page - cantho-rvn.org By his estimate, he helped pull out close to 2,000 people. Alphabetical listing of the names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall . 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. Photo credit DOD photo by Army Sgt. Vandegeers message also depicted a man who believed the worst was behind him. Army Major Dale Buis' name is etched into the granite half an inch tall, no bigger or smaller than any of the others. At the time, approximately 1,300 names were designated as servicemen who were either missing or prisoners of war. In 2004, the total is 58,241 names. Its still fought in the bodies and minds of the men who waged it all those decades ago. Early in the war (1965 and 1966) when blacks made up about 11 percent of our Vietnam force, black casualties soared to more than 20 percent of the total. Once additions are approved by DoD, VVMF receives the list of approved names, coordinates the inscribing and absorbs the costs. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. This is the most accurate database online. A more precise equation would be that the college bound stayed home while the non-college bound served and died. And there is an end. There is no question that all segments of American society were represented. The Vietnam Wall at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park features the names of local fallen soldiers. And they all went to Vietnam. Frequently relatives or buddies of casualties Search the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s database of names on the wall. Making these arrangements and printing the pages takes considerable The last 18 names listed on the bottom of Panel 1, West, also at the apex, are from May 15, 1975. More names are added to the wall every year. The black granite walls are engraved with the names of more than 58,000 men and women who laid down their lives or remained missing. If your browser displays the text file, you can then use The panel numbers are inscribed at the bottom of each panel. When the Wall was dedicated in 1982, there were 57,939 names inscribed. The Order of Precedence For Military Ribbon Wear, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pubH-5CulqI, Military Funeral Guide for Families & Funeral Homes, The Ultimate Military Gift Guide for Unique Military Gifts, Black Military History and Black Medal of Honor Recipients. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. 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. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. All other individual draftee files from that period were destroyed by the Selective Service System in 1978, in accordance with approved records retention schedules. In some instances, names needed to be shuffled in order to fit on a line. They came largely from California and Texas, with lesser numbers from Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Florida, New York and a few from many other states across the country. Once a master list was compiled, the names were checked manually for errors. Its now one of the most popular memorials in Washington. Less than 1 percent (0.8) were Jewish, Hindu, Thai, Buddhist or Muslim combined, and 5.7 listed no religion. During one review, Doubek found a glitch with the computer software: it did not recognize the spaces that appeared within a last name, such as van der Meide. Nor could it properly discern a compounded first name, such as Billy Bob, versus a traditional first and middle name. The Air Force lost 2,580 or l percent. This was a reflection of the role of warrant officers as helicopter pilots (of the 1,277 warrant officer casualties, 95 percent were Army helicopter pilots), and of the young lieutenants and captains as combat platoon leaders or company commanders. What will be the evolving historical judgment for those names on the Wall? Marlin on March 19, 1967 and Norman on August 18, 1968 Brothers Bennett and Dennis Herrick were both killed in Vietnam. Postscript: Since 1982, there have been 89 names added to The Wall. Derek Turner is a freelance writer and a former senior editor of On Patrol. 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. The DOD percentages reveal that nearly 75 percent of Army enlisted casualties were privates or corporals. Eight women were killed in Vietnam, five Army lieutenants, one Army captain, one Army lieutenant colonel and one Air Force captain. Indeed, officer casualties of all branches were overwhelmingly white. All heroes are listed alphabetically by their last name. Naval Academy, 130; Texas A & M, 112; The Citadel, 66; Virginia Military Institute, 43; Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 26; Norwich University, 19. 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. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Learn about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in this brief introductory video. These names are followed by the inscription: Our nation honors the courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty and country of its Vietnam veterans. It is not surprising, for instance, that West Virginia, Montana, and Oklahoma had a casualty rate almost twice that of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Some common names appear on the Memorial more than once. It is forgotten now, but in the beginning Congress and most of the American people were behind our containment effort in Vietnam. W denotes the west wall, and E denotes the east wall. The result: no comprehensive master list of Vietnam War casualties existed. Dates of enlsitment or selective service registration will be helpful along with the name military units they served with. Nursing the wounded. I could tell you about how real the fear was that I felt, since from the time we crossed the Delta and made the run into Saigon, we were over enemy territory. Ninety-one percent of these Army officers were warrant officers, second lieutenants, first lieutenants or captains. It was fitting that Vandegeer finally returned home to American soil, because he spent his last weeks at war evacuating Americans as Saigon fell. United States Vietnam War 1964 to 1972 FamilySearch 1972 NAID 305367, Silver Star Medal and Legion of Merit Award Case Files, 19711971 NAID 5721359. while they download, thank you. 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. The draft policy at the time of the Vietnam War was called the Universal Military Training and Service Act. He was a Navy enlisted man during World War II and has a degree in Political Science from Duke University. The Vietnam Registry - Connecting our Veterans and Stewarding their Stories The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall USA website is dedicated to honoring those who died in the Vietnam War. Individual Award Case Files, 1969 - 1970. 26 Similar Questions Chronological Lists of Names On The Wall - The Moving Wall Their sons, if not college material, made up a significant part of the volunteers and draftees. Hed volunteered to join a small U.S. military advisory team attached to the South Vietnamese army, and hed been in the village of Bien Hoa for only two days. 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. Each name is listed with great honor and respect. The unit diary portion of the muster roll should indicate when members of the Lima Company, 3rd platoon. With the glitch discovered, Doubek and his team located and hand-corrected each error. They did not, in most cases, carry the burdens of wife or children. Officer casualties in Vietnam, including warrant officers, numbered 7,874, or 13.5 percent of all casualties. As one stands before the Wall one feels that no other judgment is acceptable to their living memory. Quite a different profile emerges among the Navy and Air force officer corps. name within a given date. 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. How many women soldiers died in the Vietnam War? 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. A doctor arrived and gave his shaken mother a sedative. Alphabetical List Of Vietnam Veterans : Top Picked from our Experts The numbers on the wall ascend from the center out toward the left and right extremes. How to Order a Draft Record. All of this was one of the great and abiding agonies of the Vietnam War, causing repercussions within families and on the national political scene to this day. EIN: 52-1149668, Copyright 2023 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display. Folded American flags were presented to his parents and an Air Force helicopter flew over the ceremony. Please be patient This is close to, but not exactly in the same order Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. Charles Holley; chief editor, Robert J. Martin, 4th Infantry Division. offer to read the block of names that includes their special names. No other American war has presented such a young profile in combat. Their sacrifices were honored July 8, 2009, in Washington during a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of their deaths. No duplicate copies of the records that were destroyed in the fire were maintained, nor was a microfilm copy ever produced. And they are so respectful when they do the engraving. Full casualty records may be retrieved online through the National Archives' Access to Archival Databases resource. Virtual Wall of Faces almost complete, needs remaining photos - VA News 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. No single persons service or sacrifice would be any greater than anyone elses. person reads for 20 minutes, (270 names) this will require 216 volunteer name It is more notable, perhaps, only because his was the first name engraved into The Wall. as the names on the Wall. How to Find a Name on Vietnam Wall - YouTube 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. Click to learn about the In Memory program . Seeking Names of Marines killed in Vietnam in D | History Hub 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. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund | 3033 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300 | Arlington VA 22201 | 202.393.0090 Coast Guard Historians OfficeCommandant (CG-09224)U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters 2100 Second Street SW Washington, D.C. 20593. Its unlikely that anyone who visits the memorial on a given day would have the time, the heart or the stomach to read and consider each one. All were nurses, all were single and all but one were in their 20s. Her name? Authority Record - NARA, Records of the U.S. As Vandegeer piloted his CH-53 helicopter toward the island, a wall of anti-aircraft fire knocked it from the sky, and it crashed toward the water with 26 men aboard. And there would be nothing to denote service or rank. The Army as a branch had 134,982 killed or wounded (9.5 percent), but the Marines suffered 66,227 killed or wounded (22.5 percent) or almost one of every four Marines who served. Once download The Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands as a symbol of America's honor and recognition of the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War. The Wall of Faces allows family and friends to share memories, post pictures and connect with each other. The names of those who gave their lives and of those who remain missing are inscribed in the order they were taken from us. Proving a direct correlation to the injuries is a challenge, Pontes explained. Several hundred such designation changes have been made since the Wall was built in 1982. The burden of combat fell on the very available non-college-bound young. Ziomek's name was finally inscribed on the Washington memorial on Sept. 15, 2020; he was one of just three veterans added in 2020. The Names - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund The Names When the Wall was dedicated in 1982, there were 57,939 names inscribed. Non-Archival records are those of service members who separated from the military less than 62 years ago. The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis maintains Vietnam War Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF). Buis was in Vietnam by his own volition. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965. 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. Scholars debate about when the war really began and in many ways it has never ended. Are the names on the Vietnam Memorial in alphabetical order? but will allow you to download it after you specify a file name. In an audiotape recorded for a close friend shortly before Vandegeers death, and transcribed in Bernard Edelmans book Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam, he described the perilous mission in Saigon. If each See Access to Non-Archival Records for more information. Therefore, a complete listing of the records that were lost is not available. Plan a Visit - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Access to Non-Archival Military Service Records is limited. Count down from the top of the panel. Senate. 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. Thus we can see that the channeling philosophy continued within the armed forces. Vandegeer was on a mission to rescue the crew of the SS Mayaguez, a merchant ship captured three days earlier off the coast of Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge. National Mall and Memorial Parks , Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Download the official NPS app before your next visit. Many of the 17- and 18-year olds were simply late in maturing. A diamond symbol signifies that the service members death was confirmed. 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. . But in 1966, President Johnson and Secretary of Defense McNamara decided to institute Project 100,000 that would allow category IV men to enter the military. THE NAMES ON THE WALL: AN HISTORICAL JUDGMENT. In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. This change prompted the addition of 110 names in 1986. This year, 14 names were etched into the wall. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. In terms of national origin/ancestries, an extensive sampling of the data-base reveals that Americans of French Canadian, Polish, Italian and other Southern and Eastern European surnames made up about 10 percent of the Vietnam casualties. As of 2017, there are 58,318 names inscribed on The Wall. Army and Marine officer casualties were also quite young. However, in 1980, President James E. Carter resumed Selective Service registration in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. But you had stories of guys in the Air Force who would die in their aircraft over Thailand after having been shot over Vietnam. Technically, they were ineligible for inclusion on the Wall. They often reveal a typically warm American family atmosphere. 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 essence of the Wall is the names and the reaction of the visitor to seeing his or her reflection in this sea of remembrance. The Vietnam Wall Flashcards | Quizlet You could also keep these files on a computer at your It is hard to believe it has been 36 years since the last casualties. 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. The USO is a not-for-profit organization and not part of the Department of Defense (DoD). Note the panel and line number for the name listed. 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 Selective Service registration requirement was later suspended in April 1975. . 5,058) had ever known and cheered. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. There are students on field trips, some solemn and curious, but some just happy to get out of class. 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.