Vietnam War Casualties (1955-1975)

Cold War | Vietnam Conflict

America paid a terrible price for its involvement in the Vietnam War - nearly 60,000 killed-in-action, over 150,000 wounded, and some 1,600 missing.

Numbers certainly do not tell the whole story - or all of them - but they certainly paint a picture of lives lost and families devastated. The Vietnam War became a painful lesson for many - from Washington, D.C. to Smalltown America. The officially-reported numbers and categories below cover American Vietnam War deaths by age group, branch of service, service component, type of death, reason for death, race, religion, sex, state/protectorate and deaths by war year (including post-war).

By Age:

Age at Time of Death

Casualties

17

12

18

3,103

19

8,283

20

14,095

21

9,705

22

4,798

23

3,495

24

2,650

25

2,018

26

1,414

27

917

28

768

29

710

30-39

4,927

40-49

1,156

50-59

121

60-62

4

Unknown Age/Not Reported

17

TOTAL:

58,193

By Branch of Service:

Branch of Service:

Casualties

United States Air Force (USAF)

2,584

United States Army (U.S. Army)

38,209

United States Coast Guard (USCG)

7

United States Marine Corps (USMC)

14,838

United States Navy (USN)

2,555

TOTAL:

58,193

By Service Component:

Component:

Casualties

Reserves

5,760

National Guard

97

Regular

34,475

Selective Service

17,672

Unknown

189

TOTAL:

58,193

By Type:

Casualty Type:

Casualties

Killed in Action (KIA); Died in Combat

38,502

Killed in Action (KIA); Died of Wounds

5,264

Killed in Action (KIA); Died while Missing

3,524

Prisoner of War (POW); Died in Captivity

116

Non-Hostile; Other Causes

7,458

Non-Hostile; Death from Illness / Injury

1,978

Non-Hostile; Died while Missing

1,351

TOTAL:

58,193

By Race:

Race Reported:

Casualties

Native American

226

Caucasian

50,120

Malayan

252

Mongolian

116

Negro

7,264

Unknown

215

TOTAL:

58,193

Casualty Reasons:

Reason Reported:

Casualties

Guns; Small Arms

18,518

Multiple Fragmentary Wounds

8,456

Air Loss; Crash on Land

7,992

Other Explosive Devices

7,450

Artillery, Rocket or Mortar

4,914

Other Accident

1,371

Misadventure

1,326

Drowned; Suffocated

1,207

Vehicle Loss; Crash

1,187

Accidental Homicide

944

Accidental Self-Destruction

842

Other Causes

754

Air Loss; Crash at Sea

577

Burns

530

Illness; Disease

482

Suicide

382

Heart Attack

273

Intentional Homicide

234

Malaria

118

Bomb Explosion

52

Stroke

42

Hepatitis

22

Unknown; Not Reported

520

TOTAL:

58,193

By Religion:

Religion Reported:

Casualties

Assemblies of God

117

Baptist - American

4

Baptist - Southern

121

Baptist - Other

9,478

Brethren, Dunkers

63

Buddhism

53

Christian Science

63

Church of Christ

528

Church of God

238

Congregational Christian

145

Disciples of Christ

34

Episcopal, Anglican

825

Evangelical, United Brethren

39

Evangelical, Reformed

11

Friends, Quakers

12

Jehovah's Witnesses

26

Jewish

269

Mormon Latter Day Saints

589

Lutheran & Missouri Synod

2,251

Methodist

4,079

Mission Covenant

1

Moslem, Muslim

12

Nazarene

132

Orthodox, Greek

58

Orthodox, Russian

22

Pentecostal

182

Presbyterian

1,303

Protestant - Other

559

Protestant - No Preference

16,644

Reformed

45

Roman Catholic

16,815

7th Day Adventist

116

Unitarian Universalist

45

United Church of Christ

11

No Religious Preference

1,284

Other Religions

210

Unknown

1,809

TOTAL:

58,193

By Sex:

Sex:

Casualties

Female

8

Male

58,185

TOTAL:

58,193

By State or Protectorate:

State / Protectorate:

Casualties

Alabama

1,207

Alaska

57

Arizona

623

Arkansas

588

California

5,573

Canal Zone

2

Colorado

620

Connecticut

611

Delaware

122

District of Columbia

242

Florida

1,952

Georgia

1,582

Guam

70

Hawaii

276

Idaho

217

Illinois

2,934

Indiana

1,532

Iowa

853

Kansas

627

Kentucky

1,055

Louisiana

882

Maine

343

Maryland

1,014

Massachusetts

1,323

Michigan

2,654

Minnesota

1,072

Mississippi

637

Missouri

1,413

Montana

268

Nebraska

395

Nevada

151

New Hampshire

227

New Jersey

1,484

New Mexico

399

New York

4,121

North Carolina

1,609

North Dakota

198

Ohio

3,096

Oklahoma

988

Oregon

709

Pennsylvania

3,144

Puerto Rico

345

Rhode Island

207

South Carolina

896

South Dakota

193

Tennessee

1,291

Texas

3,415

Utah

366

Vermont

100

Virgin Islands

15

Virginia

1,304

Washington

1,050

West Virginia

732

Wisconsin

1,161

Wyoming

120

Other (Non-U.S.)

121

TOTAL:

58,193

By War Year / Post-War:

Year:

Casualties

1956-1960

9

1961

16

1962

52

1963

118

1964

206

1965

1,863

1966

6,143

1967

11,153

1968

16,592

1969

11,616

1970

6,081

1971

2,357

1972

641

1973

168

1974

178

1975

161

1976

77

1977

96

1978

447

1979

148

1980

26

1980-90

34

1991-98

11

TOTAL:

58,193

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