The Vietnam-Era Prisoner-of-War/Missing-in-Action Database
Subject: Vietnam-Era Unaccounted for Statistical Report
CURRENT AS OF: February 23, 1999
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 |
498 |
110 |
35 |
0 |
653 |
NAVY |
286 |
92 |
28 |
3 |
8 |
417 |
MARINE
CORPS |
26 |
204 |
22 |
14 |
0 |
266 |
AIR FORCE |
235 |
166 |
273 |
19 |
0 |
693 |
COAST
GUARD |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
CIVILIANS |
0 |
22 |
12 |
5 |
0 |
39 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTALS |
557 |
983 |
445 |
76 |
8 |
2069* |
* INCLUDES 468 AT SEA/OVER WATER LOSSES
2. U.S. GOVERNMENT EFFORTS: Since the fall of Saigon in 1975,
the U.S. Government has acquired 21318 reports pertaining to
Americans in Southeast Asia:
Figure 2
SUMMARY OF REPORTS
FIRSTHAND LIVE SIGHTINGS |
1897 |
HEARSAY SIGHTINGS REPORTS |
4651 |
CRASH/GRAVESITES |
5106 |
DOGTAGS |
9664 |
|
|
TOTAL |
21318 |
a. Of the 1897 firsthand reports received since 1975, 1832(96.57%)
reports are resolved.
-- 1283(67.63%) 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(2.37%) reports were correlated to wartime sightings of military personnel
or pre-1975 sighting of civilians who remain unaccounted for.
-- 504(26.57%) reports were determined to be fabrications.
b. The remaining 65(3.43%) unresolved firsthand reports represent
the focus of the U.S. Government's analytical and collection efforts:
-- 57(3.01%) pertain to Americans reported
in a captive environment.
-- 8(0.42%) 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 |
81-85 |
86-90 |
91 |
92 |
93 |
42 |
9 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
94 |
95 |
96 |
97 |
98 |
99 |
Total |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
65 |
3. ACCOUNTING FOR U.S. PERSONNEL: The Central Identification
Laboratory, Hawaii, reports that since 1973, the U.S. has accounted
for 514 Americans from Southeast Asia.
Figure 4
AMERICANS ACCOUNTED FOR POST-1973
VIETNAM |
381* |
CHINA |
2** |
LAOS |
126 |
CAMBODIA |
5 |
|
|
TOTAL |
514*** |
NOTES:
* 34 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.
|