The Vietnam-Era Prisoner-of-War/Missing-in-Action Database
Subject: Vietnam-Era Unaccounted for Statistical Report
CURRENT AS OF: October 2, 1997
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 |
502 |
110 |
36 |
0 |
658 |
NAVY |
289 |
93 |
31 |
2 |
8 |
423 |
MARINE
CORPS |
28 |
205 |
22 |
14 |
0 |
269 |
AIR FORCE |
249 |
171 |
278 |
19 |
0 |
717 |
COAST
GUARD |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
CIVILIANS |
0 |
23 |
13 |
5 |
0 |
41 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTALS |
576 |
995 |
454 |
76 |
8 |
2109* |
* 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 20050 reports pertaining to
Americans in Southeast Asia:
Figure 2
SUMMARY OF REPORTS
FIRSTHAND LIVE SIGHTINGS |
1867 |
HEARSAY SIGHTINGS REPORTS |
4388 |
CRASH/GRAVESITES |
4888 |
DOGTAGS |
9311 |
|
|
TOTAL |
20454 |
a. Of the 1867 firsthand reports received since 1975, 1781(56%)
reports are resolved.
-- 1249(66%) 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(3%) reports were correlated to wartime sightings of military personnel
or pre-1975 sighting of civilians who remain unaccounted for.
-- 487(26%) reports were determined to be fabrications.
b. The remaining 86(5%) unresolved firsthand reports represent
the focus of the U.S. Government's analytical and collection efforts:
-- 77(4.5%) pertain to Americans reported in
a captive environment.
-- 9(.5%) 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 |
82 |
83 |
84 |
85 |
86 |
87 |
88 |
63 |
9 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
89 |
90 |
91 |
92 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
96 |
97 |
Total |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
86 |
3. ACCOUNTING FOR U.S. PERSONNEL: The Central Identification
Laboratory, Hawaii, reports that since 1973, the U.S. has accounted
for 460 Americans from Southeast Asia.
Figure 4
AMERICANS ACCOUNTED FOR POST-1973
VIETNAM |
355* |
CHINA |
2** |
LAOS |
112 |
CAMBODIA |
5 |
|
|
TOTAL |
474*** |
NOTES:
* 31 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. |