Statistical information about casualties of the Vietnam War

Electronic and Special Media Records Services Division Reference Report

Introduction
Tables Containing Record Counts Generated from the [Southeast Asia] Combat Area Casualties Current File (CACCF) by:
- . . . Age at Time of Death or Declaration of Death
- . . . Branch of Service
- . . . Casualty Type
- . . . Cause of Casualty
- . . . Country of Casualty
- . . . Marital Status
- . . . Military Pay Grade
- . . . Race
- . . . Religion
- . . . Service Component
- . . . Sex
- . . . State Home of Record
- . . . Year of Death or Declaration of Death
Contact Information

Introduction

The Electronic and Special Media Records Services Division of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has custody of several computerized data files with Vietnam War casualty records. Of these, the [Southeast Asia] Combat Area Casualties Current File (CACCF), which is part of Records on Military Personnel Who Died, Were Missing in Action or Prisoners of War as a Result of the Vietnam War, in the Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Record Group 330), is considered the most comprehensive compilation of Vietnam War casualty records. A description (ARC ID: 306742) is available through NARA's Archival Research Catalog (ARC).

Because these records are in electronic form, statistical software may be used to analyze the contents of the records. As part of the archival processing of CACCF, NARA staff generated the selected statistics presented below and use them to answer frequently asked questions about the characteristics of Vietnam War casualties. These statistics were generated from the December 1998 version of CACCF transferred to NARA from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Washington Headquarter Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (DIOR). This file has 58,193 records of U.S. military personnel who died between 1956 to 1998 as a result of the conflict in Southeast Asia, including those declared dead from a missing or captured status. The selected statistics are for informational purposes only. The Information Technology Management Directorate (ITMD), Washington Headquarters Services of the Office of the Secretary of Defense continues to maintain the CACCF and transfers updated versions periodically. ITMD produces official summary reports on military personnel casualties and makes some of them available online at the Department of Defense's Military Casualty Information website.

In addition, the statistics presented are not comprehensive and do not answer every possible question about the characteristics of Vietnam War casualties. By their nature, electronic records such as the CACCF can be used for a variety of analytical purposes. The statistics presented here are 'frequency counts' or simple counts of the number of records in the file containing specific values. Some categories (age at death, for example) have been grouped for more meaningful presentation. Please note: the column headings for each statistic come from the documentation for the CACCF that DIOR/OSD transferred to NARA. Anyone who seeks more complex statistics like the number of casualties, by race, with a given state home of record, can run queries of the records online through the Access to Archival Databases (AAD) resource. Or you can order a copy of the CACCF on removeable media and use your own software for whatever analysis you choose. For information about ordering a copy, please review Ordering Information for Electronic Records.

CACCF Record Counts by Age at Time of Death or Declaration of Death (as of 12/98)

Age at Time of Death/Declaration of Death	Number of Records
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, Not Reported	17
Total	58,193