The Vietnam-Era Prisoner-of-War/Missing-in-Action Database
Subject: Vietnam-Era Unaccounted for Statistical Report
CURRENT AS OF: October
18, 2000
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:
AMERICANS UNACCOUNTED FOR IN SOUTHEAST
ASIA
COMPONENT
|
COUNTRY OF LOSS |
|
|
VN |
VS |
LA |
CB |
CH |
TOTALS |
|
ARMY |
10 |
486 |
105 |
35 |
0 |
636 |
|
NAVY |
277 |
92 |
28 |
1 |
8 |
406 |
|
MARINE CORPS |
24 |
202 |
18 |
8 |
0 |
252 |
|
AIR FORCE |
219 |
165 |
258 |
16 |
0 |
658 |
|
COAST GUARD |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
CIVILIANS |
0 |
22 |
12 |
5 |
0 |
39 |
|
TOTALS |
530 |
968 |
421 |
65 |
8 |
1,992 |
* |
|
|
|
|
|
|
FURTHER PURSUIT |
229 |
499 |
365 |
48 |
4 |
1,145 |
DEFERRED |
58 |
110 |
30 |
2 |
1 |
201 |
NO FURTHER PURSUIT |
243 |
359 |
26 |
15 |
3 |
646 |
TOTALS |
530 |
968 |
421 |
65 |
8 |
1,992 |
VN = VIETNAM, NORTH VS = VIETNAM, SOUTH CB = CAMBODIA
CH = CHINA LA = LAOS
* INCLUDES 459 AT SEA/OVER WATER LOSSES
ACCOUNTING FOR U.S. PERSONNEL: The Central Identification
Laboratory, Hawaii reports that since 1973, the U.S. has accounted
for 591 Americans from Southeast Asia.
AMERICANS ACCOUNTED FOR POST-1973
REPATRIATED BY:
VIETNAM |
425
|
* |
CHINA |
2 |
** |
LAOS |
148 |
|
CAMBODIA |
16 |
|
TOTAL |
591 |
*** |
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.
U.S. GOVERNMENT EFFORTS: Since the fall of Saigon
in 1975, the U.S. Government has acquired 21,731 reports possibly
pertaining to Americans in Southeast Asia:
SUMMARY OF REPORTS
FIRSTHAND LIVE SIGHTINGS |
1,908
|
HEARSAY SIGHTINGS REPORTS |
4,832 |
CRASH/GRAVE SITES |
5,251 |
DOGTAGS |
9,745 |
TOTAL |
21,736 |
Of the 1,908 firsthand reports received since 1975, 1,879 (98.48%)
reports are resolved.
- 1,309 (68.61%) 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 (2.36%) reports were correlated to wartime sightings of
military personnel or pre-1975 sighting of civilians who remain
unaccounted for.
- 525 (27.52%) reports were determined to be fabrications.
The remaining 29 (1.52%) unresolved firsthand reports represent
the focus of the U.S. Government analytical and collection efforts:
- 26 (1.36%) pertain to Americans reported in a captive environment.
- 3 (0.16%) reported sightings of Americans in a non-captive
environment (i.e. working as truck drivers; married with Vietnamese
family).
The following timeline presents an overview of unresolved firsthand
sightings by the year of the sighting:
TIMELINE: UNRESOLVED LIVE SIGHTING REPORTS
Pre-76 |
76-80 |
81-85 |
86-90 |
91 |
92 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
96 |
97 |
98 |
99 |
Total |
22 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
29 |
|