The Vietnam-Era Prisoner-of-War/Missing-in-Action Database
Subject: Vietnam-Era Unaccounted for Statistical Report
CURRENT AS OF: September
18, 2001
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 |
9 |
479 |
105 |
28 |
0 |
621 |
|
NAVY |
275 |
90 |
28 |
1 |
8 |
402 |
|
MARINE CORPS |
23 |
195 |
16 |
8 |
0 |
242 |
|
AIR FORCE |
217 |
163 |
254 |
18 |
0 |
652 |
|
COAST GUARD |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
CIVILIANS |
1 |
20 |
12 |
5 |
0 |
38 |
|
TOTALS |
525 |
948 |
415 |
60 |
8 |
1,956 |
* |
FURTHER PURSUIT |
207 |
481 |
357 |
42 |
4 |
1,091
|
DEFERRED |
65 |
111 |
28 |
3 |
1 |
208 |
|
NO FURTHER PURSUIT |
253 |
356 |
30 |
15 |
3 |
657 |
|
TOTALS |
525 |
948 |
415 |
60 |
8 |
1,956 |
|
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 629 Americans from Southeast Asia.
AMERICANS ACCOUNTED FOR POST-1973
REPATRIATED BY:
VIETNAM |
452 |
* |
CHINA |
2 |
** |
LAOS |
152 |
|
CAMBODIA |
23 |
|
TOTAL |
629 |
*** |
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 21,792 reports possibly
pertaining to Americans in Southeast Asia:
SUMMARY OF REPORTS
FIRSTHAND LIVE SIGHTINGS |
1,914 |
HEARSAY SIGHTINGS REPORTS |
4,856 |
CRASH/GRAVE SITES |
5,262 |
DOGTAGS |
9,760 |
TOTAL |
21,792 |
a. Of the 1,914 firsthand reports received since 1975, 1897 (99.11%)
reports are resolved:
- 1,319 (68.91%) 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 (2.35%) reports were correlated to wartime sightings of
military personnel or pre-1975 sighting of civilians who remain
unaccounted for.
- 533 (27.85%) reports were determined to be fabrications.
b. The remaining 17 (0.89%) unresolved firsthand reports represent
the focus of the U.S. Government analytical and collection efforts:
- 16 (0.84%) pertain to Americans reported in a captive environment.
- 1 (0.05%) reported sighting of an American in a non-captive
environment (i.e. working as truck drivers; married with Vietnamese
family).
c. 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 |
91-95 |
96 |
97 |
98 |
99 |
00 |
01 |
Total
|
16 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
|