alphabetical list of names on the vietnam wall

With the end of the Cold War, many now believe that at its outset the Vietnam War was a quite honorable extension of our ultimately successful policy of Communist containment; that our effort in Vietnam became flawed because of political and strategic failures having nothing to do with those who died there; and that these young Americans were asked by three presidents and six Congresses to give up their lives so that freedom would have a better chance in the world. Today, more than 58,000 names are engraved in the wall, and more were added in May. This change prompted the addition of 110 names in 1986. We were one giant Hollywood B-17 bomber crew, one perfect socioeconomic platoon storming Omaha Beach or Okinawa. Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Kansas, Sheridan County, Viet Nam records, 1955-1975, Vermont, National Guard, Vietnam war, 1950-1953, University of Utah - American West Center - Saving the Legacy/ Vietnam Veterans, https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/index.php?title=United_States_Vietnam_War_1964_to_1972&oldid=5123794, Personnel discharged November 1, 1912 to January 1, 1960, Personnel discharged, September 25, 1947 to January 1, 1964, The Military Index is available at the FamilySearch Library and at most FamilySearch centers. Military Reunions, Screensavers, Rubbings, Personal Guestbook for all Names. W denotes the west wall, and E denotes the east wall. While their names are not on The Wall, they are never forgotten. Congress. Buis can be found at the top middle of a slab designated Panel 1E. The ceremony is held on Mothers Day and the additions might be as simple as rectifying a clerical error or as heartbreaking as a veteran dying, all these years later, from a wound suffered during the war. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. How to Order a Draft Record. Others think it is just another tourist stop until they feel the haunting power of this unique work of remembrance. 12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old. No duplicate copies of the records that were destroyed in the fire were maintained, nor was a microfilm copy ever produced. Fill out the tour request form. The numbers on the wall ascend from the center out toward the left and right extremes. the "save as" menu command to store each text file on your media. Folded American flags were presented to his parents and an Air Force helicopter flew over the ceremony. If officers are added, then almost 70 percent of those who died were volunteers. This memorial was built with private contributions from the American people. The Vietnam War is no different. The Selective Service System it said, has the responsibility to deliver manpower to the armed forces in such a manner as to reduce to a minimum any adverse effect upon the national health, safety, interest and progress. Quite a different profile emerges among the Navy and Air force officer corps. On the west wall, the symbol precedes the name; on the east wall, the symbol follows the name. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. has the names listed in chronological order by date of loss. Be the first to learn about news, service member stories and fundraising updates from USO. The article was written by Bill Abbott, an independent researcher and writer. They refer to older or younger siblings who are either in or on their way to college. Fallen comrades could be together on the Wall, as theyd been in death. For families who have worked to have their loved ones name added, the journey can be long and exhausting. During one review, Doubek found a glitch with the computer software: it did not recognize the spaces that appeared within a last name, such as van der Meide. Nor could it properly discern a compounded first name, such as Billy Bob, versus a traditional first and middle name. Message & data rates may apply. Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons. In civilian life, poor aptitude testing can have a tremendous negative impact, whether for college placement or for simple job advancement. Why are names added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall? The remaining 70 percent of our Vietnam enlisted casualties were of English/Scottish/Welsh, German, Irish and Scandinavian-American ancestries, more from the South and Midwest than the other regions, many from small towns with a family military tradition. Photo credit DOD photo. The draft continued from 1948, during both peacetime and war, to 1973, when President Richard M. Nixon signed legislation officially ending the draft. It called for the registration of all 18 to 26-year old males, with induction to take place at 18 1/2 if so ordered by the local draft board. NAVY AND AIR FORCE OFFICER CASUALTIES BY RANK AND AGE. Yet, a civilian heroine who served in a different capacity during that difficult time also merits particular acknowledgment. In order to have your name on the Wall, you had to have died within the war zone, explained Doubek. Nevertheless, 336,111 men were phased into the service under this plan (mostly the Army) and 2,072 were killed. The names are inscribed in the chronological order of their dates of casualty, showing the war as a series of individual human sacrifices and giving each name a special place in history. This can be in the form of a book, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Directory of Names, or one of the various databases. More Info At www.themovingwall.org Visit site This number of deaths per 100,000 compared strikingly with the 23.5 in the Northeast region, 29.9 in the West and 28.4 in the North Central (Midwest) region. The memorial consists of three separate parts: The Three Soldiers statue, the Vietnam Women's Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, also known as The Wall That Heals, which is the most popular feature. We worked very hard with volunteers from the Gold Star Mothers, recalled Doubek. The names are listed chronologically by date of death, the first to last. The lists are based on the "home of record - state" data provided by the serviceman or woman upon last entrance into military service. The Selective Service registration requirement was later suspended in April 1975. And they are so respectful when they do the engraving. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010: see the "National Cemeteries and Beneficiaries" section below. At the time, approximately 1,300 names were designated as servicemen who were either missing or prisoners of war. To put a circle around the symbol beside their names would not provide the correct historical context related to their situation. Almost 50 percent were majors, lieutenant-colonels, colonels and three were generals. The Army refused him, for medical reasons, both times. If your browser displays the text file, you can then use compiled by Military Records and Research Library, Department of Military Affairs; edited by Julia D. Rather and Jeffrey Michael Duff, Research Our Records. Your donation to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund will help expand our mission to honor, educate and heal. I respect the process, but it can be hard to prove something thats in your heart., Thats what makes it so special when you see the name going up, she added. The Vietnam Wall at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park features the names of local fallen soldiers. The individual Draft Registration Card (SSS Form 1) may contain information such as: name, Selective Service registration number, age, date and place of birth, ethnicity, place of residence at time of registration and basic physical description. Buis died, as did Army Master Sergeant Chester Ovnand, whose name is second on the wall. These names are followed by the inscription: Our nation honors the courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty and country of its Vietnam veterans. It is located north of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. along Constitution Avenue NW between 21st and 23rd streets. A doctor arrived and gave his shaken mother a sedative. At some The Moving Wall sites, the sponsor makes arrangements Vandegeers message also depicted a man who believed the worst was behind him. For a photograph of an inscription of a close friend or relative, write: This website requires a paid subscription for full access. Their names, however, have been removed from the printed Directory of Names. Compounding these difficulties was the issue that many casualties, particularly from the Air Force, were not always straightforward in terms of locale. Unfortunately, he mistakenly added a small number of names of men who were still alive. Early in the war (1965 and 1966) when blacks made up about 11 percent of our Vietnam force, black casualties soared to more than 20 percent of the total. Alphabetical listing of the names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall . Forces in Southeast Asia, 1950 - 1976 NAID 745, RG, 472, Meritorious Unit Commendations, 1967 - 1971 NAID 4726287, Medal of Honor Awards Case Files, 1965 - ca. The files are quite large in order that we could save in Rich Text Format As the Vietnam War dragged on, Kurt tried twice to enlist. Coast Guard casualties are included in the Navy totals. https://www.historynet.com/names-on-the-wall-a-closer-look-at-those-who-died-in-vietnam/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, When 21 Sikh Soldiers Fought the Odds Against 10,000 Pashtun Warriors, Few Red Tails Remain: Tuskegee Airman Dies at 96. November 11, 1982. All heroes are listed alphabetically by their last name. They often reveal a typically warm American family atmosphere. However, there have been no such cases. the reader loses composure. The 58,152 names of those who died in Vietnam are etched onto the two rising black marble slabs of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Another browser may inform you that it does not know how to display the file Together, we can make sure our heroes will get the reverence they deserve and the stories and sacrifices of our heroes will never be forgotten. 5th Marines were killed in . Except for the last file, there are approximately 10,000 names per file. The names would become the memorial. Concerning, How do I find a name on the Vietnam War Memorial wall? The DOD database provides no civilian or military educational levels for the Vietnam casualties specifically, but it does give us general levels for all enlisted men across all the services during the Vietnam era. 26 Similar Questions In an audiotape recorded for a close friend shortly before Vandegeers death, and transcribed in Bernard Edelmans book Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam, he described the perilous mission in Saigon. The major service academies and other military colleges provided close to 900 of the Vietnam officer casualties: the U.S. Military Academy, 278; the U.S. Air Force Academy, 205; the U.S. Of the 7,262 blacks who died, 6,955, or 96 percent, were Army and Marine enlisted men. What will be the evolving historical judgment for those names on the Wall? Making these arrangements and printing the pages takes considerable Copies of WWII though Vietnam era (men born April 28, 1877 to March 28, 1957) Selective Service Records may be obtained from the National Personnel Records Center, in St. Louis, for a fee. Since its adoption in 1951, at the time of the Korean War, this policy had been renewed by Congress every four years. The Order of Precedence For Military Ribbon Wear, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pubH-5CulqI, Military Funeral Guide for Families & Funeral Homes, The Ultimate Military Gift Guide for Unique Military Gifts, Black Military History and Black Medal of Honor Recipients. Perhaps more important, many of them probably did not yet fully understand their own mortality and were therefore less likely to be hesitant in combat. Coast Guard Historians OfficeCommandant (CG-09224)U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters 2100 Second Street SW Washington, D.C. 20593. . In the event a service members remains are returned or accounted for, then a diamond symbol is engraved over the plus sign. No other moniker for Sammy Davis Jr. was more accurate. The USO relies on your support to help service members and their families. Physical examination and test results, medical letters, laboratory work and other medical documentation that may have been included in these files no longer exist. The beginnings and endings are often hazy and the facts of the story lie at the mercy of the teller. The Channeling Memo of July 1965, instructed all local draft boards to give status deferments to college undergraduate and post-graduate students. effort, but is a very effective means to express the enormity of the war and United States. I looked at the record to determine whether mortal wounds were sustained, Doubek said of the men whose names were listed by the Army, but not by DoD. On that panel, above the names is this inscription: In honor of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States who served in the Vietnam War. He tried to make the best call he could when adding names to the list. It was fitting that Vandegeer finally returned home to American soil, because he spent his last weeks at war evacuating Americans as Saigon fell. The makeup of U.S. combat forces in Vietnam has long been the subject of controversy among social scientists. 1970 NAID 570973, State-Level Fatal Casualty Lists sorted Alphabetically by Last Name, List of United States servicemembers and civilians missing in action during the Vietnam War (196165) Wikipedia, U.S., Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Unaccounted-for Remains, Group A (Recoverable), 1941-1975, U.S., Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Unaccounted-for Remains, Group B (Unrecoverable), 1941-1975, Vietnamw-Era POW/MIA Databases & Documents. The Vietnam War was no different. A correspondingly greater tradition of military service in the other regions had its effect on U.S. regional casualties. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall. EIN: 52-1149668, Copyright 2023 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display. 3rd Battalion. Twenty-five years later, in an interview with People magazine, he described playing with his two younger brothers as the news reached their home in Imperial Beach, California. What happens to items left at the memorial? The first two names listed on Panel 1, East Wall, at the apex are from July 8, 1959. Only the Navy, with 50 percent of its enlisted casualties over 21, and the Air Force, with 75 percent over 21, showed an older, more experienced age demographic. 39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger. On average, 43 percent of white enlisted entrants placed in categories I and II (scoring 65 to 100) and 57 percent in categories III and IV (scoring 10 to 64). Therefore, a complete listing of the records that were lost is not available. The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. If a service member were to return alive, a circlethe symbol of lifewould be inscribed around the plus sign. information is available on this web site: These files are lists of the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, listed These directories help locate names on the wall. The ship had been taken to the island of Koh Tang. The feeling is that the poor, the undereducated and the minorities made up the vast majority of the combat arms during that war. The chronological order allows veterans who were in a battle to see their friends forever united on the Wall, he explained. Library of Congress, National Archives Reference Information Page 90 A Finding Aid to Records Relating to American Prisoners of War and Missing in Action from the Vietnam War Era, 1960-1994, Records on Military Personnel Who Died, Were Missing in Action or Prisoners of War as a Result of the Vietnam War, Missing Vietnam Military Resulting from Hostile Forces, Missing Vietnam Military NOT Resulting from Hostile Forces, Vietnam War, Awards and Decorations of Honor, 1965-1972, Medal of Honor Awards Case Files, 1965 - ca. Ziomek's name was finally inscribed on the Washington memorial on Sept. 15, 2020; he was one of just three veterans added in 2020. If a name was particularly long, it would be swapped with a shorter name. But given the draft policies, the hard-sell recruitment, the severe escalation from month to month and the refusal by President Lyndon Johnson to call up the older reserves and National Guard, it could not have been otherwise. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. offer to read the block of names that includes their special names. The slabs meet at a vertex of 125 degrees, 10 feet above ground level to form the Wall. The figures show that on average 65 percent of white enlisted men and 60 percent of black enlisted men were high school graduates. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands as a symbol of America's honor and recognition of the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War. An aunt came and loaded the three boys into the car. peruse. From 1964 to 1973, 2,100,000 men and women served in Vietnam, but this was only 8 percent of the 26,000,000 Americans who were eligible for military service. Order it can be difficult but there are a few ways to find a name at either end of the memorial are stands with books inside these list the names in alphabetical. His name does not appear at either far end. Ninety-one percent of these Army officers were warrant officers, second lieutenants, first lieutenants or captains. The Buddies of Midvale LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. Database of the 58,195 Names on The Wall in Wash,D.C. And mores the pity, because many of them were trying to escape this background and didnt make it. These files are lists of the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, listed in chronological order of the casualty date and then alphabetical by last name within a given date. And, as in every American war, it is the very young who are the most willing to volunteer. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. It may come as a surprise to some that 63.3 percent of all Vietnam enlisted casualties were not draftees but volunteers. No other American war has presented such a young profile in combat. The vision of VVMF is to ensure a society in which all who have served and sacrificed in our nation's Armed Forces are properly honored and receive the recognition they justly deserve. Though the memorial continues to grow and evolve, the last name on the wall still belongs to Air Force Second Lieutenant Richard Vandegeer, a pilot who died after his helicopter crashed on May 15, 1975, during the wars final combat action. We honor and remember their sacrifice.". All were nurses, all were single and all but one were in their 20s. They were struggling through or dropping out of high school, or if a high school graduate, had tested poorly for college entrance. ), EDUCATIONAL LEVELS OF ENLISTED CASUALTIES. Its unlikely that anyone who visits the memorial on a given day would have the time, the heart or the stomach to read and consider each one. As a region, the South experienced the greatest numbers of dead, nearly 34 percent of the total, or 31.0 deaths per 100,000 of population. Eight women were killed in Vietnam, five Army lieutenants, one Army captain, one Army lieutenant colonel and one Air Force captain. During and after the Vietnam War, the Department of Defense (DoD) compiled a list of combat zone casualties according to criteria in a 1965 Presidential Executive Order. prepared by Frances A. Hortsch for the Phoenix Genealogical Society. John Kennedy, discussing military assignments, said that, life is unfair. Those who could have qualified for college probably did not have the funds or motivation. There is no question that all segments of American society were represented. I could tell you about how real the fear was that I felt, since from the time we crossed the Delta and made the run into Saigon, we were over enemy territory. The memorial is free and open to the public 24 hours a day, with rangers on duty to answer questions from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Access to Non-Archival Military Service Records is limited. Text STOP to opt out, HELP for help. This amounted to 4.1 percent of all enlisted casualties in Vietnam. There were no indexes created prior to the fire. The idea that American enlisted dead were made up largely of societys poverty stricken misfits is a terrible slander to their memory and to the solid working-class and middle-class families of this country who provided the vast majority of our casualties. The men and women who valiantly fought in the Vietnam War certainly deserve the title of hero. Some recent studies tend to refute what had been the perceived wisdom of social scientists and other commentators that our Vietnam dead came overwhelmingly from the poor communities. Officer casualties in Vietnam, including warrant officers, numbered 7,874, or 13.5 percent of all casualties. Order records from the National Personnel Records Center, in St. Louis at the Start your Military Service Record Request page at the National Archives website. Nursing the wounded. is complete, or you've done a "save as", you can use any word processor Naval History & Heritage CommandWashington Navy Yard, Bldg 57 (3rd Floor)Washington, DC 20374Telephone: (202) 433-3224, Marine CorpsU.S. VVMF receives numerous requests each year from individuals who wish to have particular names added to the Memorial. Of 2,590 total Air Force casualties, 1,674 or 65 percent were officers. The VC had commandeered Air America Hueys, and they were flying them around, which simply made for a very interesting chess game. Another challenge was ensuring the accuracy of the names. It forces us to the conclusion that many of those names on the wall were kids who just couldnt quite get it together in high school, a little late in maturing intellectually, and didnt have the resources or the guile to get out of the way when the war came. The casualty date is the date the person was killed or wounded in combat or injured during an accident; for the missing, the date is when the person was reported missing. The draftee, if found physically and mentally fit, would be inducted for a period of two years, to be followed by another two year period in the active reserves and a subsequent two years in the inactive reserves. The central idea of the poem is that the Vietnamese War took hundreds of lives away from the United States of America. Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics, Korean War and Vietnam War casualties listed at the National Archives, Hospital Admission Card Files, ca. You must refer to a database, which gives the names in alphabetical order and includes the position of each on the Memorial. National Mall and Memorial Parks , Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Download the official NPS app before your next visit. It specified the geographic areas of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and surrounding coastal areas as combat zones. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a symbol of American honor and appreciation for the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives during the Vietnam War. The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 245 deaths. Gather facts from sources at home,and talk to relatives. Once additions are approved by DoD, VVMF receives the list of approved names, coordinates the inscribing and absorbs the costs. Though 13 were rescued at sea, the rest died, either upon impact or soon after.

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