Names of Veterans of the Vietnam War?

September 21, 2006 12:31 PM

For a scholarly research project, it would very helpful if I had the names of all veterans of the Vietnam War. Does anyone know if this data is publicly available? If so, where could I find it? Advice about specific offices or sources is especially appreciated.
posted by fdhidalgo to Law & Government (7 answers total)

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial website allows you to search their entire database. I check with them to see if the entire database is avaiable -- in print and/or electronic form.
posted by ericb at 12:34 PM on September 21, 2006

Best answer: BTW -- more from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial website:

"During and after the Vietnam war, the Department of Defense compiled a list of combat zone casualties according to criteria in a 1965 Presidential Executive Order. The Executive Order specified Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and coastal areas as a combat zone. If the Department of Defense, acting in accordance with these directives, considered an individual to be a Vietnam conflict fatality or to be missing, his/her name would be included. The VVMF verified the Department of Defense list, where possible, by cross-checking it against the casualty data provided by the individual service branches. Each name was then verified by the National Personnel Records Center, National Archives and Records Service, in St. Louis, Missouri. After computer processing, the names were checked manually for errors."

And further digging indicates that you should check out the National Archives' The Combat Area Casualties Current File (Southeast Asia)

"The database that we use for our web site is the official U.S. government database of casualties from the Vietnam War. Its official name is The Combat Area Casualties Current File (Southeast Asia). It is maintained by the National Archives and updated once each year, usually in the autumn.:

If you can't find what you need there, contact the National Archives:

Reference Services
Electronic and Special Media Records Services Division (NWME)
National Archives at College Park
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
[phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]

posted by ericb at 12:41 PM on September 21, 2006

Wait...are you you looking for the names of everyone who fought in the war, or just casualties?
posted by arco at 12:51 PM on September 21, 2006

Granted what is listed above refers to veteran casualties. Regarding living veterans, I'd still contact the National Archives.
posted by ericb at 12:51 PM on September 21, 2006

I'd start here at the National Archives website: Research in Military Records: Vietnam War.
posted by ericb at 12:53 PM on September 21, 2006

Response by poster: Yes, I'm actually interested in survivors of the war, not veteran casualties. But all of this is great, so thanks a lot!
posted by fdhidalgo at 12:53 PM on September 21, 2006

Also -- meander through the websites of the VFW and the Veterans History Project.
posted by ericb at 1:04 PM on September 21, 2006