United States, Military Personnel who Died During the Vietnam War - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

What is in the Collection?
Records of military personnel who died in the Southeast Asian combat area during the Vietnam War acquired from the National Archives, "Access to Archival Databases" (AAD). Additional information about this collection may be found on the National Archives website. In August of 2013, the National Archives replaced the ARC – Archival Research Catalog - with the OPA – Online Public Access. ARC identifiers will still work to access the collections in OPA. The collection covers the years 1956 to 2003.

Collection Content
The following information is usually found in these records:


 * Name
 * Date of birth
 * Date of death or repatriation (return or restoration to one’s own country)
 * Home state and city of record (if known)
 * Social Security or Service number
 * Religious affiliation
 * Marital status

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know one or more of the following:


 * Name
 * Date of death
 * Home state of record
 * Social security or service number

Search the Collection
To search the collection by name: Fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:
 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. For example:


 * Use the birthdate or age of your ancestor to obtain a birth certificate.
 * The country and town of residence could lead you to funeral, memorial service or burial information.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * You may need to compare the information of more than one family or person to make this determination.
 * Be aware that, as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

What if I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor.

Related Websites

 * NARA Series Description
 * NARA Reference Information Paper 90 Prisoners of War and Missing in Action from the Vietnam War Era
 * NARA State-Level Fatal Casualty Lists for the Vietnam War
 * National Park Service Vietnam Veterans Memorial District of Columbia
 * Library of Congress Vietnam Era Prisoner-of-War\Missing in Action Database
 * Library of Congress Veterans History Project
 * NARA Research in Vietnam War Records
 * NARA Military Resources:Vietnam War

Related Wiki Articles

 * United States
 * United States Vietnam War 1964 to 1972

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):