American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics
Released: 2018-09-14T00:00:00

Introduction

This report provides war casualty statistics. It includes data tables containing the number of fatalities and the number of wounded among American military personnel who served in principal wars and combat actions from 1775 to the present. It also includes information such as race and ethnicity, gender, branch of service, and, in some cases, detailed information on types of casualties and causes of death.

Casualty statistics for wars that ended long ago are updated periodically, sometimes yearly. These updates almost always reflect the identification of remains of persons previously listed as missing in action and the reclassification of those persons as dead. Other reasons, much less frequent, include the discovery of errors in casualty records for individuals or categories such as race and ethnicity.

Casualty Statistics

U.S. casualty statistics are information on war fighters who have fallen in global or regional conflicts involving the United States. The data are gathered on deceased, wounded, ill, or injured active duty U.S. military personnel and Guard/Reservists. The Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) is maintained by the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC).

Casualty statistics for conflicts prior to the Persian Gulf War (Desert Shield and Desert Storm) are updated periodically by the DCAS of the DMDC. Casualty figures for Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Operation New Dawn (OND), Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), and Operation Freedom's Sentinel (OFS) are updated daily. Links to the sources for casualty figures appear below each table in this report.

Table 1 lists casualty statistics for battles, attacks, or operations for which the Congressional Research Service (CRS) receives numerous requests.

Tables 9 through 11 provide casualty statistics for OEF, which began on October 7, 2001, and was primarily conducted in Afghanistan. U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan ended on December 31, 2014. Data for OEF are updated on a daily basis. Daily casualty summaries are available at DOD's website: http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf .

Tables 10, 11, 13, 14, 16 , and 17 provide ethnicity statistics for OEF, OIF, and OND. A U.S. Office of Management and Budget mandate, Directive No. 15, requires all federal record keeping and data presentation to use race and ethnicity categories. For further explanation, see Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1997-10-30/pdf/97-28653.pdf .

Tables 12 through 14 provide casualty statistics for OIF, which began on March 20, 2003. Major combat operations ended on September 1, 2010. These statistics include casualties that occurred between March 19, 2003, and August 31, 2010, in the Arabian Sea, Bahrain, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Persian Gulf, Qatar, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. Prior to March 19, 2003, casualties in these countries were considered OEF. Personnel injured in OIF who died after September 1, 2010, will be included in OIF statistics.

Tables 15 through 17 provide casualty statistics for Operation New Dawn (OND). Following the end of combat operations in Iraq (OIF) on September 1, 2010, use of the term Operation New Dawn began on the same day. Casualties occurred between September 1, 2010, and December 31, 2011, in the Arabian Sea, Bahrain, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Persian Gulf, Qatar, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. Personnel injured in OND who die after December 31, 2011, will be included in OND statistics.

Table 18 lists casualties published by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Historian's Office. In response to congressional requests, CRS includes Coast Guard casualty data as provided by USCG in addition to DOD data. The USCG, although an armed service, was an agency under the jurisdiction of several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). The Coast Guard remained under USDOT until February 2003, when it was placed within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

In an address to the American people on September 10, 2014, President Barack Obama described a four-part strategy to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Subsequently, on September 22, 2014, the President authorized U.S. Central Command to carry out military actions against the ISIL terrorists. Tables 19 through 21 provide casualty statistics for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR). Casualties include those that occurred in Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the Mediterranean Sea east of 25° longitude, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea.

In a press statement released by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) on December 28, 2014, then-Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced that the United States had officially concluded Operation Enduring Freedom and added that the follow-on mission, Operation Freedom's Sentinel (OFS), would begin on January 1, 2015. As part of OFS, U.S. forces would remain in Afghanistan to participate in a coalition mission to advise, train, and assist local forces and to conduct counterterrorism operations against the remnants of Al Qaeda.

Tables 22 through 24 provide casualty statistics for OFS.

American Casualties by State and U.S. Territories

This section provides total casualty statistics for fallen U.S. servicemembers by conflict (WWI to Global War on Terror) and by state and territory.

The data on World War I are taken from Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015, by Michael Clidfelter, 4th ed. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2017), p. 433.

The data on World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, respectfully, are taken from the U.S. National Archives.

The Persian Gulf War data are provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, and are current as of June 2017.

The data for Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF); Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF); Operation New Dawn (OND); Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR); and Operation Freedom's Sentinel (OFS), respectively, are available from the Defense Casualty Analysis System website at https://dcas.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/casualties.xhtml .

Resources

This section provides information on authoritative sources for statistics; demographic indicators by conflict; websites for additional sources of research; and other publications including related CRS reports.

Sources of Statistics

The Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) provides detailed historical tables as well as annual statistics on active duty military deaths. DMDC also lists names of the fallen for Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Inherent Resolve, and Operation Freedom's Sentinel.

https://dcas.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/casualties.xhtml

The Office of the Historian, U.S. Coast Guard, provides a historical table listing the number of U.S. Coast Guardsmen who served and the number of casualties incurred in conflicts from the War of 1812 to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Click on "What wars & other conflicts did the Coast Guard participate in?"

https://www.history.uscg.mil/Frequently-As ked-Questions/

Sources of Published Lists of Names of War Dead or Other Demographic Indicators

The Congressional Research Service receives many requests for lists of war dead. Names of the fallen are often engraved on memorials, mentioned in tributes, or used for other ceremonial purposes. The names of U.S. military personnel killed in major wars and other combat actions are published in the following sources:

World War I

Soldiers of the Great War, Volume 1-3 from the collection of the Harvard University Library. Available through the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/SoldiersOfTheGreatWarV1 .

The American Battle Monuments Commission

The American Battle Monuments Commission's (ABMC's) "Burials and Memorializations" webpage lists the names of servicemembers buried or memorialized in ABMC cemeteries overseas. The database allows searching by name, conflict (beginning with World War I), branch of service, unit number, state of entry, cemetery or memorial, and date of death.

http://www.abmc.gov/database-search

World War II

Military Personnel Casualty Lists

The National Archives' Online Public Access catalog allows the public to search the archives' military personnel casualty lists. The site may be accessed by clicking on "Military Personnel" under the heading for "Genealogy/Personal History" at https://aad.archives.gov/aad/ .

The American Battle Monuments Commission

ABMC's "Burials and Memorializations" webpage lists the names of servicemembers buried or memorialized in ABMC cemeteries overseas. The database allows searching by name, conflict (beginning with World War I), branch of service, unit number, state of entry, cemetery or memorial, and date of death.

http://www.abmc.gov/database-search

Korean War

Korea State-Level Casualty Lists

The National Archives publishes casualty lists that may be searched by home state of record.

http://www.archives.gov/research/military/korean-war/casualty-lists/state-level-alpha.html

The American Battle Monuments Commission

ABMC's "Burials and Memorializations" webpage lists the names of servicemembers buried or memorialized in ABMC cemeteries overseas. The database allows searching by name, conflict (beginning with World War I), branch of service, unit number, state of entry, cemetery or memorial, and date of death.

http://www.abmc.gov/database-search

Vietnam War

Vietnam State-Level Casualty Lists

The National Archives publishes casualty lists that may be searched by home state of record.

http://www.archives.gov/research/military/vietnam-war/casualty-lists/state-level-alpha.html

The American Battle Monuments Commission

ABMC's "Burials and Memorializations" webpage lists the names of servicemembers buried or memorialized in ABMC cemeteries overseas. The database allows searching by name, conflict (beginning with World War I), branch of service, unit number, state of entry, cemetery or memorial, and date of death.

http://www.abmc.gov/database-search

Persian Gulf War (Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield)

Persian Gulf War State-Level Casualty Lists

The National Archives publishes casualty lists that may be searched by home state of record.

http://aad.archives.gov/aad/display-partial-records.jsp?f=4773&mtch=385&q=persian+gulf+war&cat=GP21&dt=2514&tf=F&bc=sl

Global War on Terror

Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Casualties

The National Archives publishes casualty lists that may be searched by home state of record.

http://aad.archives.gov/aad/display-partial-records.jsp?s=4772&dt=2514&tf=F&bc=%2Csl%2Cfd&q=Operation+Enduring+Freedom&btnSearch=Search&as_alq=&as_anq=&as_epq=&as_woq=

Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) Casualties

The National Archives publishes casualty lists that may be searched by home state of record.

http://aad.archives.gov/aad/display-partial-records.jsp?s=4772&dt=2514&tf=F&bc=%2Csl%2Cfd&q=Operation+Iraqi+Freedom&btnSearch=Search&as_alq=&as_anq=&as_epq=&as_woq=

Related Sources

Defense Prisoner of War and Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Accounting Agency (DPAA))

DPAA's mission is to "Provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel to their families and the nation" by locating the remains, repatriating, or determining the whereabouts of missing Americans. Currently, 82,708 Americans are missing from World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, Vietnam, and the Iraq and other conflicts. Names of those who have been accounted for can be found on the DPAA's "Recently Accounted For" webpage at http://www.dpaa.mil/Our-Missing/Recently-Accounted-For/ .

Wars Prior to World War I

Lists of casualties that are not available from a central source may in some cases be available at the state level from each state's or commonwealth's adjutant general's office or from military history detachments, military museums, state libraries, or archives. The National Guard Association, at https://www.ngaus.org/states-territories/state-association-directory , provides links to contacts for National Guard information in all 50 states as well as District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Additional Websites

U.S. Casualty Status is a daily update of casualties published by DOD for OEF, OIF, OND, OIR, and OFS.

http://www.defense.gov/casualty.pdf

DOD News Releases contain daily news, including military personnel fatalities by name under the heading "Casualty Releases." The archive located on the right sidebar dates to October 1994.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/

CRS Reports

CRS Report R41084, Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians , by [author name scrubbed].

CRS Report RS22452, A Guide to U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: Operation Freedom's Sentinel, Operation Inherent Resolve, Operation New Dawn, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom , by [author name scrubbed].

CRS Report R42738, Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2017 , by [author name scrubbed].

CRS Report RS21405, U.S. Periods of War and Dates of Recent Conflicts , by [author name scrubbed].