Korean War Casualty/Fatality Information

Introduction

According to recent Department of Defense statistics, a total of 36,576 Americans died while serving in the Korean War. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of misinformation about the casualty figures for the Korean War. This is caused by the fact that casualty statistics recorded by the US government for that time period are generally of a global nature. One frequently sees the casualty figures for the war at 54,246. That is because the statistics also include 17,670 deaths that occurred outside of the Korean theater of battle. (For example, a person killed in an accident in Germany while the war was going on in Korea is considered by the government to be a "Korean War casualty.")

A numerical breakdown of the 1950-1953 Korean War casualties can be found at:
http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/korea.pdf.  (Or Here) Each number is backed up with a name on a published roster maintained by DOD. All dates of death are based on the actual "date of incident." The roster of 36,576 names for the 1950-1953 period contains hundreds of changes and corrections, superseding all previous published DOD rosters, now archived at NARA. However, the archived rosters are useful for historical research.

The March 2004 DOD roster is available at Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate of Information Operations Reports, Department of Defense Comments@dior.whs.mil. The American Battle Monuments Commission relies on the DOD roster to feed its Interactive Computer System at the kiosk at the KWVM in D.C. and for their website at www.abmc.gov.

With respect to the 17,670 worldwide deaths, the DOD has not compiled a roster to date. The DOD may have these names, or most of them. A spokesman for DOD DIOR has indicated that his office is working with the Armed Services to compile this information.

The following are links to older works and information on the subject of Korean War casualties/fatalities, which provide broad and/or specific details on the subject.

• Age at Death [Army personnel only] -
  (The young die in combat)

• Air Force casualties -
  (Air Force casualty figures)

• Alamance County, North Carolina -
  (Korean War service deaths from Alamance County, NC)

• Army Non-Battle Casualty Names (From Marty O'Brien's Book) -
  (Large PDF file)

• Army Surgeon General’s Battle Casualty Report (Reister) -
  (Casualty types and when they occurred)

• Army casualties in the Hoengsong/Chipyong-ni/Wonju/Chaum-ni area -
  (Shows the name of every man who was killed there from February 12 through February 14, 1951.)

• British Marines: 41 Independent Commando Casualty List -
  (British Marines die in Korea)

• Casualties of Ship Sinkings & Damage to Vessels -
  (Deaths at sea)

• Casualties in Hill 303 Massacre
  (Names of 41 Americans murdered by North Koreans in Aug. 1950)

• Casualties Left Off Department of Defense List
  (Apparent errors of omission discovered by research)

• Casualty Database
  (Department of Defense listing of all known Korean War casualties)

• Casualty Database
  (Compiled by Richard E. Ecker, Ph.D. [U.S. 31st Infantry, Korea 1952-53]
  These databases were used as the research basis for Dr. Ecker’s book, Korean Battle Chronology, Published by McFarland & Co., Jefferson, NC, 2005)

• Casualty Figures by State -
  (WWII, Korea, Vietnam - 50 states, 3 wars, thousands upon thousands of casualties)

• Casualty List & Action Report, USS Magpie -
  (A minesweeper goes down in Korean waters)

• Chinese Casualty Figures -
  (Enemy casualty figures)

• Clark County, Kentucky Casualties -
  "In Defense of Humanity", compiled by Michael F. Tyler

• Cleaver Casualty Analysis
  (PDF File)

• Combat Casualties by Major Units -
  (Division losses)

• Combat Casualty Figures -
  (Participating nations - Compare casualty figures)

• Coshocton Train Wreck Casualties -
  (List of casualties in a troop train accident in Ohio in 1950)

• Current U.S. Casualty Statistics -
  (Most current government war statistics - PDF File
  from: http://web1.whs.osd.mil/mmid/CASUALTY/KOREA.pdf )

• "Deadliest" Casualties -
  (Battles with the highest casualties, black casualties; day & month with highest casualties, etc.)

• DMZ Casualties -
  (Lists of Americans who died in Korea after the cease fire)

• E-2-5 Marines
  (List of E-2-5 KIA and WIA in Korea 1950-53]

• Ethyl Fulton Estate Card File
  (contents of approximately 250 cards with names and service details of U.S. Korean War soldiers killed or missing in action--most from the Seattle, Washington area)

• 41 Independent Commando Royal Marines
  (Royal Marines & Royal Navy Personnel KIA, DOW, Died in Captivity)

• 1st Cavalry, 7th Cavalry Regiment Casualties 1950-1953

• Globemaster Crash Casualties (Larson AFB)
  (Names of all of the deceased and wounded casualties of the December 1952 Globemaster crash at Larson AFB, Moses Lake, Washington.)

• Globemaster Crash Casualties (Tachikawa JP)
  (Names of all 129 deceased casualties of the June 1953 Globemaster crash near Tachikawa Air Base in Japan.) (COMING SOON)

• How They Died
  (In-progress construction of database explaining how various Korean War casualties died.  Please add to it.)

• Individual Deceased Personnel Files
  (How a serviceman died; where he died, his unit assignment and much more...)

• Katusa Casualties -
  (Death numbers for Koreans assigned to the US Army)

• Korean War/Vietnam War Casualty Comparison -
  (Comparing two unpopular wars)

• Kum River Casualties
  (killed 14 July 1950)

• Marines: G-3-1 Casualty List-
  (G-3-1 American Marines are sacrificed in Korea)

• Marty O’Brien’s Casualty Book
  (American KW casualties - an in-depth study for the serious scholar)

• Merchant Marine Casualties
  (Mariners listed as Korean War non-battle casualties by the American Battle Monuments Commission.)

• Office of Public Information News Releases
  (Department of Defense News Releases - US Casualties in Korean Area)

• Operation Glory
  (After the cease fire, United Nations officials negotiated for the return of the remains of deceased war dead on both sides.)

• Outpost Harry Casualties
  This list of 15th Infantry soldiers killed defending Outpost Harry (April-June 1953) was compiled by Martin Markley of Fullerton, California.  Raw information for the compilation was provided by Lt Col. Mike Slater.
  Click HERE for more information about Outpost Harry.

• POW Casualty Figures -
  (Prisoners of war died horrible deaths in Korea.)

• Rensselaer County, New York War Dead
  (Posted in memory of Ken Page & Rensselaer KWar Dead)... COMING SOON

• USMC Helicopter Fatalities
  (List of 32 USMC Helicopter Crewmembers and Passengers KIA in Korea)

• US Naval Academy's Korean War Casualties -
  (Navy elite die in Korea)

• War Correspondents -
  (Correspondents killed in action from June 25 to December 25, 1950)

• West Point Graduates as Korean War casualties -
  (Army elite die in Korea)

• Women KIA in Korea
  (Women Casualties of the Korean War)

• VFW Story: Untold Story of Casualties
  (Excellent story clarifying casualty figures and more)

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