How many In-Country and In-Waters Vietnam veterans are alive today?
Otis Willie PIO The American War Library
In 1992 the United Stated Department of Defense (DOD) authorized the production of a Report titled: “THE VIETNAM WAR SERVICE INDEX” (VWSI). This roster contained the names of 2,719,908 Americans that DOD could determine from its existing records were true Vietnam War veterans.
However, DOD also published a subsequent report that listed the probable number of true Vietnam veterans to be 3,001,012. This number was based on 281,104 American military record files that indicated possible in-country or in-waters Vietnam service either prior to 1963 or after 1974.
In 1995 The American War Library (See Reference #2), through a special grant (See Reference #3), conducted a nationwide survey to determine the number of American who claimed to have served either in-country or on a U.S. Navy vessel in Vietnamese waters. The number of respondents totaled 9,815,361. This number was three times the number reported by DOD in its probable-but-unconfirmed sub-report.
Factually and conclusively, DOD’s VWSI must be relied upon as the only authoritative report, including additional names of Vietnam War veterans possessing DD-214’s (Reference #10) that can be confirmed as valid by the National Records and Personnel Center in St. Louis, MO (Reference #5).
WHY SOME NAMES WERE NOT LISTED IN DOD’S VWSI
Some names were mechanically excluded (no human error involved) from the VWSI for several reasons:
1. the Vietnam veteran left military service for career
employment in CIA or another law enforcement or intelligence
agency entity
2. a spelling or mechanical error erroneously deleted the
Vietnam veteran’s name
3. the Vietnam veteran migrated from Active to Reserve or
National Guard status which, at the time, was not integrated
with active rosters.
4. Other undefined, technical reasons that did not include human error.
PRESIDENT CLINTON SOUGHT TO CORRECT THE DATABASE
In 1995 President William Jefferson Clinton issued an Executive Order (See Reference #4) declassifying all WW2, Korea and Vietnam War era intelligence and personnel data. (Reference #1) This act allowed DOD to resolve approximately 91,384 cases out of the undetermined 281,104 probable Vietnam War service personnel, leaving a total of 189,720 veterans unsubstantiated. Unfortunately, in order to protect access to his personnel military record history President George W. Bush re-classified many personnel records. (Reference #6)
Also in 1995, the American War Library further corroborated 61,519 confirmed Vietnam War personnel through official records. Between 1995 and 2007 the American War Library, along with DOD, have confirmed an additional 3,019 personnel, leaving a total of 125,182 Americans who are deserving of the Vietnam War Service Medal (Reference #7).
The remaining unconfirmed 125,812 probable Vietnam War service personnel do not account for the 9 million plus Americans, as of 1995, who falsely and fraudulently claimed to be in-country/in-waters Vietnam veterans. As of 2005 the number of Vietnam War claimants has grown. A repeat of The American War Library’s 1995 national survey in 2005 reported that a greater number -- 11,104,005 -- (a 71.68% increase over ten years) of Americans since 1995 claimed to have served in Vietnam (In-Country/In-Waters), and 2,591,083 Americans claimed to have served aboard a U.S. naval vessel in Vietnamese waters (between 1955 and 1975). The total number of Americans claiming in 2005 to be eligible or possessing authorization of the United States Vietnam War Service Medal (Reference #7) is 13,695,088.
As a result of the American War Library’s report to DOD, along with supporting evidence from other reporting agencies or entities (Reference #8), in January 2007, president George W. Bush issued an additional Executive Order (signed into law, Jan 2007) making it a federal felony for any person to falsely claim, either verbally or textually, to be the recipient of a United States military decoration (medal) or service.
The combined Clinton and Bush Executive Orders serve to assist officially recognized agencies to factually determine who is and who is not a Vietnam War veteran, or veteran of any American conflict or peacetime era. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (Reference #9) is now actively persecuting fraudulent assertions of military and/or war service claims.
HISTORY OR FRAUDULENT ASSERTIONS AND CLAIMS
Most Americans who falsely state their military and/or war service began doing so prior to the creation of the internet and electronic research capability. Today it is harder for any new wannabe to falsely and illegally claim to have served in the military or in a war zone. Many in the past who claimed that their military and/or war service was “classified” (and, therefore, could not/never be researched) was officially terminated by President Clinton’s 1995 ExecOrder. There are no, repeat NO, military record files that remain “classified”. Additionally, the DD-214 (Report of Separation from Active Duty) is never classified. NOR does this document ever exclude any authorized military medal due to a so-called “classified” military assignment in war or conflict theater of operations.
Many fraudulent assertions of military or war service can be remedially ascertained or de-bunked using publicly accessible internet tools such as Google.com. For more detailed and precise research, the National Records and Personnel Center and The American War Library (both were previously REFERENCED) provide tools/access capability to determine the truthfulness of any false claim of military, war service or military medal authorization.
The American War Library has extended its 10-year research study of 1995 and 2005 indefinitely on an annual reporting basis (both publicly and to DOD) to establish/ascertain not only the factual names of in-country and in-waters Vietnam War personnel, but also to provide a reliable figure on the total number of Vietnam veterans estimated to be alive to-date. As of this date, The American War Library (officially) estimates that of the 3,001,012 probables estimated by DOD who served in Vietnam, approximately 981,000 are alive today.
The War Library projects that 968,000 Vietnam War veterans will survive by election day, 2008; 903,240 will survive by 01 Jan 2010; but by 01 Jan 2015 the surviving number of Vietnam War veterans will number fewer than 131,000 due to age complicated by accelerated physiologies resulting from herbicide ingestion of water, milk and food product consumption in Vietnam along with (possible) venereal disease acquisition in Vietnam, added to post-military financial and other stress related factions due to declining economic and environment factors that are projected by other federal agency’s that determine their impact on human life expectancy.
REFERENCES:
#1. The Vietnam War Service Index
http://www.amervets.com/library.htm
The National Park Service
http://www.nps.gov/vive/
Vietnam War Wannabes
http://remembervietnam.homestead.com/factsupdates.html
The Vietnam War Project
http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/
#2. The American War Library
http://www.amervets.com
#3. Department of Defense
http://www.defenselink.mil
#4. Executive Order 12951
http://www.aiipowmia.com/legis/eo12951.html
#5. Researching military record information by authorization family members
http://members.aol.com/forvets/htomr.htm
#6. Analysis of Executive Order 13292
http://www.bushsecrecy.org/page.cfm?PagesID=31&ParentID=4&CategoryID=4
#7. Vietnam War Service Medal Issue Regulations
http://www.amervets.com/replacement/vn.htm#isr
#8. Department of Veterans Affairs Chartered Veterans
(Congressional Funded, Past or Present) Organizations
http://www1.va.gov/vso/index.cfm?template=view
#9 Federal Bureau of Investigation
http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm
#10 DOD DD-214 Policy
http://members.aol.com/warlibrary/policy.htm
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:
The Vietnam War Master Resource Guide
http://members.aol.com/veterans/warlib6v.htm
Vietnam: The Longest War Discussion/News/Info Exchange Forum
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vietnam-the-longest-war
The Allied (United) Nations International Military Veterans Registry Application Forms
http://www.amervets.com/registry.htm
The Allied (United) Nations International Military Veterans Database Access Platform
http://www.amervets.com/library.htm
Free Vietnam War Memorial Wall Card
http://members.aol.com/veterans/freecard.htm
-- Otis Willie (Ret.)
Military News and Information Editor (http://www.13105320634.com)
The American War Library, Est. 1988 (http://www.amervets.com)
16907 Brighton Avenue
Gardena CA 90247
1-310-532-0634
Military Webmaster Site Link Request Form:
http://www.amervets.com/linkreq.htm
Military and Vet Info-Exchange/Discussion Groups
http://members.aol.com/warlibrary/share.htm