Dear Info Sleuth,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We searched NARA’s Access to Archival Databases (AAD) and located the following databases pertaining to Vietnam War casualties:

• Records with Unit Information on Military Personnel Who Died During the Vietnam War database in the Richard Coffelt, Richard Arnold, and David Argabright Collection (COFF)
• Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) in the Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Record Group 330)
• Records on Military Personnel Who Died, Were Missing in Action or Prisoners of War as a Result of the Vietnam War in the Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Record Group 330)
• Records of Deceased, Wounded, Ill, or Injured Army Personnel, Including Dependents and Civilian Employees, created, 1/1/1961 - 12/1981, documenting the period 1/1/1961 - 12/1981 in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office (Record Group 407)

Each of these databases lists the province within Vietnam where the individual was killed.

In some cases, there may be additional information in the Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF). IDPFs from 1940-1976 for U.S. Army personnel with surnames that begin with A-L are in the custody of the National Archives at St. Louis (RL-SL). For more information about these records, please contact RL-SL via email at stl.archives@nara.gov.

For the IDPFs from 1940-1976 of personnel with surnames that begin with M-Z, please write to Department of the Army, US Army Human Resources Command ATTN: AHRC-FOIA, 1600 Spearhead Division Avenue, Department 107, Fort Knox KY 40122. They are being scanned by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in order to properly identify remains of those still listed as missing.

Also, the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) has multiple record series with unit records in the the Records of the U.S. Forces in Southeast Asia (Record Group 472) which may be useful for finding out where the unit to which a casualty belonged was located on the date of his or her death. For more information about these non-digitized records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) at archives2reference@nara.gov.

You may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgment as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RL-SL and RDT2. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience as we balance mission-critical work and the safety of our staff during the pandemic.  Please check NARA’s web page about COVID-19 updates for the latest information.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!

Dear Info Sleuth,

Another route to try is to start with the Coffelt Database of Vietnam Casualties or the Virtual Vietnam Wall to search for an individual and find what information is there...as Jason says the location provided is typically just the province. The entry also includes the complete unit designation, and with this you can search for unit records, starting with online resources like checking if there is a veteran association website for the unit, as members may have pooled resources to get them from NARA, or the Virtual Vietnam Archive, the research database of the Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech (VNCA). NOTE: The VNCA only receives materials by donation, and the unit records we have are also held at NARA, but if VNCA has them they are often digitized and available online for quicker access, so it's always worth checking!

If you can find unit records, look for Daily Staff Journals (USArmy) or Command Chronologies (USMC), witness statements, incident reports, patrol reports, etc, as they will include mentions of daily activities and more exact locations as U.S. Army Grid Zone coordinates  (two letters, 6 numbers ; XT461227).

I hope these suggestions are helpful in assisting family and friends of our Vietnam casualties.

     --Sheon Montgomery, VNCA Reference Archivist 

     For VNCA research assistance, email unit or coordinate details to vnca@ttu.edu

Coffelt Database of Vietnam Casualties: https://www.coffeltdatabase.org/index.php)

Virtual Vietnam Wall: https://www.virtualwall.org/

NOTE: If family/friends plan to travel to Vietnam to view the site, they will need to convert the era coordinates (including latitude/longtitude) to adjust to the current coordinates, as the system in use has changed!

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Maps – Specialized Map Search and Location Index Resources in the Virtual Vietnam Archive

The Virtual Vietnam Archive includes has a complete set of the era U.S. Army 1:50000 maps – they are digitized and freely available online (i.e., U.S. government and military materials are in the public domain) using our Map Search form in the Virtual Vietnam Archive (see instructions below, the attached Map Search guide and our YouTube video guide: ).  NOTE: Each grid square is 1 square kilometer ; maps are roughly 26x26 grids/kilometers.

We also have an almost complete set of the era U.S. Army 1:25000 Pictomap series. The Map Sheet# corresponds to the 1:50000 sheets, with a N and S for each. The Pictomap series is not available online, but we have the digitized files available upon request. Search for the map you need using our online resources for the 1:50000 maps, then email the Map Sheet#(s) you want and we will email the PDF files to you.

Map Search Guide for Virtual Vietnam Archive - navigation and search tips:

https://vva.vietnam.ttu.edu/shared/guides/Guide_Using%20Maps%20Search.pdf

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Go to the Virtual Vietnam Archive search page:           https://vva.vietnam.ttu.edu

[Navigation Tip: Click on the   Home icon at the upper left to return to the main search page.]

Click on the Map Search button.

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Map Search - Resources

If you do not know the Map# or Grid Zone Coordinates to search for a specific map, we have map search resources (to the far right) that can help you.

--Use gazetteers to look up Lat/Long coordinates for Vietnam locations by name.

--Use the "Find U.S. Military Grid Zone Coordinates" list to search for a U.S. named location.

--Use the "1:50000" interactive map for South Vietnam, click on the province, then on a map.

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Look up coordinates and Map Sheet# using the Find U.S. Military Grid Zone Coordinates Index; use CTRL-F (Find) to search for your location/unit/op name in the index), then enter coordinates or the Map Sheet# in the appropriate fields on the Map Search form. U.S. Military Grid Zone Coordinates Index:

https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/virtualarchive/items.php?item=25720203001

Within this list you can use CTRL-F (Find in text). E.g., for  I/3/7  there are 4 entries, including this one:

     FB Bullwhip ZC056664 6540-1 Construction completed by I/3/7th Marines 12May69. Op Oklahoma Hills.

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Using the Map Search form , there are two ways to search for the map to view it online:

Map Sheet#: "6640-2"

OR

Coordinates (Lat/Long or Grid Zone)

Grid Zone: Designation:    BT

                East/West:          073        North/South:      223

Click on the (Click for More Item Information) link in the Item Record (not the thumbnail!).

[NOTE: If you click on the thumbnail, you only get a larger thumbnail.]

Zoomable PDF map vie for highest level of detail: 

Scroll farther down the page and click on the icon-link for one of the PDF files.

Save/Download the map file to your computer (the Down Arrow) or Print the file. When you Download the file it will automatically save with our Item#, which we recommend you retain for identification/access in the Virtual, but feel free to add more info to the filename that will help you identify it easily.

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 The U.S. Army maps are in the public domain and the VNCA has made these files available to you at no charge as a convenience.

 If you use a map in a project, please use the unique item credit or citation we provide at the bottom of the (Click for More Item Information) page of the Item Record.

 For large format printing, download the file(s) and use either a local business or online site. It is advised to tell the printer the output size and scale, and request a test print to check scale before ordering.

If they were a helicopter pilot, or it was a helicopter crash and you know the date of the crash, you might also find the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association website at VHPA.org helpful. They have a listing of helicopter pilots lost by name and by date, and links from them lead to further information on the aircraft loss, including other personnel on the aircraft killed or injured.

See the links labeled "KIA Info by Name" and "KIA Info by Date" as a starting point.

Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (vhpa.org)