US deaths in WW2

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Von Schadewald
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US deaths in WW2

#1

Post by Von Schadewald » 11 Jan 2008, 01:10

417,000 US troops died in WW2.

Of this number, is it known how many died fighting the Germans and how many died fighting the Japanese?

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R Leonard
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#2

Post by R Leonard » 11 Jan 2008, 05:37

Yes


JonS
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#3

Post by JonS » 11 Jan 2008, 09:10

lol

Von Schadewald
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#4

Post by Von Schadewald » 11 Jan 2008, 10:00

R Leonard wrote:Yes
Can you give the figures?

I would say US deaths on the Western Front were 3:1 over the Pacific. Am I right?

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#5

Post by Delta Tank » 11 Jan 2008, 16:16

Von Schadewald,

I will try to help you find the answer. This is what the American Battlefield Monuments Commission has as total dead (not KIA, dead from all causes) in World War II. We only have the records of those casualties that are buried in our cemeteries or listed on the Walls of the Missing -- a total of 176,399 records. There were 405,399 American casualties in World War II. There web site address is: http://www.abmc.gov/search/wwii.php

I will continue to search or if we are lucky R. Leonard will provide the answer. I am sure that when he was in high school the teachers just cringed with fear when they saw his name on the class list! LOL, Yes!

Mike
Currently sitting in a high school classroom.

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#6

Post by Von Schadewald » 11 Jan 2008, 19:58

Thanks for that.

I found this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_War that gives the US deaths in the Pacific War as 106,000 ie 300,000 US troops were killed in the European War. As US troops were basically "only" engaged against the Germans for 2.4 years, that's quite a total.

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R Leonard
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#7

Post by R Leonard » 11 Jan 2008, 20:52

Some info will require some digging, a big chunk will not.

For USN battle casualties you need identify the ship, or squadron, or shore unit and determine where, when and circumstances of the losses. Tough to do with 100% confidence in the results and some of the info dang hard to obtain. A good place to start would be here:

http://www.history.navy.mil/library/onl ... istics.htm

USMC battle casualties. In a number that rapidly approaches 100%, Marine battle losses were all in the Pacific Theater, Though there were some in other theaters, statistically they don’t raise a blip.

Lucky for you, the US Army battle losses, including USAAF, are all available. At the CARL site you can download in four parts the final report of the Adjutant General, the “Army Battle Casualties And Nonbattle Deaths In World War II” (1946). Go to here:

http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cdm4/document.p ... =130&REC=2

Part I will probably do to answer your question as far as the Army is concerned.

Overall, US Army Deaths, including USAAF, by theater, and includes KIA, DOW, POW-KIA, POW-DOW, POW-NBD, MIA-DD, and MIA-NBD:

Atlantic Area Theaters:
Africa-Middle East – 1,031
Caribbean & South Atlantic - 38
European – 135,576
Mediterranean – 40,455
TOTAL – 177,100

Pacific Area Theaters:
Alaska Department - 877
China-Burma-India – 2,479
China (Separate) - 227
India-Burma (Separate) – 1,021
Pacific Theater – 50,385
Strategic Air Forces – 2,148
TOTAL – 120,186

Unknown Theater - 146
Enroute to Theater – 490

TOTAL US Army Battle Deaths: 225,618

US Navy deaths from enemy action (using the generalized Army categories):

Atlantic Theaters – 5793
Pacific Theaters – 31,157

Add in 19,733 USMC deaths from enemy action, for all intents and purposes 100% in the Pacific Theater, and you get

Atlantic Theaters: 182,893
Pacific Theaters: 171,076

So no, not a 3:1 ratio.

Rich

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thorwald77
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#8

Post by thorwald77 » 12 Jan 2008, 15:50

What about the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine deaths?

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Michael Emrys
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#9

Post by Michael Emrys » 12 Jan 2008, 15:56

Coast Guard deaths may have been folded into Navy deaths since during wartime the Coast Guard is taken over by the Navy.

Michael

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thorwald77
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#10

Post by thorwald77 » 12 Jan 2008, 16:13

[
Pacific Area Theaters:
Alaska Department - 877
China-Burma-India – 2,479
China (Separate) - 227
India-Burma (Separate) – 1,021
Pacific Theater – 50,385
Strategic Air Forces – 2,148
TOTAL – 120,186

877+2479+227+1021+50385+2148=57,137 not 120,186

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thorwald77
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#11

Post by thorwald77 » 12 Jan 2008, 16:20

Check pages 102 -111 of the Army report. That is where they breakout battle and non battle casualties by theatre.

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thorwald77
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#12

Post by thorwald77 » 12 Jan 2008, 16:21

Michael Emrys wrote:Coast Guard deaths may have been folded into Navy deaths since during wartime the Coast Guard is taken over by the Navy.

Michael
They were NOT folded into Navy deaths, you are guessing

http://www.uscg.mil/history/faqs/wars.html

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thorwald77
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#13

Post by thorwald77 » 12 Jan 2008, 16:39

For US Merchant Marine battle deaths see the USMM website

http://www.usmm.org/casualty.html

Add the the Merchant Marine 9,500, the Coast Guard 1,900 to the DOD figure of 405,400 and you come to 416,800.

The Merchant Marine were declared veterans by President Reagan in 1988, they risked their lives in battle and deserve to be counted with US war dead like the Merchant Navies of the Commonwealth

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thorwald77
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#14

Post by thorwald77 » 12 Jan 2008, 18:09

US Army Casualties by Theatre
Here is the breakout of casualties by theatre from "Army Battle Casualties And Nonbattle Deaths In World War II”

Pages 76 -77- 234,874 Battle deaths including(9,256) POW and missing - Atlantic Area 178,136: Pacific area 65,954. Area Unknown 39.

Pages 99-110 83,400 Non battle deaths not including (9,256) POW and missing on pages 76-77- Atlantic Area 25,176, Pacific Area 16,289, CONUS 39,898. Enroute and Unknown 2,037
Last edited by thorwald77 on 12 Jan 2008, 20:26, edited 1 time in total.

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thorwald77
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#15

Post by thorwald77 » 12 Jan 2008, 18:40

From http://www.history.navy.mil/library/onl ... istics.htm US Navy losses are available

From this website the following breakout ogf US Navy WW2 deaths are given
Total 36,950 in battle and 25,664 non battle deaths
Atlantic 5,781 in battle and 3,715 on battle deaths
Pacific 31,157 in battle and 8,827 non battle deaths
CONUS 12 battle and 13,122 non battle deaths

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