Military Records

U.S. Military Casualties, Missing in Action, and Prisoners of War from the Era of the Korean War

 


Introduction

refer to caption

Records of U.S. Air Force Commands

POWs (repatriated in the UN POW exchange)

This reference report provides an overview of the electronic data records in the custody of the National Archives that relate to U.S. military casualties, missing in action, and prisoners of war from the Korean War era. Full descriptions of the series and data files listed in this report are in the National Archives Catalog. Users can search the Catalog by title, National Archives Identifier, type of archival material, or keyword.

Some of the series and files listed in this report are accessible online:

All of the files are also available for a cost-recovery fee. For more information see: Ordering Information for Electronic Records.


Record Group 15: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs

  • Records of Repatriated Korean War Prisoners of War
    National Archives Identifier: 583582
    Online Access: Download    Search

    This series contains information about 4,447 former prisoners of war from the Korean War.

Record Group 319: Records of the Army Staff

  • Records of American Prisoners of War During the Korean War
    National Archives Identifier: 583429
    Online Access: Download    Search

    This series has records for 4,714 U.S. military officers and soldiers who were prisoners of war during the Korean War and therefore considered casualties. Surviving prisoners of war were exchanged at "Big Switch-Little Switch" towards the end of the Korean War.

Record Group 330: Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense

  • Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files
    National Archives Identifier: 2163536
    Online Access: Download    Search
     
  • Korean War Extract Data File, as of April 29, 2008
    National Archives Identifier: 2240988
    Online Access: Download    Search

    This file contains records of U.S. military officers and soldiers who died as a result of either a hostile or non-hostile occurrence or who were missing in action or prisoners of war in the Korean War. It is the successor to the series "Records of Military Personnel Who Died as a Result of Hostilities During the Korean War." Information from these records are available as State-Level Fatal Casualty Lists. 

  • Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Files
    National Archives Identifier: 4667739
    Online Access: Download    Search

    This series contains records of U.S. military officers and soldiers who died as a result of either a hostile or non-hostile occurrence in the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, or War on Terrorism. These include the records of persons who were missing in action or prisoners of war in either the Korean War or the Vietnam War.

  • Records of Military Personnel Who Died as a Result of Hostilities During the Korean War
    National Archives Identifier: 571686
    Online Access: Download    Search

    This series contains selected descriptive data about U.S. military personnel who died by hostile means (i.e. battle deaths) as a result of combat duty in the Korean War. The records date from 1/1/1950 through 2/7/1957.

Record Group 407: Records of the Adjutant General's Office

  • Records on Korean War Dead and Wounded Army Casualties
    National Archives Identifier: 583580
    Online Access: Download    Search

    This series contains information about U.S. Army officers and soldiers who were casualties in the Korean War during the period of 2/13/1950 through 12/31/1953.

Related Information

Reference Information Paper 102, Records Relating to American Prisoners of War and Missing-in-Action from the Korean Conflict and During the Cold War Era

Electronic Records Reference Report, Records of Nurse Casualties in the Korean War

Theodore J. Hull, " Electronic Records of Korean and Vietnam War Casualties," Prologue (Spring 2000).

Contact Us

Reference Services
Electronic Records
National Archives at College Park
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
(301) 837-0470
e-mail: cer@nara.gov

September 2023


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