| Vietnam - KIA Statistics | B. G. Burkett - Stolen Valor | 8/5/00 |
- 77% of the KIA's in Vietnam were
volunteers
- Average age of KIA's in Vietnam was 22.8 years
- More fifty-two-year-olds (22) died in Vietnam and
seventeen-year-olds (12)
- Almost 11% of KIA's were 30 years of age or older
- The Army lost a higher ratio of its officer corps in
Vietnam than in WWII.
- 5% of KIA's were Hispanic, 12.5% were Black
- Common misperception was that because the more affluent
were able to go to college and thus get a student deferment, the
war was fought primarily by working class minorities. In
actuality, the KIA numbers were more than offset by deaths among
college educated graduates of ROTC, OCS, and service academies.
- Median education level in the military during Vietnam Era
was 13 years.
- Almost 80% of people in the military during Vietnam had
high school diplomas, even though at the time only 65% of
military age youths in the U.S. had a high school diploma.
- Proportionately, three times as many college graduates
served in Vietnam as in WWII.