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World War II · Inter-War · Korea · Vietnam
Search transcribed Official USMC Casualty Cards. We have transcribed over 166,940 Marine Corps Casualty Cards and linked this information to other data in our database. This page documents the casualty type codes, unit designation conventions, and statistical breakdown by conflict era.
The United States Marine Corps casualty cards assembled here represent one of the most granular primary-source records of American military service available to researchers and families. Drawn from four distinct datasets — World War II, the inter-war period, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War — these 166,940 digitized records document the personal particulars, unit assignment, date, and type of casualty for every Marine whose status changed as a result of combat, accident, disease, or captivity.
The largest single dataset is the World War II file, containing 88,837 records, reflecting the enormous scale of Pacific and Atlantic operations. The Vietnam-era file of 40,234 records and the Korean War file of 29,128 records document the two major post-war conflicts. The inter-war file of 8,741 records covers the period between the wars — occupations in Haiti, Nicaragua, and China — where non-combat causes dominate: 4,074 accidental injuries, 2,800 disease deaths, and 929 other non-combat deaths account for nearly 90% of entries against only 22 KIA.
Across all four datasets, unit designations have been algorithmically parsed to extract discrete fields for company, battalion, regiment, division, and higher command. Korean War entries use a hyphenated shorthand (B-1-7), Vietnam-era records use a long form (CO E 2DBN 5THMAR 1STMARDIV FMF), and World War II entries use a mixture of both. The TypeofCasualty field uses over 30 distinct abbreviation codes documented in full below.
| Era | Records | KIA | WIA | DOW | Non-Hostile Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World War II | 88,837 | 15,191 | 55,659 | 2,580 | 4,034 |
| Inter-War | 8,741 | 22 | 153 | 4 | 7,810 |
| Korean War | 29,128 | 3,521 | 21,720 | 516 | 996 |
| Vietnam War | 40,234 | 11,137 | 12,669 | 1,597 | 10,769 |
| Total | 166,940 | 29,871 | 90,201 | 4,697 | 23,609 |
Every abbreviation found in the TypeofCasualty column across all four source files, with counts aggregated from 166,940 records. The Eras column shows which datasets contain each code.
| Code | Meaning | Category | Eras Present | Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KIA | Killed in action | Hostile | All eras | 29,871 |
| DOW | Died of wounds (received in hostile action) | Hostile | All eras | 4,697 |
| WIA | Wounded in action (survived) | Hostile | All eras | 90,201 |
| WIANE | Wounded in action, not evacuated — minor wound, remained on duty | Hostile | Inter-War, Vietnam | 3,934 |
| DAI | Died, accidental injuries (non-hostile) | Non-hostile | All eras | 9,598 |
| DOD | Died of disease | Non-hostile | Inter-War, Vietnam | 6,574 |
| DOC | Died, other causes (non-hostile, non-disease) | Non-hostile | All eras | 2,760 |
| AD | Accidental death (WWII-era form of DAI) | Non-hostile | WWII, Inter-War, Korea | 2,945 |
| DIS | Disease / disability — non-fatal illness or injury | Non-hostile | WWII, Korea | 1,704 |
| ACC | Accidental injury, non-combat (survived) | Non-hostile | Inter-War, Korea | 1,525 |
| INJ | Injured, non-combat (survived) | Non-hostile | WWII, Korea | 925 |
| DD | Died of disease (WWII alternate form of DOD) | Non-hostile | WWII | 725 |
| AUT | Automotive / vehicle accident | Non-hostile | Korea | 484 |
| DRO | Drowning | Non-hostile | WWII, Korea | 149 |
| AER | Aeronautical accident (aviation-related) | Non-hostile | Korea | 138 |
| SUI | Suicide | Non-hostile | WWII | 87 |
| GUN | Gunshot wound — accidental, non-combat | Non-hostile | Korea | 49 |
| KAI | Killed, accidental injuries (non-hostile) | Non-hostile | Vietnam | 13 |
| POI | Poisoning | Non-hostile | Korea | 3 |
| Code | Meaning | Category | Eras Present | Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIA | Missing in action | Status | All eras | 49 |
| MIA-KIA | Missing in action — subsequently declared killed in action | Status | WWII | 781 |
| MIA TO KIA | Status change from MIA to KIA (Korean War form) | Status | Korea | 94 |
| POW | Prisoner of war | Status | WWII, Korea, Vietnam | 82 |
| POW-KIA | Prisoner of war — died in captivity or killed | Status | WWII | 232 |
| POW-DD | Prisoner of war — died of disease in captivity | Status | WWII | 108 |
| CPTD / CPTR | Captured | Status | Vietnam | 5 |
| RMC | Returned to military control (POW or MIA returned alive) | Status | Korea, Vietnam | 194 |
| Code | Meaning | Category | Eras Present | Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SS (CF) | Struck from strength, casualty final — formal record closure for MIA declared deceased | Admin | WWII | 4,125 |
| CF | Casualty final — final determination of status | Admin | WWII | 1,333 |
| SS | Struck from strength — removed from unit muster rolls | Admin | WWII | 1,111 |
| DELETE FR … | Record correction — entry deleted from the listed category | Admin | WWII, Korea | ~1,900 |
| … TO … | Status change — e.g. MIA TO KIA, WIA TO DOW | Admin | Korea, Vietnam | ~110 |
| DIA | Died in action (alternate / early-record form of KIA) | Admin | Inter-War, Vietnam | 13 |
| DOA | Died on arrival (medical) | Other | Inter-War | 2 |
| IHE | In-hospital error / died due to medical error | Other | WWII | 6 |
CO K 3DBN 9THMAR 2DMARDIV(REIN) FMF or the Korean War shorthand B-1-7. A rule-based parser extracts five components: company or battery designator, battalion, regiment, division, and higher command (FMF, FMFPAC, FMFLANT). The parser handles each era's distinct naming conventions, quoted company letters, written-out ordinals (THIRD MARDIV), BLT slash notation (BLT 2/3), and specialist units including H&S companies and tank battalions. Coverage reaches 62–85% of rows depending on field.
