POW/MIA Statistics

POWs from wars prior to WWI

During the Civil War, 220,000 were captured by the North, with 26,436 dying during confinement; 126,950 were captured by the South, with 22,576 dying during confinement. (The Civil War, Garden Press, New York, New York)

During the American Revolution, unofficial reports indicate up to 11,000 died during captivity, most while confined in prison ships in New York harbor.

 

Caputured by the North

220,000

Died during confinement

26,436

Caputured by the South

126,950

Died during confinement

22,576

MIA statistics

Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, executed, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave has been positively identified.

At present, approximately 83,000 Americans still remain missing from WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf Wars and other conflicts. Out of the 83,000 missing, 75% of the losses are located in the Asia-Pacific, and over 41,000 of the missing are presumed lost at sea.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war.
At the end of the war, there were approximately 79,000 Americans unaccounted for.

More than 7,800 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War.

Since 1973, the remains of more than 1,000 Americans killed in the Vietnam War have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors. Today, more than 1,600 Americans remain unaccounted for from the conflict.

126 service members remain unaccounted for from the Cold War.

WISCONSIN MIA

1,660 of the approximately 83,000 MIA American service members hail from the state of Wisconsin

154

missing from WWI

1,313

missing from WWII

164

missing from the Korean War

29

missing from the Vietnam War

one

missing as the result of other Cold War-era operations.