No-Quarter Frequently-Asked Questions

Here is a representative list of questions which we receive often enough to justify giving answers in advance. We will revise the list from time to time as the need arises.

PLEASE LOOK OVER THIS LIST BEFORE SENDING US A QUESTION.

1. Can I add a link to your page?
2. Could you add a) some graphics b) some music c) some other feature to the site?
3. I would like to add a) a photo; b) a biographical sketch; c) more information to a record in your list. How do I do that?
4. Do you have any information on ......?
5. I'd like to look for casualty records from my old unit. Can I search by unit?
6. I'd like to look for casualties from a particular battle or incident. Can I do that?
7. I have a POW/MIA bracelet that I would like to send to the person's family. Can you help me find them?
8. I'm looking for members of my old unit (or found out that my father was an American serviceman who served in Vietnam; or ....). Can you help me find someone?
9. I'd like to find out where someone on the list is buried. Can you help?
10. Your site lists a wrong casualty date. What's up?
11. I can't find someone's name on your list.
12. I found an error in your information and am very upset! Fix this immediately!
13. Don't you people realize <whatever>. Have you no respect for the men that died?
14. Is there anything I can do to help?

We will try to answer other kinds of questions when possible, but remember that we are just two regular guys (and one lady) with day jobs. If your question appears below and you ask anyway, it may take a very long time to get an answer.

1.) Can I add a link to your page?

Yes, please do. No special permission required.

We strongly suggest that you link only to the home page itself. Other pages may change without warning, and we can't be responsible for bad links in that case. It's tempting, I know, to link directly in to the search page, but link to the home page -- your users will like it better in the long run.

2.) Could you add a) some graphics b) some music c) some other feature to the site?

No. For the most part, we like it the way it is, very simple (and Lynx-compatible). That makes it faster and accessible to more people. Chris can do fancy stuff, but many of the people we want to provide with this information are at least partially disabled or do not have zippy connections and power-box computers.

We might be interested in suggestions for search features or things that have to do with presenting information -- though we can't guarantee when we'd have time to put them in if we did like them.

We definitely want to hear about broken links and things that don't work properly or are confusing or hard to use.

3.) I would like to add a) a photo; b) a biographical sketch; c) more information to a record in your list. How do I do that?

While there are sites that allow people to leave virtual "remembrances", we don't do that. It's not a bad idea, but we haven't the time or resources to maintain it. Our mission, as we see it, is simply to present the official casualty data as held by the government.

4.) Do you have any information on ......?

If we have it, it's been made available on the site. No secrets here. Additional information may be available from sources you can find through our links page, or through a good search engine.

General questions about the War, statistics, the Memorial ... you know, the kind someone doing their homework might ask :) ... are best researched using some of the resources on our links page.

We can try to help with unusual questions as our time and ability allow, but please look over this FAQ and our links page first, and be patient about a reply -- it may be fast or it may take a while.

5.) I'd like to look for casualty records from my old unit. Can I search by unit?

The only unit information we have is from the US Army's so-called "TAGCEN" file, which gives division/brigade level organization for many Army casualties. This will show up in the "Record Details" under Military Information for those casualties that have this information. Currently, most Army casualties have major organization information, but none of the other services do.

You may be able to search BY unit on the TAGCEN search page. Bear in mind, though, that this search is still under development (that is, it may not work right and isn't terribly user-friendly). We're working on this as time and day jobs allow.

If you can tell us where to get unit information on casualties from an official source, we will gladly add it.

6.) I'd like to look for casualties from a particular battle or incident. Can I do that?

Strictly speaking, no. There's no information on specific battles or incidents in the casualty database. You can, however, find casualties by date and province (time and place) using the Advanced Search utility or the All Fields search. You'll need a good idea of the date, and what province the incident was located in. Be careful with this, you can get very large lists.

The All Fields search can also be useful for this kind of thin.

7.) I have a POW/MIA bracelet that I would like to send to the person's family. Can you help me find them?

We ourselves have no resources that would help on locating a next-of-kin family. There are organizations that may be able to help; we have a link to one below, and will be adding others in the near future. Any question that has to do with POW/MIA families needs to be handled with the utmost sensitivity and respect, and we want to be very careful about whom we suggest for this purpose.

We'd like to ask you to consider a few things, though:

• the bracelets are not unique -- that is, yours is by no means the only one for that soldier. There have never been more than about 4000 POW/MIAs, and the bracelets themselves have been produced for nearly thirty years (and are still being produced). We don't know of any exact numbers, but there could be hundreds of bracelets for any one person.

• some family members may actively want bracelets; for others, the experience of seeing one might be very painful. It's unlikely that anyone would question your motives, but it's also hard to know just how the family would feel about it.

• bear in mind that the bracelets were originally created to maintain public awareness of the situation of the POW/MIAs. In a way it is a very nice gesture to return the bracelets to the families, but it can also be seen as defeating the purpose for which they were produced. The families aren't going to forget; others might.

We don't want to tell you what you should do with your bracelet; there's no obvious answer to that question. We just think it's a good idea to reflect for a moment or two on what the bracelets mean, and to whom.

The USAF Personnel Command has an official web page that will try to arrange for contact with Air Force POW/MIA families.  In the coming weeks we will probably be adding links to other organizations that may be able to help.

8.) I'm looking for members of my old unit (or found out that my father was an American serviceman who served in Vietnam; or ....). Can you help me find someone?

Unfortunately, no. We have no special resources for locating people, though we list a few on our links page that may be of help. Be aware that the government is prohibited by law from releasing certain types of information about living people; many private organizations have similar policies about respecting persons' privacy.

9.) I'd like to find out where someone on the list is buried. Can you help?

There is no central listing of burial sites, though there are several organizations that might be able to help.

• If the person is buried in one of the National Cemeteries, the National Cemetery Administration of the VA has a page that offers some information.

• Information about burials in private cemeteries can sometimes be found in the Individual Deceased Personnel File (293 file).

10.) Your site lists a wrong casualty date. What's up?

Usually that happens with casualties that are MIA/BNR [Missing in Action or Body Not Recovered]. It is caused by the way the official casualty list is arranged - the casualty date given for those whos body was not recovered is often the date on which they were administratively declared dead by their service, not the date they went missing. Some dates are long after the war. So it's not so much an "error" as it is a bureaucratic artifact. We've chosen to leave it the way the government has it for now; we're thinking about adding some clarifying information when we put up the next edition of the database.

The best source of up-to-date official information on POW/MIA casualty/return/identification dates is via the DPMO.

11.) I can't find someone's name on your list.

This is a fairly frequent question. Out of literally hundreds of times we've seen this question, only twice has the person named actually not been on the list. Check the Search Help page, and double-check your search criteria.

In the unlikely event that someone really isn't on the list, there are two possibilities:

• the person was added after 1993, which is the date of the list we have (we're going to get a more up-to-date one soon).

• there is some other problem. In this case, we really can't help, since the casualty list is the only information we have.  Try the Errors Page, but please be sure that you've searched properly before contacting the appropriate casualty office.

12.) I found an error in your information and am very upset! Fix this immediately!

First, calm down. All information at our site is from official government sources. If there is a mistake here, it is most likely wrong in the official record as well.

Second, be certain that it actually is an error. Discrepancies in "home of record" often have to do with a misunderstanding about what that term means; see out ERRORS PAGE for more information.

Since our mission is to present the official information as held by the government, we do not make changes to the information on the site (though it is time to update our casualty file, and we are in the process of looking into that). Any change here would not change the official record, and there's no sense in changing this web site and leaving a mistake in the official record. Contact the service branch offices listed on the errors page if you are certain that you know of a legitimate error.

13.) Don't you people realize <whatever>. Have you no respect for the men that died?

Men and women, if you don't mind.

We realize that Vietnam is an emotional issue, especially if you were there. We don't push any agendas or play any politics, we just make information available. We did not generate any of this information. If you think we do this, for no compensation and on our own time, because we disrespect the dead of Vietnam, you are simply too stupid to talk to. Get lost.

[Folks, believe it or not we do sometimes get crank email to this effect.]

14.) Is there anything I can do to help?

We appreciate the offer. If you have UNIX programming skills or web space you can let us use more-or-less permanently, Chris might want to hear from you. If you can direct us to or provide us with new information from an official source, Tom wants to hear from you. Otherwise, we're pretty well taken care of, thanks.

If you really want to do something, think about making a contribution of time, effort or money to a veteran's group, VA hospital, or something similar.  We have our health and reasonable jobs. Not everyone who came back from Vietnam -- or other conflicts -- is as fortunate.

Not everyone has the opportunity to do what these folks do, but they have the right spirit. We salute them.