American Military Casualties 1775 – Present
Below is a listing of America’s MAJOR wars and conflicts and the known casualty figures for each. Casualties are for United States and Confederate military dead and wounded only.
Unknown Soldier’s Grave at Normandy
| War | Dates | Deaths | Wounded |
| American Revolutionary War | 1775-1783 | Combat: 4,435 Other: Unknown |
6,188 |
| Indian Wars | 1783-1890 | Combat: 1,000 (approx.) Other: Unknown |
Unknown |
| The War of 1812 | 1812-1815 | Combat: 2,260 Other: Unknown |
4,505 |
| U.S.-Mexican War | 1846-1848 | Combat: 1,733 Other: 11,550 Total: 13,283 |
4,152 |
| U.S. Civil War | 1861-1865 | Union: Combat: 110,070 Other: 249,458 Confederate: Combat: 74,524 Other: 124,000 |
Union: 275,175 Confederate: 137,000 + |
| Spanish-American War | 1898 | Combat: 385 Other: 2,061 Total: 2,456 |
1,662 |
| Philippine-American War | 1899-1901 | Combat: 1,108 Other: 2,108 Total: 3,216 |
2,779 |
| World War I | 1917-1918 | Combat: 53,513 Other: 63,195 Total: 116,708 |
204,002 |
| World War II | 1941-1945 | Combat: 292,131 Other: 115,185 Total: 407,316 |
670,846 |
| Korean War | 1950-1953 | Combat: 33,651 Other: **(in-theater): 2,830 (not-in-theater): 17,730 Total: 54,246*** |
103,284 |
| Vietnam War | 1964-1975 | Combat: 47,369 Other: 10,799 Total: 58,168**** |
153,303 |
| Gulf War | 1991 | Combat: 148 Other: 145 Total: 293 |
467 |
| The War in Afghanistan/Operation Enduring Freedom & Operation Freedom’s Sentinel: Afghanistan/Pakistan Note: Operation Enduring Freedom ended on Dec. 31, 2014. Since the war itself did not end, it gained a new name, Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. OFS runs from Jan. 1, 2015 to the withdrawal of U.S. forces. OEF and OFS casualties are included in this listing. |
October 7, 2001– August 30, 2021 | Total: 2,438
(this number includes six Department of Defense civilians killed in action against al-Qaeda/Taliban forces) |
Total: 20,732
(based on DoD website which includes all wounded from Operation EF, including those injured in areas other than Afghanistan/Pakistan) NOTE: The lone U.S. Serviceman held by the Taliban, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, was released by his captors on May 31, 2014. |
| Operation Enduring Freedom: Philippines | Oct. 7, 2001-Continuing As of Nov. 11, 2008 |
Combat: 1 Non-Combat*****:14 Total: 15 |
0 |
| Third Persian Gulf War “Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn” Note: Operation Iraqi Freedom ended on August 31, 2010. Since the war itself did not end, it gained a new name, Operation New Dawn (OND). OND lasted from September 1, 2010 to the official end of this Operation on December 15, 2011. The last U.S. forces left Iraq on December 18, 2011 (they would return in 2014 to fight ISIS in Iraq) OND casualties are included in this listing. |
March 19, 2003-Dec. 15, 2011 | Total: 4,484 Non-Combat: 965 |
Total: 32,253 |
| Haiti Intervention | March, 2004 | Combat: 0 Non-Combat: 0 Total: 0 |
Combat: 1 Non-Combat 0 Total: 1 |
| Libya War | March 19, 2011-Oct. 31, 2011 | Combat: 0 Non-Combat: 0 Total: 0 |
Total: 2 (two USAF pilots suffered minor injuries when they ejected from their F-15E Eagle)
|
| Islamic State War/ISIS War/Operation Inherent Resolve (Includes all military operations against IS in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya) OIR Footnote on nations included in this Operation. The casualty numbers also include those personnel wounded in Iranian missile attacks on U.S. forces in early 2020. | June 14, 2014-Present As of January, 2020 |
Combat: 20 Non-Combat: 88 Total: 1(this number includes 4 Department of Defense civilians killed during Operation Inherent Resolve-2 from enemy action, and 2 in non-combat operations) |
Wounded in Action: 295 |
Sources for updated 2003-2011 Iraq War casualties: Iraq Coalition Casualty Count–The best website I have found thus far to monitor and track Coalition casualties in this war.
The Defense Department updates their casualty page frequently. It is at: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf
* Non-battle deaths not known for these wars. **In-Theater means the deaths occurred in or near the area of combat operations. Example: If a helicopter carrying 45 soldiers in Vietnam crashes into a mountain due to bad weather, they are non-combat, in-theater deaths. If a helicopter crashes in Vietnam due to enemy action, they are combat deaths. If a helicopter in the United States crashes into a mountain during the Vietnam War, they are non-combat, non-theater deaths.
***Some controversy exists over the total number of deaths from the Korean War. For many years after the war, the official death toll stood around 54,000. Recently, the U.S. government changed the totals to the numbers above. Apparently, the non-theater deaths had been incorrectly added to the total, thereby inflating the number of “combat” deaths. Nearly 8,000 American military personnel are listed as “Missing in Action” (MIA) in Korea. They are not included in the death totals, though by now, they should all be considered dead.
****The numbers of Vietnam dead changes periodically as more remains are found in Southeast Asia and are identified. Approximately 2,500 service personnel were listed as “Missing in Action” (MIA) after the war.
*****Operation Enduring Freedom involves combat operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan (as of May 25, 2004) as well as anti-terrorist “training” missions in the Philippines, Yemen, and the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. The figures above reflect information supplied by the Department of Defense. The non-combat deaths include fatalities in airplane and helicopter crashes, industrial accidents, accidental shootings and at least three fatalities caused by friendly fire. Ten of the casualties in the Philippines were from a helicopter crash, while one soldier was killed in action when a bomb exploded near a Filipino military base in Zamboanga, Philippines.
OIR Footnote: OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE includes casualties that occurred in Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the Mediterranean Sea east of 25° Longitude, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea.
Links and Sources for American War Casualties
Statistical Summary of America’s Major Wars–From the U.S. Civil War Center.
America’s Wars–From the Veteran’s Administration
War Statistics Relating to the Philippine Wars (1899 to 1913)
Deaths-Operation Enduring Freedom–From the U.S. Defense Department
America’s Wars and Casualties –Includes information on when the last veterans from each war died.
Coalition Casualties–Website tracking Coalition casualties in the 2003 Iraq War.
SFC Mark Wayne Jackson–Memorial web page for U.S. Special Forces soldier killed in the Philippines in 2002.
The Final Roll Call: Afghanistan War Casualyt Database–Database of American casualties from the Afghanistan War.
The Final Roll Call: Iraq War Casualty Database--Database of American casualties from the Iraq War.
Libya crisis: US warplane crew rescued after crash–BBC, March 22, 2011
Defence Casualty Analysis System-Casualty data on Operation Inherent Resolve (anti-IS operations)
Please cite this source when appropriate:
“The History Guy: Casualties From America’s Wars”
http://www.historyguy.com/american_war_casualties.html
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