Missing in action facts for kids

the POW/MIA flag for the Prisoners and Missing in Wars

Missing in action (MIA) refers to a soldier who is reported to have gone missing during active service. The soldier may have been killed, injured, captured or deserted. It is not known what happened to them. If they are dead, neither their body nor grave can be found or identified. Going missing in action has been a risk for people in armed forces for as long as there has been war.

World War II

According to the US Dept of Defense as of January 14, 2021:

• MIAS-North America: 2,399
• MIAS-South America: 645
• MIAS-Europe: 20,929
• MIAS-Middle East: 16
• MIAS-Africa: 987
• MIAS-Asia/Pacific: 47,144
• Total of MIA US Servicemen/civilians: 72,533

According to official US Department of Army and Department of Navy casualty records, submitted to Congress in 1946 and updated in 1953, the combined possible total of missing service personnel worldwide is closer to approximately 6600 and probably considerably fewer. Since DPAA alone designates such WWII personnel as the crew of the USS Arizona and most of that of USS Oklahoma as both "missing" and "unaccounted-for" it is possible that DPAA records keeping may be somewhat idiosyncratic.

Korean War

According to the US Dept of Defense as of January 14,2021: Total of working number of MIA US Servicemen: 7,567

Vietnam War

According to the US Dept of Defense as of January 14,2021: Total of MIA US Servicemen/Civilians: 1,585

Cold War

According to the US Dept of Defense as of January 14, 2021:

• MIAS-Europe: 15
• MIAS-Asia/Pacific: 111

Total of MIA Servicemen: 126

Others

According to the US Dept of Defense as of January 15,2021:

• MIAS-Gulf Wars/Middle East: 5
• MIAS-El Dorado Canyon/Africa: 1

Total of MIA Servicemen: 6

As of January 14,2021 Total US MIAS World War II to present: 81,817

Related pages

• Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
• Garden of the Missing in Action

Images for kids

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  Grave of 12 unknown British and/or Commonwealth soldiers. Buried in Stanley Military Cemetery, Hong Kong.

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  The Garden of the Missing in Action in the National Military and Police Cemetery in Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

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  After the 2018 Trump-Kim summit, North Korea searched for and returned the remains of U.S. POWs and MIAs from the Korean War.

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  The remains of US soldiers in DPRK start the journey to the U.S. after 65 years.

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  The US war remains were delivered from Wonsan, North Korea by U.S. military transport plane C-17 Globemaster to the Osan Air Base near Seoul, South Korea.

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  POW☆​​MIA Flag.

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  The fate of American POW/MIAs from the Vietnam War spurred interest in POW/MIAs from all wars. Here a roadside plaque in the U.S. state of Georgia lists such figures.

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  "Missing in Action" plaque at Veterans Memorial Park in Rhome in north Texas

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  Ossuary at the Gallipoli battlefield, containing the remains of 3000 unidentified French soldiers who died in 1915

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  Grave of an unknown Indian Army combatant in Lae War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea

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  Monument to prisoners of war and missing soldiers in Neustadt am Rübenberge, Germany

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  Grave of unknown Indian Army soldier, Taukkyan War Cemetery, Burma

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  Grave of unknown British or Commonwealth soldier, Taukkyan War Cemetery, Burma

See also

In Spanish: Desaparecido en acción para niños