# Vietnam military deaths by age

Source: National Archives, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File, as of April 29, 2008.
Catalog: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2240992
Data: https://catalog.archives.gov/medialive/92/2409/2240992/content/arcmedia/electronic-records/rg-330/dcase/DCAS.VN.EXT08.DAT
Layout: https://catalog.archives.gov/medialive/92/2409/2240992/content/arcmedia/electronic-records/rg-330/dcase/DCAS.VN08.DOC.PDF

Retrieved September 24, 2026. Includes all 58,220 records in this U.S. military
extract, both hostile and non-hostile deaths, including recorded later deaths.
It does not cover Vietnamese military or civilian deaths.

Calculated completed-year age from field 12 (Birth Dt) and field 35
(Death Dt, defined as Incident or Death Date), adjusting for whether the birthday
had occurred. Field 34 is Process Dt and must not be used for age.
All dates parsed; no records excluded. Ages 15–62; median 21; modal age 20.
The aggregate includes age 16 with zero deaths.

Reproduce from f26:
Rscript course_design/build_vietnam_age_plot.R /path/to/DCAS.VN.EXT08.DAT

The classroom file vietnam-casualties.csv retains one row per person with
name, service branch, and computed age. Service numbers are excluded.
Aggregate counts and the finished plot are also retained.