The Pittsburgh Press (March 9, 1944)
162,282 war casualties suffered by Americans
Totals are 20,592 dead, 47,318 wounded, 26,326 missing, 27,222 prisoners
Washington (UP) –
Casualties of the United States armed service now total 162,282, it was revealed today.
Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson announced that the Army’s casualties number 121,458 – 20,592 killed, 47,318 wounded, 26,326 missing and 27,222 prisoners of war.
On Feb. 24 – two weeks ago today – the casualty total was 156,865, of which 118,128 were Army and 39,737 were in the naval forces. The increase in the two weeks totaled 5,417 announced casualties.
Navy list
A Navy list released today showed a total of 40,824 casualties – 17,261 dead, 9,910 wounded, 9,239 missing and 4,414 prisoners.
Secretary Stimson pointed out that the chance of survival for American soldiers wounded in this war is nearly twice as great as it was for men wounded in World War I.
Figures given
He made public a recent report by the Surgeon General showing that only 3.7% of American wounded have died as compared with 6.1% during the last war.
Although extensive operations in the tropics have led to an increase in the proportion of men overseas requiring hospitalization for diseases, the annual average death rate for this reason has been only 0.5 per 1,000 men as compared with a rate of 12.8 per 1,000 during the last war. In continental United States, the death rate from disease is 0.6 per 1,000 men yearly, as compared to the World War I rate of 15.6 per 1,000.
Social diseases
Since the last quarter of 1942, more than 100,000 men suffering from social diseases have been inducted and cured, the report said.
Secretary Stimson said 25,291 of the Army wounded have already been returned to duty or released from Army hospitals. Of the prisoners of war, 1,627 are reported to have died of disease, mostly in Jap camps.
Breaking down the figures by theaters, he reported:
ASIATIC THEATER: 231 killed, 156 wounded, 395 missing and 144 taken prisoner.
CENTRAL PACIFIC: 447 killed, 589 wounded, 83 missing, and one taken prisoner.
EUROPE: 2,419 killed, 2,214 wounded, 4,622 missing and 4,542 taken prisoner.
LATIN AMERICA: 44 killed, four wounded, and eight missing.
MIDDLE EAST: 379 killed, 232 wounded, 671 missing and 294 taken prisoner.
NORTH AFRICAN THEATER (including Italy): 9,271 killed, 29,278 wounded, 3,141 missing and 7,369 taken prisoner.
NORTH AMERICAN THEATER: 1,243 killed, 1,018 wounded and 39 missing.
PHILIPPINES: 1,096 killed, 1,720 wounded, 15,198 missing and 13,590 taken prisoner, including 12,506 Philippine Scouts.
SOUTH PACIFIC: 1,918 killed, 5,627 wounded, 467 missing, and six taken prisoner.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC: 1,959 killed, 3,577 wounded, 1,353 missing and 458 taken prisoner.