Battle Casualties and Medical Statistics

Lethality of Weapons and Location of Wounds

DEATH FROM WOUNDING

The relative proportion of deaths among those who are hit (the killedand the wounded) is important in recognizing the relative lethality ofthe various types of weapons used by the enemy; in reflecting the expectedeffects of the kind of combat in which troops are engaged; and for indicatingareas of possible development of protective measures and, devices, as wellas for devising improved surgical techniques. The latter reason, however,places the greatest emphasis on the proportion of wounded who die of theirwounds.

The official Adjutant General counts of killed and wounded are summarizedin table 38 for World War II experience (8) compared to the officialAdjutant General counts (3) for the Korean War. For all of WorldWar II, 28 died among an average 100 killed or wounded. This ratio was25 deaths in the European Theater of Operations in World War II and 22of 100 for Korea. Obviously, the method by which the distinction is madebetween the killed and the wounded has a marked effect on the number determinedto have died of wounds. Of the two major sources, the number died of wounds(1,957) processed by The Surgeon General, from individual medical recordsof admissions to medical treatment facilities, is more reliable in thisrespect. In addition, the inclusion of the slightly wounded CRO cases providesa broader base for determining fatality among all men hit, rather thanjust among the killed in action and wounded admissions. In view of this,the data from the Office of the Surgeon General are given in table 39.

There were 19 deaths among an average 100 hit (including wounded CROcases) and 81 survived in Korea. Of the 83 who were wounded, 13 were treatedand immediately returned to duty while 70 required admission for treatmenton an excused-from-duty basis. Two of the 70 wounded admissions died ofwounds. When distinction is made between division and non-division units,certain differences are apparent. The relatively fewer deaths (14 of 100non-division hit) show that nine were killed in action and five died ofwounds. The larger ratio for died of wounds might tend to prove the principleof classification of the mortally wounded between killed and wounded. Itwould appear that mortally wounded individuals from non-division units,operating in the vicinity of medical support, are more likely to be seenalive and, therefore, recorded as having died of their wounds. In addition,28 of the 91 non-division wounded were carded for record, and only 63 requiredadmission to medical treatment. These ratios compare to 19 deaths among100 division troops hit (including CRO cases), of which 18 were recordedas killed in action. Seventy of 82 division wounded required admissionfor treatment on an excused-from-duty basis, while only 12 were cardedfor record only.

Table 38.- Killed-in-action and wounded-in-actionadmissions,¹by type of case, U.S. Army, World War II andKorean War

Type of case	All theaters, World War II		European theater, June 1944-May 1945		U.S. Army, Korea
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Killed in action	192,798	24.5	105,012	21.8	19,585	19.7
Wounded in action	592,623	75.5	376,832	78.2	79,630	80.3
Died of wounds	26,762	3.4	16,171	3.4	2,034	2.1
Nonfatal wounds	565,861	72.1	360,661	74.8	77,596	78.2
Total	785,421	100.0	481,844	100.0	99,215	100.0

 ¹Based on The Adjutant General CasualtyReports

 

---

36

Table 39.- Killed-in-action and wounded-in-actionadmissions and CRO cases,¹ by type of unit and type of case,U.S. Army, Korea, July 1950-July 1953

Type of case	U.S. Army, Korea		Division		Non-division
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Killed in action	19,353	17.3	18,654	17.9	699	9.2
Wounded in action:
Admissions	77,788	69.6	72,961	70.1	4,827	63..3
CRO cases	14,575	13.1	12,482	12.0	2,093	27.5
Total wounds	92,363	82.7	85,443	82.1	6,920	90.8
Died of wounds	1,957	1.8	1,574	1.5	383	5.0
Nonfatal wounds	90,406	80.9	83,869	80.6	6,537	85.8
Total	111,716	100.0	104,097	100.0	7,619	100.0

 ¹Based on medical records and reportsof death recieved by The Surgeon General.

CAUSATIVE AGENT AND NATURE OF TRAUMATISM

Two important elements relating to fatality of hits and the lethalityof weapons are the causative agent and the nature of traumatism. When comparisonis made between the various agents causing wounds and deaths in World WarII and in the Korean War (table 40), lower proportions were caused by explosiveprojectile shells (artillery, mortar, and bazooka), rockets and bombs,and boobytraps in the Korean War than in World War II. Conversely, relativelyhigher proportions in Korea were caused by small arms, grenades, land mines,and other fragments and explosions. The differences are more pronouncedamong the wounded than among the deaths. In Korea, 27 percent of the nonfatalwounds were from small arms (bullets) compared to 20 percent for all ofWorld War II. The proportion from explosive projectiles (51 percent) waslower in Korea than the 58 percent for World War II, while the proportionfrom grenades (9 percent) was markedly higher than the World War II figure.

When data on the lethality of weapons are assembled, and those withthe causative agent unknown or unrecorded are excluded, it still is difficultto assess lethality even in the simplest terms of the relative proportionwho die among those hit (killed or wounded excluding CRO). Apparently,even the killed in action who are seen by medical personnel are not routinelystripped and examined for the specific lethal agent. The relatively highfatality rates shown in table 41 for "all other" agents undoubtedly,result from this lack of specificity. For example, included in the "allother" group are such categories as "other fragments, or explosions,""unspecified instruments of war," and "accidents involvingown weapon n.e.c. (not elsewhere classified)," none of which identifythe particular weapon involved. Obviously, the fatality

Table 40.- Percent distribution of battlecasualties by causative agents,¹ U.S. Army, World War II andKorean War

Causative agent	World War II				Korean War
	Deaths	Killed in action	Died of wounds	Nonfatal wounds	Deaths	Killed in action	Died of wounds	Nonfatal wounds
All causative agents	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Small arms (bullets)	31.8	31.9	31.3	19.7	33.2	33.0	34.0	27.0
Explosive projectile shells	51.2	49.9	57.1	57.5	49.6	49.9	48.3	50.7
Rockets and bombs	1.5	1.4	2.1	1.6	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Grenades	0.5	0.4	1.2	2.5	1.5	1.3	2.4	9.0
Boobytraps	0.2	0.2	0.4	0.5	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.4
Land mines	2.7	2.3	4.3	3.4	4.4	4.2	5.1	3.5
Other fragmentary explosions	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.6	7.4	7.8	5.8	1.8
All other	11.8	13.6	3.3	14.2	3.7	3.6	4.1	7.5

 ¹Excluded are cases where the specificcausative agent was not recorded or was unknown.

 

---

37

Table 41.- Fatality percentage of deathsamong total hit (killed and wounded in action), by causative agent andnature of traumatism, U.S. Army, Korea, 1950-53

Causative agent	Nature of traumatism
	All traumatisms	Fracture	Wounds	Traumatic amputations	Burns	Concussion	Crushing	All others
All causative agents	12.0	3.8	15.2	33.1	8.4	7.0	(1)	9.0
Small arms (bullets)	13.5	1.6	20.4	4.9	(1)	(1)	(1)	10.4
Explosive projectile shells	10.9	4.8	12.2	35.9	24.2	5.8	(1)	11.2
Rockets and bombs	210.6	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)
Grenades	2.0	1.1	2.2	8.8	(1)	1.2	(1)	2.3
Boobytraps	4.6	23.3	4.1	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)
Land mines	12.9	6.3	16.1	19.5	(1)	14.8	(1)	14.9
All other	20.6	11.1	43.5	64.2	9.0	9.8	(1)	7.0

¹Denotes less than 50 killed or wounded inaction.
²Between 50-99 killed or wounded in action.

percentages of death among all those hit, by a specific agent are biasedto whatever degree these more or less ambiguous categories obscure a specificcausative agent. This problem does not exist for the died of wounds whoare treated by medical personnel and, consequently, the case fatality percentagesincluded in table 42 are not affected by "unknowns" to any significantdegree.

From these data on lethality, it is apparent, that small arms (bullets)produced the highest fatality rate (13.5 percent) among those hit, whenthe "all other" group is not considered. Land mines, with a 12.9percent fatality rate was second and explosive projectile shells (artillery,mortar, bazooka, and so forth) ranked third with a rate of 10.9 percent.Although rockets and bombs were almost identical (10.6 percent), the fatalitypercentage was based on only 85 hits and any determination of lethalityis uncertain at best. For this reason, data based on less than 50 hit orwounded are excluded and those with at leat 50 but less than 100 hits orwounds are separately identified. When the nature of traumatism is considered,traumatic amputations resulted in a relatively high rate of death. Thehighest fatality percentage (35.9 percent) resulted from traumatic amputationsdue to explosive projectile shells. Land mines produced a 19.5-percentfatality rate among all those hit who suffered a traumatic amputation.Wounds of all types had the highest fatality rates from small arms (20.4percent) and also from land mines (16.1 percent). Land mines produced afatality rate of 14.8 percent for concussions as well. Fractures had thelowest fatality percentages by nature of traumatism among those hit, withland mines (6.3 percent) and explosive, projectile shells (4.8 percent)being the most lethal of any causative agents for fracture wounds.

Of more, immediate concern to the surgeon is the proportion of woundedadmissions to medical treatment facilities who die of their wounds. Table42 shows a total case fatality rate of 2.2 percent

Table 42.- Case fatality percentage ofdeaths among wounded in action, by causative agent and nature of traumatism,U.S. Army, Korea, 1950-53

Causative agent	Nature of traumatism
	All traumatisms	Fracture	Wounds	Traumatic amputations	Burns	Concussion	Crushing	All others
All causative agents	2.2	1.9	2.1	5.4	2.6	0.9	(1)	3.2
Small arms (bullets)	2.7	1.2	3.2	1.5	(1)	(1)	(1)	7.9
Explosive projectile shells	2.1	2.7	1.7	7.5	20	0.8	(1)	4.4
Rockets and bombs	22.6	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)
Grenades	0.6	0.5	0.5	3.7	(1)	0	(1)	1.5
Boobytraps	1.3	23.3	0.9	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)
Land mines	3.1	2.2	3.3	5.0	(1)	3.5	(1)	3.2
All other	2.3	3.4	3.9	3.7	2.6	0.8	(1)	0.8

¹Denotes less than 50 killed or wounded inaction.
²Between 50-99 killed or wounded in action.

---

38

when the unknown or unrecorded causative agents are excluded. This latterpercentage compares with the overall case fatality of 2.5 percent for theU.S. Army in the Korean War. Land mines, with a case fatality rate of 3.1percent, was highest. Small arms (2.7 percent) had the next highest casefatality rate for wounded with rockets and bombs (two deaths among 78 admissions)showing an almost identical rate (2.6 percent). Wounded patients with traumaticamputations suffered an overall case fatality rate of 5.4 percent, withthose resulting from explosive projectile shells experiencing a case fatalityrate of 7.5 percent. Land mines causing traumatic amputations resultedin patients dying of wounds at a rate of 5.0 percent, while wounded admissionswith traumatic amputations resulting from small arms (bullets) had a casefatality rate of only 1.5 percent. Fractures, wounds of all types, andburns all had case fatality rates ranging from 2 to 3 percent, dependingupon the specific causative agent involved. Concussions, with an overallfatality rate for killed and wounded hit of 7.0 percent, produced a casefatality of only 0.9 percent for wounded admissions.

CAUSATIVE AGENT AND TACTICAL OPERATION

Perhaps a better indication of lethality might be obtained from an examinationof the use of weapons in particular tactical situations, where one weaponor another may be given particular advantage. When causative agents arereviewed for the different types of division tactical operations, eventhe relative proportion of the unknown or unrecorded causative agent amongthese killed in action is seen to vary considerably. For example, while57.5 percent of the killed in action was unknown for all operations, markedlyhigher proportions appeared for operations of pursuit (72.9 percent), defensiveoperations (82.7 percent), and withdrawal operations (85.8 percent). Thebalance reflected lower proportions of unknown causative agents, but stillwere on the order of one-third to two-fifths of all KIA cases by type oftactical operation. The relative ratios between small arms (bullets) andfragments, as determined from table 43, were approximately 2 to 1, in favorof fragments for all operations, 3 to 1 for static defense lines, and 4to 1 for limited operations. For major offensives and defensives, a 1-to-1ratio resulted. For operations of pursuit and withdrawal, the situationwas reversed, with bullets 2 to 1for pursuit and almost 6 to 1 over fragmentsfor withdrawals. It should be noted, however, that the latter type of operationalso had the highest percentage of unknown causative agents.

Causative agents by type of tactical operation are much more completefor wounded admissions to medical treatment facilities, and are shown intable 44 and figure 6 for U.S. Army divisions and separate regimental combatteams in the Korean War. Although neither aviation nor land transport vehicleswere significant factors in wounding, it is interesting to note that thehighest proportional distributions for land transport occurred during pursuitand withdrawal operations, respectively, while offensives provided thehighest ratio for aviation. The majority of wounds, of course, resultedfrom bullet and fragment type weapons, regardless of the type of divisionoperation experienced. Even so, differences do exist between the relativeproportions of these two major weapon groups, not only for the varioustypes of ground operations but also for different periods of time as well,during the Korean War. Figure 6 graphically depicts these differences bytype of operation and shows that operations of pursuit and operations ofwithdrawal resulted in the highest relative proportions for bullet wounds(43.3 percent and 45.6 percent, respectively) and were the only divisionoperations in the Korean War where fragments were exceeded its the causativeagent. Fragments caused 41.4 percent of all wounds in operations of pursuitand 35.0 percent during withdrawal operations. Fragments, of course, werethe leading cause of wounding in all other types of tactical operationand show a ratio of 58.1 percent for major offensive operations, 54.6 fordefensives, and highs of 77.6 percent and 79.2 percent, respectively, duringstatic defensive line operations and during limited offensive operationsfrom these lines. One might consider that these latter distributions areto be expected since they reflect the static nature of the defense of fortifiedlines where shelling by the enemy was a daily occurrence. Bullet wounds,by tactical operations other than for pursuit and withdrawal, ranged from34.7 percent of a1l wounds during major offensive operations and 36.1 percentduring defensives to a low of 15.2 and 15.7 percent, respectively, duringstatic defensive lines and limited operations from these lines.

Any relationship of wounding by causative agent and type of ground operationmust necessarily identify the weapons that are used by the enemy or becomeavailable to him over time. Figure 7 graphically shows that, during theearly part of the

---

39

Table 43.- Killed in action, by causativeagent and type of ground operation, U.S. Army divisions, Korean War

Causative agent	All operations1		Offensive operations		Pursuit operations		Maintain defensive lines		Limited operations from MBP		Defensive operations		Withdrawal operations
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Aviation	5	0.03	0	--	4	0.57	1	0.03	0	--	0	--	0	--
Land transport	27	0.15	6	0.15	3	0.43	4	0.11	4	0.13	8	0.12	2	0.65
Tank	9	0.05	2	0.05	0	--	0	--	4	0.13	1	0.01	2	0.65
Other	18	0.10	4	0.10	3	0.43	4	0.11	0	--	7	0.10	0	--
Bullets, small arms	2,584	13.97	986	25.01	118	16.81	633	17.44	348	11.47	471	6.84	28	9.03
Fragments or explosives	4,883	26.39	1,222	30.98	54	7.70	1,753	48.30	1,341	44.22	508	7.38	5	1.61
Explosive projectile shells	3,859	20.86	958	24.29	47	6.70	1,317	36.28	1,130	37.26	402	5.84	5	1.61
Rockets or aerial bombs	6	0.03	0	--	0	--	5	0.14	0	--	1	0.01	0	--
Land mines	305	1.65	95	2.41	0	--	175	4.82	29	0.96	6	0.09	0	--
Boobytraps	9	0.05	4	0.10	0	--	5	0.14	0	--	0	--	0	--
Grenades	97	0.52	21	0.53	0	--	55	1.52	7	0.23	14	0.20	0	--
Other and unqualified	607	3.28	144	3.65	7	1.00	196	5.40	175	5.77	85	1.24	0	--
Chemical warfare agents	14	0.08	3	0.08	0	--	5	0.14	4	0.13	2	0.03	0	--
White phosphorus	9	0.05	1	0.03	0	--	5	0.14	1	0.03	2	0.03	0	--
Other	5	0.03	2	0.05	0	--	0	--	3	0.10	0	--	0	--
Accidents in use of own weapons	112	0.61	11	0.28	2	0.28	70	1.93	9	0.30	19	0.28	1	0.32
Other and unknown instruments of war2	10,643	57.53	1,704	43.22	512	72.93	1,146	31.58	1,323	43.62	5,692	82.72	266	85.81
All other causative agents3	230	1.24	11	0.28	9	1.28	17	0.47	4	0.13	181	2.63	8	2.58
Total	18,498	100.00	3,943	100.00	702	100.00	3,629	100.00	3,033	100.00	6,881	100.00	310	100.00

¹Excludes redeploy and reserve.
²Consists mainly of instruments of war, the exact nature ofwhich was unrecorded or unknown. There possibly may be a few known casesincluded if due to flame thrower, bayonet, sword, or direct secondary effectsofknown instruments of war; however, their numbers, if any, would be verysmall.
³Includes water transport; machinery, tools, and related agents;poisoning; falls and jumps; environments; and other miscellaneous woundswhich were not directly due to instruments of war.

---

40

Table 44.- Wounded in action,¹by causative agent and type of ground operation, U.S. Army divisions, KoreanWar

Causative agent	All operations1		Offensive operations		Pursuit operations		Maintain defensive lines		Limited operations from MBP		Defensive operations		Withdrawal operations
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Aviation	96	0.13	55	0.28	33	0.02	3	0.02	0	--	5	0.03	0	--
Land transport	454	0.63	69	0.35	64	2.43	28	0.16	19	0.15	218	1.18	56	4.38
Tank	123	0.17	20	0.10	22	0.83	16	0.19	11	0.09	38	0.21	16	1.25
Other	331	0.46	49	0.25	42	1.60	12	0.07	8	0.06	180	0.97	40	3.13
Bullets, small arms	19,833	27.42	6,764	34.66	1,139	43.32	2,658	15.15	2,018	15.65	6,670	36.10	584	45.62
Fragments or explosives	46,781	64.66	11,337	58.10	1,089	41.42	13,610	77.55	10,211	79.19	10,086	54.60	448	35.01
Explosive projectile shells	36,379	50.29	8,852	45.36	781	29.71	9,902	56.42	8,080	62.66	8,446	45.72	318	24.84
Rockets or aerial bombs	45	0.06	5	0.03	5	0.19	23	0.13	1	0.01	10	0.05	1	0.08
Land mines	2,401	3.32	599	3.07	74	2.81	1,312	7.48	272	2.11	134	0.73	10	0.78
Boobytraps	261	0.36	37	0.19	2	0.08	173	0.99	36	0.28	11	0.06	2	0.16
Grenades	6,557	9.06	1,548	7.93	161	6.12	1,961	11.17	1,655	12.83	1,144	6.19	88	6.88
Other and unqualified	1,138	1.57	296	1.52	66	2.51	239	1.36	167	1.30	341	1.85	29	2.27
Chemical warfare agents	344	0.48	90	0.47	11	0.42	95	0.54	66	0.51	77	0.41	5	0.39
White phosphorus	303	0.42	85	0.44	10	0.38	79	0.45	60	0.46	65	0.35	4	0.31
Other	41	0.06	5	0.03	1	0.04	16	0.09	6	0.05	12	0.06	1	0.08
Accidents in use of own weapons	1,377	1.90	313	1.60	90	3.42	502	2.86	119	0.92	286	1.55	67	5.23
Other and unknown instruments of war2	1,262	1.74	297	1.52	58	2.21	280	1.60	209	1.62	388	2.10	30	2.34
All other causative agents3	2,196	3.04	590	3.02	145	5.52	373	2.12	253	1.96	745	4.03	90	7.03
Total	72,343	100.00	19,515	100.00	2,629	100.00	17,549	100.00	12,895	100.00	18,475	100.00	1,280	100.00

¹Wounded in action and admitted to a medicalfacility
²Excludes redeploy and reserve.
³Includes flame thrower; bayonet; sword; direct secondary effectsof known instruments of war; the exact nature of which was unknown.
⁴Includes water transport; machinery, tools, and related agents;poisoning; falls and jumps; environments; and other miscellaneous woundswhich were not directly due to instruments of war.

 

---

41

Figure 6.- Causative agents of woundedor injured in action admissions, by type of operation, all U.S. infantrydivisions and regimental combat teams, Korea, July 1950-July 1953.

---

42

Figure 7.- Causative agents of woundedor injured admissions, by selected periods of time, all U.S. Army infantrydivisions and regimental combat teams, Korea, July 1950-July 1953

---

43

Korean War, before the beginning of truce talks in July 1951 and beforethe buildup in Communist artillery, less than 45 percent of all woundswere caused by explosive projectile shells (artillery, mortar, and bazooka).Between the start of the truce talks and up to the last major U.N. offensivein October 1951, the ratio for explosive projectile shells increased to53.7 percent; from October 1951 to July 1953, during the time U.N. Forcesmaintained static defensive lines, this ratio increased to 64.9 percent.Wounds from bullets, during these periods, decreased from about 40 percentto 21.3 percent and, finally, during the last period, to 11.2 percent.Grenades also increased as a causative agent during these time periods,being 4.7 percent up to November 1950, 7.7 percent to July 1951, 13.4 percentto October 1951, and 11.2 percent thereafter, from October 1951 throughJuly 1953

These relative percentage distributions by causative agent indicatethat some differences do exist between the relative proportions of woundsfor various causative agents when considered by type of division tacticaloperation or for different periods of time. The data show some measureof uniformity in that fragments were the leading cause of both KIA andWIA cases, with the exception of operations of pursuit and withdrawal.Obviously, both of these latter types of tactical operation, involved swiftmovement of forces which denied the enemy whatever advantages positionaltype warfare presents for artillery barrages. The planner, however, mightbe able to project, from these basic data, certain expected distributionsof wounds, based on knowledge of the enemy's weapon system and the typeof tactical operations to be employed against the enemy.

ANATOMICAL LOCATION OF WOUND

Distributions of anatomical location of hits and wounds are fundamentaldata to any medical investigation of battle casualties and are perhaps,the most important; element involving the chance of death. The availabledata by anatomical location of wound for World War II and the Korean War(table 45) show large differences between the two wars for wounded admissions(nonfatal and died of wounds) and only slight differences for the killedin action, except for "body generally" which undoubtedly includesmultiple wounds. The relative proportions of the died of wounds for theKorean War involving the head (25.4 percent) and face (5.4 percent) werehigher than the World War II percentages of 19.7 and 3.2 percent, respectively,for these two body regions. All of the other anatomical locations for theKorean War died of wounds had slightly lower percentages than did the WorldWar II died of wounds distribution. Nonfatal wounds, on the other hand,showed higher percentages for face, neck, abdomen, and upper extremitiesin the Korean War, with wounds of the head and lower extremities beingproportionately smaller. Nonfatal wounds involving the thorax and the bodygenerally were about the same for both wars.

Since direct aimed fire is infrequent in battle, any differences inthe location of hits and wounds which might exist among weapons shouldresult only from chance depending upon the mix of weapons and rate of fire,as well as on the relative frequency and extent of exposure of the variousparts of the body. Nevertheless, differences do exist among weapons, especiallyin relation to fatal wounds among the

Table 45.- Percent distribution for anatomicallocation¹ of wounds, by category of casualty, U.S. Army, WorldWar II and Korean War

Anatomical location	World War II				Korean War
	Deaths	Killed in action	Died of wounds	Nonfatal wounds	Deaths	Killed in action	Died of wounds	Nonfatal wounds
All body regions	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Head	32.5	35.6	19.7	7.4	35.7	37.9	25.4	6.8
Face	3.7	3.8	3.2	7.6	5.0	4.9	5.4	9.4
Neck	4.2	4.6	2.2	1.6	4.5	5.1	1.4	2.0
Thorax	21.2	21.2	21.0	8.3	22.1	22.6	20.2	8.1
Abdomen	18.2	15.2	31.1	6.9	16.9	14.2	30.0	7.3
Upper extremities	3.2	2.9	4.2	26.6	2.9	2.9	2.6	29.4
Lower extremities	8.3	6.4	16.4	41.5	9.1	8.3	12.8	36.9
Body generally	8.7	10.3	2.2	0.1	3.8	4.1	2.2	0.1

¹Excluded are cases where the specific anatomicallocation of wounds was not recorded or was unknown.

---

44

Table 46.- Fatality percentage of deathsamong total hit (killed and wounded in action), by anatomical locationof wounds and causative agents, U.S. Army, Korea, 1950-53

Anatomical location	World War II				Korean War
	Deaths	Killed in action	Died of wounds	Nonfatal wounds	Deaths	Killed in action	Died of wounds	Nonfatal wounds
All body regions	12.0	13.5	10.9	110.6	2.0	4.6	12.9	20.6
Head	42.2	59.9	37.7	(2)	8.6	(2)	34.5	53.0
Face	6.8	15.8	5.5	(2)	0.6	(2)	4.2	13.1
Neck	23.3	40.3	16.1	(2)	3.8	(2)	(2)	54.7
Thorax	27.0	34.7	21.8	(2)	4.0	(2)	26.1	41.8
Abdomen	24.0	32.8	21.2	(2)	6.0	(2)	24.5	25.6
Upper extremities	1.3	0.9	1.4	(2)	0.2	10	1.4	3.8
Lower extremities	3.2	1.6	3.7	(2)	0.9	1.7	5.4	6.3
Body generally	83.0	(2)	84.4	(2)	(2)	(2)	(2)	76.9

¹Denotes less than 50 killed or wounded inaction.
²Between 50-99 killed or wounded in action.

body regions hit, regardless of the reason for a specific weapon causinga wound to a particular region of the body. Table 46 shows fatality amongall those hit, (killed and wounded, excluding CRO) was highest, for bulletsfor every region of the body except the upper and lower extremities. Thiswould indicate that when small arms are used (usually in close combat),the velocity of their hits to vital areas is highly lethal. Small arms(bullets) hits to the head resulted in the highest fatality rate (59.9percent), with bullet hits to the neck (40.3 percent) second. Head woundsamong those hit by explosive projectile shells had a fatality rate of 37.7percent, with wounds of the thorax and abdomen from explosive projectileshells experiencing fatality rates of 21.8 percent and 21.2 percent, respectively.Bullet wounds, however, produced higher fatality rates among those hitin these two locations, on the order of 34.7 percent for thorax and 32.8percent for abdomen. Land mines produced fatal head wounds to 34.5 percentof those hit and resulted in high fatality percentages of 26.1 percentand 24.5 percent, respectively, for thorax and abdomen wounds. The extremelyhigh fatality rate for "body generally" and "all other"undoubtedly results from multiple mortal wounds among those hit. Theselarge differences observed in the fatality rates for hits from the variousweapons by anatomical location of wounds are highly significant statistically.

From the medical viewpoint, however, the percentage of wounded who diedof their wounds is of prime importance. Wounded admissions, with woundsof the head and abdomen which were caused by relatively high velocity smallarms bullets, experienced the highest case fatality rates. These rates(table 47) were 14.9 percent died of wounds for abdominal wounds and 14.7percent died of wounds for head wounds. Wounded admissions caused by landmines produced case fatality rates of 12.1 percent for abdomen and 8.3percent for head wounds, while wounds caused by explosive projectile shellshad case fatality rates of 7.3 percent for head wounds and 6.8 percentfor abdominal wounds. Those patients admitted to medical treatment facilitieswith wounds of the thorax experienced

Table 47.- Case fatality percentage ofdeaths among wounded in action, by anatomical location of wounds and causativeagents, U.S. Army, Korea, 1950-53

Anatomical location	World War II				Korean War
	Deaths	Killed in action	Died of wounds	Nonfatal wounds	Deaths	Killed in action	Died of wounds	Nonfatal wounds
All body regions	2.2	2.7	2.1	12.6	0.6	1.3	3.1	2.3
Head	7.8	14.7	7.3	(2)	1.2	(2)	8.3	6.6
Face	1.3	2.7	1.2	(2)	0.1	(2)	1.0	2.0
Neck	1.6	3.8	0.9	(2)	1.5	(2)	(2)	12.9
Thorax	5.3	7.2	4.9	(2)	1.1	(2)	5.3	4.8
Abdomen	8.7	14.9	6.8	(2)	3.5	(2)	12.1	5.4
Upper extremities	0.2	0.2	0.2	(2)	10	10	0.6	0.4
Lower extremities	0.7	0.5	0.9	(2)	0.4	0.9	1.5	0.8
Body generally	33.0	(2)	(2)	(2)	(2)	(2)	(2)	(2)

¹Denotes less than 50 killed or wounded inaction.
²Between 50-99 killed or wounded in action.

---

45

Table 48.- Fatality percentage of deathsamong total hit (killed and wounded in action), by anatomical locationof wounds and nature of traumatism, U.S. Army, Korea, 1950-53

Anatomical location	World War II				Korean War
	Deaths	Killed in action	Died of wounds	Nonfatal wounds	Deaths	Killed in action	Died of wounds	Nonfatal wounds
All body regions	12.0	3.8	15.2	33.1	8.4	7.0	(1)	9.0
Head	42.2	31.2	54.0	298.5	(1)	7.0	(1)	30.6
Face	6.8	5.6	7.5	(1)	1.5	(1)	(1)	3.7
Neck	23.3	(1)	23.7	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)	--
Thorax	27.0	6.3	41.2	(1)	(1)	10.9	(1)	9.2
Abdomen	24.0	4.5	27.9	(1)	(1)	2.3	(1)	8.8
Upper extremities	1.3	0.4	1.2	14.2	0	(1)	(1)	0.9
Lower extremities	3.2	2.5	2.4	36.5	1.5	(1)	(1)	0.9
Body generally	83.0	(1)	86.4	(1)	382.1	(1)	(1)	80.8

¹Denotes less than 50 killed or wounded inaction.
²Few survivors obviously involved small areas ofscalp or skull.
³Between 50-99 killed or wounded in action.

case fatality rates of 7.2 percent from bullet wounds, 4.9 percent fromwounds caused by explosive projectile shells, and 5.3 percent from landmines. Grenades, producing relatively low velocity fragments, experiencedlower overall fatality rates among the total hit (killed and wounded, excludingCRO) as well as lower case fatality rates among the wounded admissions.Abdominal wounds among wounded caused by grenades resulted in the highestcase fatality rate (3.5 percent) of any body region hit by these particularfragments.

Similar data for anatomical location of wound and nature, of traumatismare given in table 48 for fatalities among the total killed and woundedexcluding CRO (hit) and in table 49 for case fatality rates among the woundedadmissions to medical treatment facilities in Korea. These distributionsshow that wounds of the head, regardless of the type of traumatism, resultedin relatively more mortal wounds among those hit than any other body region.Traumatic amputation of the head region (not necessarily the complete area)produced almost 100 percent deaths among those hit (killed or wounded).Obviously, the few survivors undoubtedly involved the, ears or small areasof scalp or skull. While fracture wounds of the head had the highest fatalityrate (31.2 percent) for those hit resulting in fractures, other fracturesinvolving the thorax (ribs and spinal column), the face, and the abdominalregion (pelvis, generally) produced fatality rates of 6.3 percent, 5.6percent, and 4.5 percent, respectively, for the next highest rates by anatomicallocation of hits for fracture wounds. Wounds of all types, however, producedthe highest fatality rates among killed and wounded (hit) involving theanatomical locations of the face, thorax, and abdomen. Concussions showa fatality rate of 10.9 percent for wounds of this type which involvedthe thorax and represent the highest fatality rate for concussions of anybody region.

When deaths are limited to those who died of wounds among the WIA admissionsto medical

Table 49.- Case fatality percentage ofdeaths among wounded in action, by anatomical location of wounds and natureof traumatism, U.S. Army, Korea, 1950-53

Anatomical location	World War II				Korean War
	Deaths	Killed in action	Died of wounds	Nonfatal wounds	Deaths	Killed in action	Died of wounds	Nonfatal wounds
All body regions	2.2	1.9	2.1	5.4	2.6	0.9	(1)	3.2
Head	7.8	18.3	8.6	(1)	(1)	0.9	(1)	5.3
Face	1.3	4.7	0.6	(1)	1.1	(1)	(1)	1.3
Neck	1.6	(1)	1.6	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)
Thorax	5.3	3.7	5.2	(1)	(1)	0.9	(1)	6.5
Abdomen	8.7	3.5	10.3	(1)	(1)	0	(1)	3.2
Upper extremities	0.2	0.2	0.2	1.4	0	(1)	(1)	0.1
Lower extremities	0.7	1.0	0.5	10.9	0.8	(1)	(1)	0.2
Body generally	33.0	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)	(1)

¹Denotes less than 50 killed or wounded inaction.

---

46

treatment facilities, marked differences are noted. Although fracturewounds to the head show the highest case fatality rate (18.3 percent),abdominal wounds from wounds of all types (penetrating, perforating, puncture,and incised) with a case fatality, rate of 10.3 percent, were highest forthese wounds regardless of body region. Traumatic amputations involvingthe lower extremities had a case fatality rate of 10.9 percent, while burnsand concussions produced relatively low case fatality rates regardlessof the anatomical location of wound.

ANATOMICAL LOCATION OF WOUNDS AND TACTICAL OPERATION

Among the most important elements at work in the stochastic processinvolving hits to the various regions of the body are the frequency andextent to which various parts of the body are exposed in combat. Apparently,differences in the types of division tactical operations would be fundamentalto any examination of the anatomical location of wounds, especially sincethis factor is often, the chief determinant in dictating which parts ofthe body are exposed. Distributions for the killed in action by anatomicallocation of wound for division tactical operations the equally incomplete,as are the causative agent data, and for the same reasons. The availablefigures are given in table 50 and indicate the highest number of unknownwere recorded for operations of pursuit (74.8 percent), defensives (85.6percent), and withdrawals (90.0 percent); the average unknown anatomicallocation for all tactical operations was 55.8 percent. Offensive operations,static defensive lines, and limited operations were all lower than theaverage with unknown proportions of 41.1 percent, 27.2 percent, and 33.4percent, respectively. Table 50 shows that, regardless of the proportionof unknown by type of operation, the head, face, and neck area was theanatomical location for the largest number of fatal wounds recorded. Bothstatic defensive lines and limited operations from these lines, with thesmallest proportion of unknowns, resulted in 34 percent of all fatal woundsto the head, face, and neck region. Head, face, and neck wounds for othertypes of tactical operations vary in proportion to the size of this unknownlocation of wound. The thorax and abdomen were the next two vital areasfor killed in action in that order, and both upper and lower extremitywounds showed relatively slight proportions as sites of fatal wounds amongthe killed in action.

Distributions of the anatomical location of wound for WIA admissionsby type of division ground operation are more complete and should be morerelevant to the problem. These data are presented in table 51 and figure8. Static defensive lines and limited operations from them resulted inrelatively higher ratios of wounds to the head, face, and neck area- approximately20 percent of all wounds for both types of tactical operations. Major offensivesshow 18 percent, pursuit and defensives 15 and 16 percent, respectively,while withdrawal operations had only 13 percent of wounds involving thehead, face, and neck. The upper extremities were involved in about 30 percentof all wounds, regardless of type of operation, with operations of pursuitand limited operations from defensive lines being slightly lower- 27 and26 percent, respectively- and withdrawal operations slightly higher at32 percent. The thorax was the site involved in 7 percent of all wounds,as was the abdomen, for all tactical military operations except withdrawals.During operations of withdrawal, the thorax was involved in only 5 percentof all wounds while the abdomen was involved in about 8 percent of thewounds. The lower extremities were the site of approximately 36 percentof all wounds by body region in all but two types of tactical operations.Operations of pursuit and operations of withdrawal, both with about 39-percentlower extremity wounds, were the only variants in this respect. When theextremity wound is considered as being either of the knee-and-above orbelow-the-knee, withdrawal operations and defensive operations had slightlyhigher proportions of below-the-knee wounds; 59 percent and 57 percent,respectively. All other operations had between 54 and 55 percent below-the-kneewounds; the balance, of course, represented knee or above. When distributionsof the various anatomical locations of wound are compared for differenttime periods (fig. 9), the head, face, and neck area shows relative increasesover time, and wounds of the upper extremity show relative reductions.During the period July-November 1950, in action against the North KoreanArmy, the head, face, and neck area was the wound site reported in 16 percentof all wounds, increasing to 17 percent by July 1951 in action againstthe Chinese Communist Forces, 19 percent between July and October 1951,and, finally, to 21 percent during the period of maintaining static defensivelines, from October 1951 through July, 1953. Wounds of the upper extremitydecreased from about 30 percent of all wounds during the first two periods

---

47

Table 50.- Killed in action, by anatomicallocation of fatal wound and type of ground operation, U.S. Army divisions,Korean War

Anatomical location	All operations1		Offensive operations		Pursuit operations		Maintain defensive lines		Limited operations from MBP		Defensive operations		Withdrawal operations
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Head	3,128	16.91	824	20.89	80	11.40	989	27.25	845	27.86	380	5.52	10	3.23
Brain	247	1.34	55	1.39	2	0.29	101	2.78	78	2.57	11	0.16	0	--
Ear	9	0.05	4	0.10	0	--	4	0.11	0	--	1	0.01	0	--
Other	2,872	15.52	765	19.40	78	11.11	884	24.36	767	25.29	368	5.35	10	3.23
Face	402	2.17	128	3.25	4	0.57	130	3.58	98	3.23	39	0.57	3	0.97
Eye	25	0.14	7	0.18	1	0.14	9	0.25	6	0.20	2	0.03	0	--
Other	377	2.03	121	3.07	3	0.43	121	3.33	92	3.03	37	0.54	3	0.97
Neck	428	2.31	128	3.25	12	1.71	134	3.69	99	3.26	55	0.80	0	--
Upper extremity	246	1.33	62	1.57	1	0.14	76	2.09	83	2.74	24	0.35	0	--
Thorax	1,809	9.78	563	14.28	35	4.99	619	17.06	363	11.97	220	3.20	9	2.90
Abdomen	1,147	6.20	326	8.27	25	3.56	378	10.42	249	8.21	163	2.37	6	1.94
Pelvis	18	0.10	5	0.13	1	0.14	3	0.08	8	0.26	1	0.01	0	--
External genitalia	3	0.02	1	0.03	1	0.14	0	--	1	0.03	0	--	0	--
Other	15	0.08	4	0.10	0	--	3	0.08	7	0.23	1	0.01	0	--
Spinal cord and vertebra	27	0.15	11	0.28	0	--	12	0.33	4	0.13	0	--	0	--
Lower extremity	685	3.70	183	4.64	13	1.85	226	6.23	211	6.96	50	0.73	2	0.64
Buttocks, hip	91	0.49	33	0.84	0	--	31	0.85	23	0.76	4	0.06	0	--
Knee and above	184	0.99	53	1.34	5	0.71	60	1.65	51	1.68	14	0.20	1	0.32
Below knee	410	2.22	97	2.46	8	1.14	135	3.73	137	4.52	32	0.47	1	0.32
General and other	294	1.59	93	2.36	6	0.85	75	2.07	60	1.98	59	0.86	1	0.32
Unknown	10,314	55.76	1,620	41.08	525	74.79	987	27.20	1,013	33.40	5,890	85.59	279	90.00
Total	18,498	100.00	3,943	100.00	702	100.00	3,692	100.00	3,033	100.00	6,881	100.00	310	100.00

¹Excludes redeploy and reserve.

 

---

48

Table 51.- Wounded in action,¹by anatomical location of wound and type of ground operation, U.S. Armydivisions, Korean War

Anatomical location	All operations2		Offensive operations		Pursuit operations		Maintain defensive lines		Limited operations from MBP		Defensive operations		Withdrawal operations
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Head	5,068	7.01	1,412	7.23	183	6.69	1,283	7.31	940	7.29	1,181	6.39	69	5.40
Brain	1,526	2.11	502	2.57	57	2.17	290	1.65	304	2.36	351	1.90	22	1.72
Ear	699	0.97	172	0.88	35	1.33	207	1.18	137	1.06	141	0.76	7	0.55
Other	2,843	3.93	738	3.78	91	3.46	786	4.48	499	3.87	689	3.73	40	3.13
Face	6,631	9.17	1,655	8.48	197	7.49	1,870	10.66	1,323	10.26	1,499	8.11	87	6.80
Eye	2,032	2.81	460	2.36	56	2.13	607	3.46	439	3.40	448	2.42	22	1.72
Other	4,599	6.36	1,195	6.12	141	5.36	1,263	7.20	884	6.86	1,051	5.69	65	5.08
Neck	1,472	2.03	421	2.16	27	1.03	384	2.19	286	2.22	342	1.85	12	0.94
Upper extremity	21,002	29.03	5,784	29.63	716	27.23	4,636	26.42	3,815	29.58	5,636	30.50	415	32.42
Thorax	5,241	7.25	1,440	7.38	190	7.23	1,334	7.60	958	7.43	1,250	6.77	69	5.39
Abdomen	5,045	6.97	1,325	6.79	194	7.38	1,187	6.76	866	6.72	1,370	7.42	103	8.04
Pelvis	564	0.78	152	0.78	26	0.99	157	0.90	101	0.79	123	0.67	5	0.39
External genitalia	285	0.39	70	0.36	11	0.42	91	0.52	50	0.39	61	0.33	2	0.16
Other	279	0.39	82	0.42	15	0.57	66	0.38	51	0.40	62	0.34	3	0.23
Spinal cord and vertebra	855	1.18	245	1.26	55	2.09	192	1.09	119	0.92	221	1.20	23	1.80
Lower extremity	26,270	36.31	7,035	36.05	1,036	39.41	6,450	36.75	4,465	34.62	6,791	36.75	493	38.51
Buttocks, hip	2,678	3.70	687	3.52	98	3.73	655	3.73	530	4.11	662	3.58	46	3.59
Knee and above	10,665	14.74	2,884	14.78	418	15.90	2,692	15.34	1,823	14.14	2,665	14.42	183	14.30
Below knee	12,927	17.87	3,464	17.75	520	19.78	3,103	17.68	2,112	16.37	3,464	18.75	264	20.62
General, other and unknown	195	0.27	46	0.24	5	0.19	56	0.32	22	0.17	62	0.34	4	0.31
Total	72,343	100.00	19.515	100.00	2,629	100.00	17,549	100.00	12,895	100.00	18,495	100.00	1,280	100.00

¹Wounded in action and admitted to a medicaltreatment facility.
²Excludes redeploy and reserve.

---

49

Figure 8.- Anatomical location of woundedor injured in action as a percent of all admissions for each respectivetype of operation, all U.S. Army infantry divisions and regimental combatteams, Korea, July 1950-July 1953.

---

50

Figure 9.- Anatomical location of woundedor injured in action admissions, by selected periods of time, all U.S.Army infantry divisions and regimental combat teams, Korea, July 1950-July1953.

---

51

to 29 pereent and then to 27 percent during the last period (October1951-July 1953). The thorax and abdomen combined were involved in approximately16 percent of all wounds during the July-November 1950 period, droppingto 14 percent between, November 1950-July 1951, returning to 16 percentduring July-October 1951, and dropping back to about 15 percent from October1951-July 1953. Wounds of the lower extremity show offsetting fluctuations,being 36 percent, increasing to 37 percent, then dropping to 35 percentduring the July-October 1951 period, and, finally, increasing to 36 percentagain during the last period of time.

From these data by anatomical location of wound, no significant variation,or major shift is apparent between body regions in the relative distributions,either by type of operation or for different periods of time. Some increasesdo appear, however, in the head, face, and neck, largely attributed tothe characteristics of the tactical operation of maintaining static defensivelines for the last 21 months of the war, where a man might be expectedto expose his head relatively more often. The absence of any significantshift of wounds from the thorax and abdomen to some other body region doesnot permit any evaluation, from these data, of the efficacy of body armor,which was introduced on a limited basis during the Korean War. The datamight tend to indicate, however, that all men hit (killed plus wounded)must be considered, due to the probable shift from killed to wounded, someof which, undoubtedly, tend to offset any shift in distribution of woundsites among the wounded alone. The paucity of wound location informationamong the killed in action, however, precludes any such investigation fromthese data. The data, however, do tend to prove the theory that relativeratios of wounds by anatomical location result from more random forcesand are affected more by the area of the body exposed (vital areas in thekilled in action) as well as by items of individual protection, such asthe helmet and body armor.

NONBATTLE INJURIES AND TACTICAL OPERATION

Similar percentage distributions by type of division ground operationfor causative agents and by anatomical location of nonbattle injury aregiven in tables 52 and 53. Operations of pursuit showed the highest proportionsof nonbattle injuries were caused by land transport (21.5 percent). Allother tactical operations were about, equal, showing ratios between 10and 13 percent for land vehicles. Accidents in the use of own weapons rangedfrom a low of 11.5 percent during withdrawal operations to a high of 28.7percent during limited operations from main battle positions on the defensivelines. Offensives were 20.9 percent, pursuit 16.5 percent, static defensivelines 19.2 percent, and defensive 14.7 percent, respectively, for accidentsinvolving use of own weapons. The elements and the effects of heat andcold caused almost 60 percent of all nonbattle injuries during withdrawaloperations (largely from cold injury since both of the major withdrawalsoccurred during winter) compared to 33.1 percent (the next highest) shownfor defensive operations. Effects of the elements and heat and cold foroffensive operations were 31.5 percent, for operations of pursuit 19.1percent, and for defensive lines 12.5 percent. The lowest ratio for thesecausative agents was experienced during limited operations from defensivelines, with only, 3.3 percent of nonbattle injuries being caused by theelements: weather, heat, and cold.

Nonbattle injuries show large differences between the distributionsby anatomical location when related to type of division tactical operation.These data, included in table 53, show large variations for the relativeratios of head, face, and neck injuries between the various tactical operations.Offensives, defensives, and withdrawal operations show only 5- to 6-percenthead, face, and neck injuries, whereas all other types of ground operationsshow twice this relative ratio. Nonbattle injuries involving the upperextremities do not vary so widely by type of operation-with the exceptionof withdrawal operations. These latter operations experience a relativeproportion of but 13 percent upper extremity injuries, compared with anaverage of 22 percent for all operations. The other tactical military operationsshow a range from 18 to 25 percent for nonbattle injuries of the upperextremity. Injuries involving the thorax and abdomen are also lowest forwithdrawal type operations (4 percent) and highest for operations of pursuit(10 percent), all other operations ranging from 6 to 9 percent. Nonbattleinjuries of the lower extremity range from a low of 44 percent during limitedoperations to a high of 70 percent for withdrawal operations. Unlike woundedin action where the knee-and-above and below-knee distributions were approxi-

---

52

Table 52.- Nonbattle injury,¹by causative agent and type of ground operation, U.S. Army divisions, KoreanWar

Anatomical location	All operations2		Offensive operations		Pursuit operations		Maintain defensive lines		Limited operations from MBP		Defensive operations		Withdrawal operations
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Aviation	55	0.15	10	0.16	15	0.66	25	0.13	0	--	0	--	5	0.13
Land transport	4,200	11.58	670	10.88	490	21.54	1,980	10.61	195	13.00	490	12.61	375	9.95
Water transport	50	0.14	0	--	25	1.10	15	0.08	0	--	5	0.13	5	0.13
Machinery and tools	305	0.84	25	0.41	25	1.10	230	1.23	15	1.00	5	0.13	5	0.13
Hot or corrosive substance	500	1.38	20	0.32	20	0.88	395	2.12	10	0.67	30	0.77	25	0.66
Fire and explosion	1,815	5.01	150	2.44	185	8.13	1,270	6.80	85	5.67	45	1.16	80	2.12
Cutting or piercing object	890	2.45	140	2.27	30	1.32	575	3.08	45	3.00	80	2.06	20	0.53
Chemical warfare agents	50	0.14	0	--	0	--	40	0.21	0	--	0	--	10	0.27
Accidents in use of own instruments	6,685	18.44	1,290	20.94	375	16.48	3,585	19.21	430	28.66	570	14.67	435	11.54
Poisoning	110	0.30	15	0.24	0	--	60	0.32	0	--	15	0.39	20	0.53
Prophylactic reaction and therapeutic misadventure	295	0.81	25	0.41	15	0.66	210	1.12	15	1.00	10	0.26	20	0.53
Falls or jumps	4,550	12.55	775	12.58	180	7.91	2,805	15.02	205	13.67	390	10.04	195	5.17
Athletics and sports	910	2.51	40	0.65	45	1.98	730	3.91	65	4.33	20	0.51	10	0.27
Heat, cold weather, and elements	8,280	22.84	1,940	31.49	435	19.12	2,325	12.45	50	3.33	1,285	33.07	2,245	59.55
Miscellaneous, other and unknown3	7,565	20.86	1,060	17.21	435	19.12	2,325	12.45	50	3.33	1,285	33.07	2,245	59.55
Total	36,260	100.00	6,160	100.00	2,275	100.00	18,670	100.00	1,500	100.00	3,885	100.00	3,770	100.00

¹Injured due to nonbattle causes and admittedto a medical facility.
²Excludes redeploy and reserve.
³Includes clothing; electricity, except lightning; objects,not elsewhere classified; mechanical suffocation; drowning; fights andbrawls; other miscellaneous and unknown agents.

---

53

Table 53.- Nonbattle injury admissions,¹by anatomical location of injury and type of ground operation, U.S. Armydivisions, Korean War

Anatomical location	All operations2		Offensive operations		Pursuit operations		Maintain defensive lines		Limited operations from MBP		Defensive operations		Withdrawal operations
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Head	1,145	3.16	110	1.79	95	4.18	670	3.59	75	5.00	115	2.96	80	2.12
Brain	330	0.91	60	0.98	5	0.22	140	0.75	30	2.00	55	1.42	40	1.06
Ear	225	0.62	0	--	40	1.76	165	0.88	10	0.67	5	0.12	5	0.13
Other	590	1.63	50	0.81	50	2.20	365	1.96	35	2.33	55	1.42	35	0.93
Face	2,775	7.65	250	4.06	190	8.35	1,965	10.52	150	10.00	80	2.06	140	3.71
Eye	970	2.67	100	1.62	65	2.86	690	3.69	55	3.67	35	0.90	25	0.66
Other	1,805	4.98	150	2.44	125	5.49	1,275	6.83	95	6.33	45	1.16	115	3.05
Neck	150	0.41	20	0.32	5	0.22	95	0.51	0	--	15	0.39	15	0.40
Upper extremity	7,850	21.65	1,165	18.91	515	22.64	4,590	24.58	380	25.34	705	18.15	495	13.13
Thorax	770	2.12	90	1.46	70	3.07	440	2.36	45	3.00	100	2.57	25	0.66
Abdomen	1,975	5.45	330	5.36	160	7.03	1,130	6.05	90	6.00	145	3.73	120	3.19
Pelvis	205	0.57	40	0.65	20	0.88	115	0.62	10	0.66	15	0.39	5	0.13
External genitalia	80	0.22	15	0.24	5	0.22	50	0.27	5	0.33	0	--	5	0.13
Other	125	0.35	25	0.41	15	0.66	65	0.35	5	0.33	0	--	5	0.13
Spinal cord and vertebra	725	2.00	90	1.46	60	2.64	410	2.20	25	1.67	85	2.18	55	1.46
Lower extremity	19,030	52.48	3,780	61.36	1,070	47.03	8,615	46.14	660	44.00	2,280	58.69	2,625	69.63
Buttocks, hip	360	0.99	45	0.73	25	1.10	205	1.10	20	1.33	55	1.42	10	0.27
Knee and above	3,095	8.54	460	7.47	185	8.13	1,870	10.01	175	11.67	280	7.21	125	3.31
Below knee	15,575	42.95	3,275	53.16	860	37.80	6,540	35.03	465	31.00	1,945	50.06	2,490	66.05
General, other and unknown	1,635	4.51	285	4.63	90	3.96	640	3.43	65	4.33	345	8.88	210	5.57
Total	36,260	100.00	6,160	100.00	2,275	100.00	18,670	100.00	1,500	100.00	3,885	100.00	3,770	100.00

¹Injured due to nonbattle causes and admittedto a medical facility.
²Excludes redeploy and reserve.

---

54

mately 45 to 55 percent, respectively, most nonbattle injuries of thelower extremity (about 83 percent) are below the knee.

It would appear that nonbattle injuries are affected by the type ofdivision tactical operation largely in the relation to the use of heavyequipment such as tanks, trucks, personnel carriers, and other land vehiclesand to accidents involving the use of own weapons, as well as to the elements-weather, cold, and heat.