# Why does the US death toll from WWII keep rising? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 24, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-us-death-toll-from-wwii-keep-rising/252074 "2004-06-24T20:12:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![deserter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@deserter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deserter)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-us-death-toll-from-wwii-keep-rising/252074/1 "2004-06-24T20:12:57Z")
Although I am not old enough to have fought in WWII, I am old enough to remember that when Studs Terkel’s book about it, _The Good War_, came out, the generally accepted death toll of US soldiers in WWII was about a quarter million. More recently, a quick glance at the Encyclopaedia Britannica edition of 2000 gives a figure of 292,000 soldiers and 6000 civilians for a round total of about three hundred thousand. In the recent Memorial Day speechifying, however, everyone from the President on down seemed to be bandying about a figure of 400,000 US deaths in WWII. What’s going on? Where are all these new WWII casualties coming from? At this rate WWII is killing Americans faster than al Qaeda. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-us-death-toll-from-wwii-keep-rising/252074/2 "2004-06-24T20:33:00Z")
> [@deserter](#): > > Where are all these new WWII casualties coming from? At this rate WWII is killing Americans faster than al Qaeda. I have no idea what the answer is, but I just wanted to post to say that I like the way you abuse statistics. 😉 Very Mark Twain-esque; he would say that, at this rate, in 100 years, the population of the US will be wiped out and the Axis will declare complete victory. ---
**Author:** ![deserter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@deserter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deserter)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-us-death-toll-from-wwii-keep-rising/252074/3 "2004-06-24T20:44:05Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I have no idea what the answer is, but I just wanted to post to say that I like the way you abuse statistics. 😉 Very Mark Twain-esque; he would say that, at this rate, in 100 years, the population of the US will be wiped out and the Axis will declare complete victory. …Or they will receive an “unconditional surrender”, to use the contemporary term. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-us-death-toll-from-wwii-keep-rising/252074/4 "2004-06-24T20:46:21Z")
Two possible answers: - Better and more accurate information. - Some old soldiers lived a very long life but eventually died of battlfied-related injuries. ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-us-death-toll-from-wwii-keep-rising/252074/5 "2004-06-24T20:50:33Z")
Land mines! ---
**Author:** ![deserter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@deserter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deserter)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-us-death-toll-from-wwii-keep-rising/252074/6 "2004-06-24T20:59:19Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Two possible answers: > > - Better and more accurate information. > > - Some old soldiers lived a very long life but eventually died of battlfied-related injuries. Yeah, I considered those too, but… - I think it would have been in the news if someone had dug up a mass grave with the remains of 100k US soldiers in it. - When anyone dies in their 70’s or 80’s who fought in a war in their 20’s or 30’s, I think it is too late to attribute cause of death to “battlefield-related injuries”. ---
**Author:** ![adirondack\_mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@adirondack\_mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adirondack_mike)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-us-death-toll-from-wwii-keep-rising/252074/7 "2004-06-24T22:41:07Z")
WAG - the 300,000 figure are battlefield casulties. The additional deaths are from nonbattlefied causes such as disease, accidents, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-us-death-toll-from-wwii-keep-rising/252074/8 "2004-06-24T22:51:22Z")
> [@deserter](#): > > Yeah, I considered those too, but… > > - I think it would have been in the news if someone had dug up a mass grave with the remains of 100k US soldiers in it. You miss my first point. It is very possible a recheck of the paperwork bumps up the figures. > [@](#): > > - When anyone dies in their 70’s or 80’s who fought in a war in their 20’s or 30’s, I think it is too late to attribute cause of death to “battlefield-related injuries”. Well, they are still adding names to the Vietnam Memorial. It is entirely possible for the same to be occurring with WWII vets as well.