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Killed in action

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TheNormandy American Cemetery and Memorial,nearColleville-sur-MerinFrance,honoring American troops who died in Europe duringWorld War II

Killed in action(KIA) is acasualtyclassification generally used bymilitariesto describe the deaths of their own personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action.[1]TheUnited States Department of Defense,for example, says that those declared KIA did not need to have fired their weapons, but only to have been killed due to hostile attack. KIAs include those killed byfriendly firein the midst of combat, but not from incidents such as accidental vehicle crashes, murder or other non-hostile events orterrorism.KIA can be applied both to front-line combat troops and to naval, air and support troops.

Furthermore, the termdied of wounds(DOW) is used to denote personnel who reach a medical treatment facility before dying.[2]The categorydied of wounds received in action(DWRIA) is also used for combat related casualties which occur after medical evacuation.[3]

PKIAmeanspresumed killed in action.This term is used when personnel are lost in battle, initially listedmissing in action(MIA), but after not being found, are later presumed to have not survived.[4]This is typical of naval battles or engagements on other hostile environments where recovering bodies is difficult. A very large number of soldiers killed in action went unidentified inWorld War I,likeJohn Kipling,the son of British poetRudyard Kipling,prompting the formation of theCommonwealth War Graves Commission.[5]

In Wikipedia articles about battles, leaders who were killed in action have the symbol (†) next to their name.[6]

NATO definition

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NATO defines killed in action or a battle casualty as a combatant who is killed outright or who dies as a result of wounds or other injuries before reaching a medical treatment facility or help from fellow comrades.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"U.S. Department of Defense Dictionary: killed in action".Archived fromthe originalon 2012-09-27.Retrieved2007-02-04.
  2. ^"Understanding Combat Casualty Care Statistics"(PDF).Defense Technical Information Center.
  3. ^"DoD Instruction Number 1300.18"(PDF).DPAA.
  4. ^"USS Milius — Named in honor of Navy pilot Captain Paul L. Milius".public.navy.mil.US Navy.Archivedfrom the original on 12 January 2018.Retrieved10 January2018.
  5. ^Brown, Jonathan (28 August 2006)."The Great War and its aftermath: The son who haunted Kipling".The Independent.Archivedfrom the original on 3 May 2018.Retrieved3 May2018.
  6. ^"Template:KIA",Wikipedia,2019-08-20,retrieved2024-04-17
  7. ^AAP-06, NATO Glossary of terms and definitions(PDF),NATO, 2013, p. 123, archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2012-03-03
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