Killed in action

Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own combatants at the hands of hostile forces.[1] The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to hostile attack. KIAs include those killed by friendly fire in the midst of combat, but not from incidents such as accidental vehicle crashes, murder or other non-hostile events or terrorism. KIA can be applied both to front-line combat troops and to naval, air and support troops. Someone who is killed in action during a particular event is denoted with a † (dagger) beside their name to signify their death in that event or events.

Further, KIA denotes a person to have been killed in action on the battlefield whereas died of wounds (DOW) relates to someone who survived to reach a medical treatment facility. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) also uses DWRIA, rather than DOW, for "died of wounds received in action". However, historically, militaries and historians have used the former acronym.

PKIA means presumed killed in action. This term is used when personnel are lost in battle, initially listed missing in action (MIA), but after not being found, are later presumed to have not survived.[2] This is typical of naval battles or engagements on other hostile environments where recovering bodies are difficult. A very large number of soldiers killed in action went unidentified in World War I, like the son of British poet Rudyard Kipling, prompting the formation of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.[3]

NATO definition

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.[4]

See also

References
  1. "U.S. Department of Defense Dictionary: killed in action". Archived from the original on 2012-09-27. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
  2. "USS Milius — Named in honor of Navy pilot Captain Paul L. Milius". public.navy.mil. US Navy. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  3. Brown, Jonathan (28 August 2006). "The Great War and its aftermath: The son who haunted Kipling". The Independent. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  4. AAP-06, NATO Glossary of terms and definitions (PDF), NATO, 2013, p. 123, archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-03
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