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.

• NATO definition: a battle casualty as when a combatant is killed outright or who dies as a result of wounds or other injuries before reaching a medical treatment facility or help from fellow soldiers.
• 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 do not come from incidents such as accidental vehicle crashes and 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 one 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 MIA, but after not being found, are later presumed to have not survived.[2]
• KIFA means "killed in flight accident". This term is used when personnel are killed in an aerial mishap that did not result from hostile action.

See also in Wikipedia:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualty_(person) Wikipedia - Casualty (person)
  • In military usage is a person in military service, combatant or non-combatant, who becomes unavailable for duty due to several circumstances, including death, injury, illness, capture or desertion.
• Prisoner of war (POW)
  • A prisoner of war (POW, enemy prisoner of war (EPW) or "missing-captured"[1]) is a person, whether combatant or non-combatant, who is held in custody by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates to 1660.
• Missing in action (MIA)
  • Is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave has been positively identified.
• Wounded in action (WIA)
  • Describes combatants who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during wartime, but have not been killed. Typically it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing to fight.
  • The term encompasses all kinds of wounds and other injuries incurred in action, whether there is a piercing of the body, as in a penetrating or perforated wound, or none, as in the contused wound; all fractures, burns, blast concussions, all effects of biological and chemical warfare, the effects of exposure to ionizing radiation or any other destructive weapon or agent.
  • Died of wounds received in action: A battle casualty who later dies of wounds or other injuries received in action, after having reached a medical treatment facility. In the United States the acronym used is DOW, while NATO uses DWRIA.

Famous People Who Died of Killed In Action

1. Ranker Famous People Who Died of Killed in Action 291 listed

• Muammar al-Gaddafi (1942-2011)
• Joseph P Kennedy, Jr (1915-1944)
• Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
• Robert Gould Shaw (1837-1863)
• John Cooke (1763-1805)
• Michael Strank (1919-1945) (FindAGrave - Memorial ID 2115)
• Billy Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington (1917-1944)
• Francisco Solano López (1827-1870)
• Philip Sidney (1554-1586)

Additional Reading:

• Wikipedia Killed in action
• Task & Purpose - The History of the First & Last Man Killed in Every Major US Conflict by: Sarah Sicard, 19 Nov 2015 (Starts with Revolutionary War.)
• Wikipedia - List of wars by death toll

  ---

Jump back to Cause of death portal. This project is found under the "Unnatural death causes" and "War Fatalities" headings.