During the United States' war in Vietnam against the communist-controlled government of North Vietnam and the insurgency of the Viet Cong in South Vietnam, several thousand U.S. military personnel went missing in action (MIA) or were captured as prisoners of war (POWs). As of 2022, the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency classifies 470 of the 1244 soldiers still unaccounted for in Vietnam as "non-recoverable", meaning that there is conclusive evidence that the persons were killed during the conflict, but that it is not believed that it will be possible to recover their bodies. Joint U.S.-Vietnamese teams continue to work on identifying and excavating the bodies of the remaining unaccounted for service personnel.
