Casualty Classification - I.I.A. ??

I have a casualty roster that had been appended to a unit historical report from the Luzon campaign. The casualties are listed as K.I.A, W.I.A, and here's my question, I.I.A. What does I.I.A. stand for, and how might it be different from W.I.A.?

 

That is interesting.

I just looked at my Casualty list of the 63rd Infantry Regiment for the Luzon Campaign
and it, too, has a category IIA.

Injured in Action seems too obvious but that has to be it.


Dave

 

Could it have been something like an accidental injury, i.e. shooting yourself, or falling from a vehicle while under fire?

 

That is what I was thinking too, a non-combat injury like having a case of ten-in-one ration boxes fall on ya and breaking a leg, an arm, or your back or something. Not the direct action of the enemy like WIA would imply, but still an injury you wouldn't get if you weren't there at the time.

 

I liked the "accidental injury" theory, but then I was able to bounce some of the IIA's against a Purple Heart roster, and the IIAs got Purple Hearts.

 

That sounds a bit like "Major Burns" applying for a Purple Heart in the old series M.A.S.H, and receiving it for a "shell fragment in his eye". Hawkeye and B.J. reminded him it was an egg shell fragment that got in his eye when he dived under the mess table bench. Burns' reply was; "it was still a shell fragment, it ended up in my eye, and it got there while I was on the front lines." So there.

 

Yes, but does your list of IIA have dates? Mine does. You need to compare dates from the PH roster to
the dates of the IIA list.


Dave

 

Yes, I did that before I posted. The Purple Heart citation cites the date of the action so it was easy to match up with the casualty list. I matched three of these before I stopped looking for any more, out of a list of a page and a half.

Below is a piece of the casualty list; note the first name there and then the corresponding PH citation below.



Here's a sample Purple Heart citation (note the use of the term "wounds" rather than "injuries"! Just further muddies the waters):

 

I found this here
WW2 US Medical Research Centre :: The Purple Heart

 

Thanks for that research. That confirms that Purple Hearts were awarded for both wounds and injuries. So we're back to square one, which is what's the difference between a wound and an injury, as far as the Army was concerned in WW2?

 

My guess would be the injuries would more cover fractures and concussion type injuries received in direct contact with the enemy. Something along the lines of diving for cover from incoming mortar fire and breaking an arm (but not from the shell itself). Like Clint said, something not really caused from the enemy but something you wouldn't have received if you weren't there at the time.

 

Maybe its just one of those "Blanket Statements" like Injured in Action-but not necessarily by enemy action. Just a shot in the dark there.