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| '''Killed in action''' (or '''KIA''') is a ] classification used ], |
'''Killed in action''' (or '''KIA''') is a ] classification used generally used by], to describe the deaths of their own forces by other hostile forces or by "]" during combat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/data/k/02986.html|title=U.S. Department of Defense Dictionary: killed in action|accessdate=2007-02-04}}</ref> The ] (DOD) says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to hostile attack. KIA's do not come from incidents such as accidental vehicle crashes, terrorism, or other "non-hostile" means: these casualties occur from ]s while in combat.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.lectlaw.com/def/j059.htm|title=The 'Lectric Law Library's Legal Lexicon On * Justifiable Homicide *|accessdate=2007-02-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.nolo.com/definition.cfm/Term/51AB22D3-86AB-4B55-8648BC28B45909C0/alpha/H/|title=Nolo Press Legal Definition Homicide|accessdate=2007-02-04}}</ref> While U.S. front-line-ground-combat forces remain male only, U.S. naval, air, and support troops contain females, as well as other nations' forces, and militaries can consider their deaths due to combat to be KIA. | ||
| Further, KIA denotes one to have been killed in action on the battlefield whereas someone who died of wounds (DOW) 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 latter acronym. | Further, KIA denotes one to have been killed in action on the battlefield whereas someone who died of wounds (DOW) 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 latter acronym. | ||
Revision as of 14:23, 7 February 2007
Killed in action (or KIA) is a casualty classification used generally used bymilitaries, to describe the deaths of their own forces by other hostile forces or by "friendly fire" during combat. The United States Department of Defense (DOD) says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to hostile attack. KIA's do not come from incidents such as accidental vehicle crashes, terrorism, or other "non-hostile" means: these casualties occur from homicides while in combat. While U.S. front-line-ground-combat forces remain male only, U.S. naval, air, and support troops contain females, as well as other nations' forces, and militaries can consider their deaths due to combat to be KIA.
Further, KIA denotes one to have been killed in action on the battlefield whereas someone who died of wounds (DOW) 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 latter acronym.
Societies honoring KIA
Many societies venerate those killed in action. They set aside days of remembrance for their militaries and combat dead, and they build memorials and cenotaphs in honor of their fallen. The families of those who die in combat, especially their next-of-kin, sometimes receive preferential treatment such as military honors, exemption from taxes, and financial awards. National militaries also distinguish those killed in action with ceremonies and awards.
One classic speech on KIA comes from Pericles' Funeral Oration (after 490 B.C.), which appears in Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War in which , Pericles honors the Athenian war dead from "one of the opening battles of the Peloponnesian War." Plato also talks about KIA in his book, The Republic. For example, he has his character Socrates ask Adeimantus rhetorically, "hen a man dies gloriously in war shall we not say, in the first place, that he is of the golden race?" (Book V, Ch. 468-469) Adeimantus replying in agreement says, "To be sure."
See also
Notes
- "U.S. Department of Defense Dictionary: killed in action". Retrieved 2007-02-04.
- "The 'Lectric Law Library's Legal Lexicon On * Justifiable Homicide *". Retrieved 2007-02-04.
- "Nolo Press Legal Definition Homicide". Retrieved 2007-02-04.
- Washington State University's reader "Pericles' Funeral Oration". Retrieved 2007-02-04.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help) - "The Internet Classics Archive". Retrieved 2007-02-04.
{{cite web}}: Text "The Republic by Plato" ignored (help)