OCEANSIDE -- There are many ways to view the names listed on the Vietnam War Memorial. Usually, people seek the names of their friends and loved ones among the 58,235 carved into the monument's smooth black surface.

But researchers have also begun to look at those same names collectively, using computerized methods to sift through thousands of demographic records.

What follows are two lists of statistical data on the Vietnam War gathered by two independent research projects. The first is compiled by The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall Page, an Internet Web site that maintains detailed records on each Vietnam category from various official military records. The full list can be found at www.thewall-usa.com.

The second list was created as the basis for a documentary film series, "The Long Way Home Project." Documentary researchers combed through assorted government records, including the National Archives, Department of Defense casualty records, Labor Department statistics, records on file with the Department of Veterans Affairs and National Personnel Records to build a statistical picture of the men and women who served and died in Vietnam.

This list is abbreviated. The complete list of statistics can be found at: www.longwayhome.net/references.htm

Memorial Wall statistics:

• Beallsville, Ohio (pop. 475) gained unwanted national notoriety between 1966 and 1971 by suffering the largest per capita loss of life in the Vietnam War. Six young men died.

• West Virginia suffered the highest casualty rate in the nation, according to the Department of Defense. The state had 711 casualties -- 39.9 deaths per 100,000 people.

• The youngest U.S. military man killed in Vietnam is believed to be Dan Bullock, who reportedly lied about his age to enlist in the Marine Corps. He was 15.

• At least five men killed in Vietnam were 16 years old.

• At least 12 men killed in Vietnam were 17 years old.

• The oldest man killed was 62 years old.

• Veterans killed on their first day in Vietnam: 997.

• Veterans killed on their last scheduled day in Vietnam: 1,448.

• Number of chaplains on the wall: 16 (2 Medal Of Honor).

• Number of women on the wall: 8 (7 Army, 1 U.S. Air Force -- 7,484 had served).

• Brothers: Charles L. Tank and Philip L. Tank of Ecorse, Mich., were killed in Vietnam, Charles on April 19, 1969, and Philip on Sept. 12, 1968. Brothers Kenneth F. Olenzuk and Paul G. Olenzuk were killed in Vietnam, Kenneth on Dec. 25, 1967, and Paul on Aug. 10, 1968.

• Father and son: Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. was killed June 8, 1956, and his son, Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, was killed Sept. 7, 1965.

• Leo Hester Sr. died March 10, 1967, in an aircraft crash. His son, Leo Hester Jr., was killed Nov. 2, 1969, also in an aircraft crash.

• Number of living whose names are etched on the wall in error: 12.

Long Way Home statistics:

• Vietnam Veterans represent 9.7 percent of their generation.

• The United States had 9,087,000 military personnel serve on active duty during the Vietnam era (Aug. 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975).

• Total deaths: 58,202.

• Hostile deaths: 47,378.

• Non-hostile deaths: 10,800.

• Married men killed: 17,539.

• Average age of men killed in Vietnam: 22.8 years old.

• More 21-year-olds were killed than any other age group.

• Amputation or crippling wounds to the lower extremities were 300 percent higher than in World War II and 70 percent higher than in Korea. Multiple amputations occurred at the rate of 18.4 percent compared with 5.7 percent in WWII.

• Missing in action: 2,338.

• Prisoners of war: 766 (114 died in captivity).

• Twenty-seven million men came of draft age from 1964 to 1972.

• Total draftees (1965-1973): 1,728,344.

• Actually served in Vietnam: 38 percent.

• Twenty-five percent (648,500) of total forces in country were draftees (In WWII, 67 percent were draftees; 33 percent were volunteers).

• Draftees accounted for 30.4 percent (17,725) of combat deaths in Vietnam.

• National Guard: 6,140 served; 101 died.

• Last man drafted: June 30, 1973.

• Eighty-six percent of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasian (includes Latinos); 12.5 percent (7,241) were black; 1.2 percent belonged to other races.

• One hundred and seventy thousand Latinos served in Vietnam: 3,070 (5.2 percent of total) died there.

• Seventy percent of enlisted men killed were of Northwest European descent.

• Twenty-six percent of combat deaths came from the families in the highest third of income levels.

• Seventy-six percent of the men sent to Vietnam were from middle/working class backgrounds.