I've written extensively about the danger of combat for U.S. frontline troops several times;

• Was there a preferred theater of WW2 to be assigned to if you were an average US Army infantryman?

• Can it be statistically proved that the 'inexperienced reinforcement' units for example in WW2 or other large long conflicts suffered casualties at a quicker / bigger rate than the veterans?

• How valid is the claim that entire forces in WWII would be wiped out, only to be reinforced with new, fresher units?

• As a drafted soldier, am I more likely to return from war unharmed during the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, or Vietnam?

• The men of Easy Company in WW2 had sometime away from the line, mainly in preparation for Market Garden. Are there any companies or squads that landed on D-Day and got no time "off" until the wars end?

• According to a History Channel documentary, during the Vietnam war, US ground troops would face 240 days of combat a year, versus 11 days of combat a year during WW2. Is this claim true?

• How often were soldiers in the US army during WW2 phased out for new recruits?

The odds are pretty likely that you'd recognize next to none. The majority of casualties in U.S. divisions which had infantry occurred in infantry units, as they are relatively squishy and are not protected by rolling metal boxes or distance from the front lines.

Table 5-9. Distribution of Battle Losses by Branch (Divisions)

Branch	Infantry division (percentage)	Armored division (percentage)	Airborne division (percentage)
Infantry	93.0	62.0	85.6
Artillery	2.4	3.6	6.9
Armor [includes Cavalry]	2.0	23.1	0.0
Engineers	1.5	3.3	3.9
All others	1.1	8.0	3.6

87.4% of losses in infantry units occurred among riflemen and heavy weapons crewmen.

Table 5-13. Distribution of Battle Losses by Branch Within Corps and Larger Units in the Combat Zone as Percentage of Total Battle Losses

Branch	Percentage
Infantry	81.9
Artillery	4.5
(Field)	(3.6)
(Antiaircraft)	(0.9)
Armor	6.6
(Armor)	(2.9)
(Cavalry)	(2.3)
(Tank Destroyer)	(1.4)
Corps of Engineers	3.2
Medical Department	2.8
Signal Corps	0.2
Quartermaster Corps	0.1
Ordnance Department	0.2
Transportation Corps	Negligible
Chemical Corps	0.3
Corps of Military Police	0.1
Miscellaneous	0.1

The 1st Infantry Division suffered 20,659 battle casualties during the war; 3,616 killed in action, 15,208 wounded in action, 499 missing in action, and 1,336 made prisoners of war.

Theater	Total battle casualties	KIA	WIA	MIA	POW
All theaters	20,659	3,616	15,208	499	1,336
Mediterranean (Algeria-French Morocco, Tunisia, Sicily)	5,285	903	3,681	170	531
European (Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe)	15,374	2,713	11,527	329	805

Company L of the 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division received about 3.4 times its original complement (193) in replacements (663) during its service in the European Theater from July 1944 to May 1945. Only 11 original members of the unit did not become some type of casualty. The 35th Infantry Division suffered 15,822 battle casualties during the war; 2,485 killed in action, 11,526 wounded in action, 340 missing in action, and 1,471 made prisoners of war.

Several of the men reported as wounded or injured in action later died of their wounds, but it was not listed as such on the company morning reports from where these numbers were taken. The numbers of men listed as prisoners of war comes from a list of 134th Infantry Regiment men confirmed to be held prisoner in Germany as of late March 1945, and is deducted from the number originally reported as missing.

Month	KIA	DOW	SWA	SIA	LWA	LIA	MIA	POW	Sick	NBC	Total
7/44	37	3	16		111	5	1	6	6	10	195
8/44	9	1	7		36	6	3		15	3	80
9/44	15		2	1	30		3	13	2	1	67
10/44	3				3				3	2	11
11/44	24		12		124	8	1		20	43	232
12/44	8		13		46	7	22	89	14	3	202
1/45	6		3	2	16	21			14		62
2/45	2		2		6	3			10	1	24
3/45	1				28	1			6		36
4/45					4	1			9		14
5/45									2		2
Total	105	4	55	3	404	52	30	108	101	63	925

Sources:

United States. Department of the Army. FM 101-10-1 Field Manual Staff Officers Field Manual Organizational, Technical and Logistic Data (Unclassified Data). Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, 1976.

United States. United States Army. Adjutant General’s Department. Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II, Final Report, 7 December 1941 - 31 December 1946. Washington, D.C.: Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, United States Army, 1953.