Veterans Statistics

Video:  Thank Our Military

FACTS I WAS NOT AWARE OF…   

Veterans Statistics

SOMETHING to think about - Most of the Vietnam Veterans' Parents are now Deceased

There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.

The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized.  It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties.

Beginning at the apex on panel 1E and going out to the end of the East wall, appearing to recede into the earth (numbered 70E - May 25, 1968), then resuming at the end of the West wall, as the wall emerges from the earth (numbered 70W - continuing May 25, 1968) and ending with a date in 1975. Thus the war's beginning and end meet.  The war is complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angle's open side and contained within the earth itself.

The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, Mass. listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.

There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.

39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.

The largest age group, 8,283 were just 19 years old

33,103 were 18 years old.

12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.

5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.

One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.

997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam.

1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam.

31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

54 soldiers on attended Thomas

Edison High School in Philadelphia.  I wonder why so many from one school.

8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.

244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War;  153 of them are on the Wall.

Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

The Marines of Morenci - They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.

The Buddies of Midvale – LeRoy - Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam.. In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.

The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.

For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wife's, sons and daughters ======= There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.

h/t to George King

Since the birth of the United States of American on July 4, 1776, no single generation of Americans has been spared the responsibility of defending freedom by force of arms.  More than 42 Million American men and women have served in time of war...more than a MILLION have purchased freedom with their lives.  Below are statistics from the US Department of Veterans Affairs detailing the war service and sacrifice of America's sons and daughters.

War
Dates
Served
Battle Deaths
Other Deaths
Wounded

American Revolution
1775 - 1783
217,000
4,435
Unknown
6,188

War of 1812
1812 - 1815
286,730
2,260
Unknown
4,505

Indian Wars
1817 - 1898
106,000
1,000
Unknown

Unknown

Mexican War
1846 - 1848
78,718
1,733
11,550
4,152

Civil War (North)
1861 - 1865
2,213,363
140,414
224,097
281,881

Civil War (South)
1,050,000
74,524
59,297

Unknown

Spanish-American War
1898 - 1902
306,760
385
2,061
1,662

World War I
1917 - 1918
4,734,991
53,402
63,114
204,002

World War II
1940 - 1945
16,112,566
291,557
113,842
671,846

Korean War
1950 - 1953
5,720,000
33,686
20,560
103,284

Vietnam War
1964 - 1975
9,200,000
47,410
42,788
153,303

Gulf War
1990 - 1991
2,322,332
148
1,194
467

---

Totals
42,348,460
650,954
538,503
1,431,290

These statistics reflect the numbers of men and women who served anywhere in the world during time of war or conflict.  It is important that as a Nation that has known relative peace in recent years, we do not forget the millions who also serve to preserve peace.  Incidents like the Beirut bombing or the tragedy that befell the USS Cole should serve to remind us that all who serve, even in time of peace, do so at the risk of life.

To those who have served, or who do now serve in time of peace, I would be quick to point out that it is not the National Defense Service Medal that makes a man or woman a VETERAN....it is the uniform....regardless if that uniform is authorized or not authorized the NDSM.  Thank you all for your service.

Doug Sterner, Webmaster  -  Home of Heroes

Stats below in this order:

World War I
World War II
Korean War
Cold War
Southeast Asia

Total POW/MIA
7,323
194,879
12,654
124
2596

POWs Returned
3,973
116,129
4,439
0
691

Still Missing and Unaccounted For
3,350
78,750
8,215
124
1,905

Statistics from the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office