As of 2020, there were 2,395,993 personnel in the five branches of the Armed Services. The United States at the time had a population of 329.5 million, which means that .727% of the population is in the military.
??The United States has one of the top five biggest militaries in the world. In terms of active-duty personnel it is just after China and India.
??According to thesoldiersproject.org. 50.9% of those service people were in the Army. The Air Force accounted for 24.8%, with the Navy right behind at 20.7%. The Coast Guard made up 2.3% of our soldiers. Marines had the final 1.3%.]
??From an age standpoint, 45% of the military is under the age of 25. Twenty-one percent are between the ages of 26-30. Between the ages of 31-35 are 15%. Eleven percent are from 36-40 and eight percent are over age 41.
??Three of four members of the military have a high school diploma, with one of four having secondary education or beyond.
?There are still more than 1.7 million Americans alive (2020) who served in World War II, but that number is dropping rapidly. The last World War I veteran died in February 2011. That man, Frank Buckles, was 110 years old.
??The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs tell us that there were nearly 700,000 military people deployed during Desert Shield/ Desert Storm. There were 1,948 deaths and 467 wounded during those actions.
??During Vietnam 3,403,000 soldiers were deployed. There were 90,220 casualties and 153,303 wounded.
??The Korean War had 5,720,000 servicemembers and 54,246 deaths. There were also 103,284 wounded. Over 16 million service members were involved in World War II. Over 400,000 died and over 670,000 were wounded.
??Over 116,000 died in World War I and over 204,000 were wounded.
??During the Civil War over 364,000 Union soldiers died and over 281,000 were wounded. There is no estimate of Confederate fatalities. Between the two sides there were between 2.8 and 3.7 million soldiers. The last veteran of the Civil War, John Salling, died in 1958 at the age of 112.
??Since 1775, it is estimated that 1.3 million soldiers have given their lives for their country.
??World Wars have averages of roughly 100 and 200 fatalities per day respectively. Technically, the costliest battle in U.S. military history was the Battle of Elsenborn Ridge, which was a part of the Battle of the Bulge in the Second World War, and saw upwards of 5,000 deaths over 10 days. From June 6 to August 25, 1944 in the Battle of Normandy, 29,204 soldiers were killed fighting against Nazi Germany.
??Battles in which more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers were killed in a single day include Pearl Harbor, in which 2,335 died.
??However, the Battle of Gettysburg had more military fatalities of American soldiers, with almost 3,200 Union deaths and over 3,900 Confederate deaths, giving a combined total of more than 7,000. The Battle of Antietam, also during the Civil War, is viewed as the bloodiest day in American military history, with over 3,600 combined fatalities on September 17, 1862.
??The heaviest loss of life for a single day anywhere occurred on July 1, 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, when the British Army suffered 57,470 casualties.
??Raise a flag on Memorial Day in honor of those who have died.
??“I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty, and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it’s marked by the blood of those who died defending it.” – John Thune