Cold War Veterans Blog

Memorial Day Sacrifices

The VFW

Our D.C. office recently sent out an update highlighting movement of the new GI Bill and VFW-backed legislation in Congress. Also included was a summary of the sacrifces made by our military taken from a Military Times editorial.

Memorial Day 2008: The following is a recently published Military Times editorial, entitled, "Remember the fallen." The United States is almost 232 years old, the world's greatest and oldest experiment in freedom and democracy. In that short history, Americans have paid for that freedom — and increasingly over the past century, for the freedom of untold others — in the blood and noble sacrifice of those who heard the call to service and gave their lives to the cause.

Some 4,435 died for their new country in the American Revolution.

2,260 in the War of 1812.

13,283 in the Mexican War.

529,511 — probably more, but records are incomplete — in the American Civil War.

2,446 in the Spanish-American War.

116,516 in World War I.

405,399 in World War II.

36,574 in the Korean War.

58,209 in the Vietnam War.

19 in Grenada for Operation Urgent Fury.

383 in the Persian Gulf War.

23 in Panama for Operation Just Cause.

43 in Somalia for Operation Restore Hope.

496 in Operation Enduring Freedom and 4,069 in Operation Iraqi Freedom — and counting.

That's 1,173,666 in all. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, more have died in service to our country on virtually every continent on the globe in conflicts we either don't recall or won't acknowledge. This Memorial Day, take a moment to remember them.