A Day to Thank Our Veterans

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The history of our nation can’t be measured by our wars, but it can be measured by those who fought them. Great conflicts during the first 100 years or so left our soil drenched with the blood or our own soldiers, not to mention those who lost their lives in wars at sea. 

And for the last 140, we have continued to send our soldiers to foreign lands to fight. In World War I it was to answer the call of our allies in Europe, and we sent more than 16 million servicemen and women to defeat Hitler.

We made attempts to stem the rising tide of Communism in Korea and later Vietnam. And in the years that have followed we still have boots on the ground in the Mideast, attempting to salvage some democracy in the region while helping the citizens of those lands fight extremism and terrorism.

Some of these wars were just, others were not. Some we won, some we lost. But today is not a day for political rhetoric. Today we stop and thank the men and women who answered the call of their county. Whether Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines, many of these folks gave up a large part of their life in service to their country. 

I know directly that members of my own family have been fighting in America since at least the time of the revolution. Sometimes they even joined the armed forces. They were the Scottish immigrants here in the Upcountry who opposed the loyalists in the American Revolution and punished the British who threatened their way of life. 

My grandmother’s grandfather, a Confederate soldier, rode home on a horse to his family homestead after more than four years at war. He had been gone so long, and presumed dead, that no one even recognized him. I had great uncles who fought in the Great War. My dad’s oldest brother fought in the European theater, and was captured by the Germans three times (but always escaped). My father just missed Korea during his more than decade of service in the Army and might have been sent as an advisor to Vietnam if hearing problems from his infantry duty had not kept him home.

I just missed Vietnam myself, although many of my close friends did not. 

And in the almost interrupted cycle of wars in the Mideast, many of my friends’ sons have been sent into harm’s way over the past 25 years.  

Today I want to say thank you to them, those who went before them, and to those who served stateside who made the overseas campaigns possible.  

Those of us who never wore a uniform, salute you today for protecting our freedoms. 

So Happy Veterans Day, soldiers. I hope others thank you for your service as well, and that you make time to reflect on why what you did was important.  

And, while I know I am mixing in a bit of Memorial Day sentiment here, the following is a reminder of the 40 million Americans who served their country in uniform. 

American Revolution (1775-1783) 

U.S. servicemembers: 184,000-250,000 (estimated) 

Deaths: 4,435 

Wounded: 6,188 

Last veteran: Daniel F. Bakeman, died in 1869 at age 109 

War of 1812 (1812-1815) 

U.S. servicemembers: 286,730 

Deaths: 2,260 

Wounded: 4,505 

Last veteran: Hiram Cronk, died in 1905 at age 105 

Indian Wars (approximately 1817-1898) 

U.S. servicemembers: 106,000 (estimated) 

Deaths: 1,000 (estimated) 

Last veteran: Fredrak Fraske, died in 1973 at age 101 

Mexican War (1846-1848) 

U.S. servicemembers: 78,718 

Deaths: 13,283 

Wounded: 4,152 

Last veteran: Owen Thomas Edgar, died in 1929 at age 98 

Civil War (1861-1865) 

Union servicemembers: 2,213,363 

Confederate servicemembers: 600,000-1,500,000 (estimated) 

Union deaths: 364,511 

Confederate deaths: 133,821 (estimated) 

Union wounded: 281,881 

Confederate wounded: Unknown 

Last veteran: John Salling, died in 1958 at age 112

Spanish-American War (1898-1902) 

U.S. servicemembers: 306,760 

Deaths: 2,446 (385 in battle) 

Wounded: 1,662 

Last veteran: Nathan E. Cook, died in 1992 at age 106 

World War I (1917-1918) 

U.S. servicemembers: 4,734,991 

Deaths: 116,516 (53,402 in battle) 

Wounded: 204,002 

Last veteran: Frank Buckles, died in 2011 at age 110 

World War II (1941-1945) 

U.S. servicemembers: 16,112,566 

Deaths: 405,399 (291,557 in battle) 

Wounded: 670,846 

Estimated living veterans: 1,611,000 

Korean War (1950-1953) 

U.S. servicemembers: 5,720,000 

Deaths: 54,246 (36,574 in theater) 

Wounded: 103,284 

Estimated living veterans: 2,175,000 

Vietnam War (1964-1975) 

U.S. servicemembers: 8,744,000 (estimated 3,403,000 deployed) 

Deaths: 90,220 (58,220 in theater) 

Wounded: 153,303 

Estimated living veterans: 7,391,000

Desert Shield/Desert Storm (1990-1991) 

U.S. servicemembers: 2,322,000 (694,550 deployed) 

Deaths: 1,948 (383 in theater) 

Wounded: 467 

Estimated living veterans: 2,344,583 (2020 estimate, may include veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan)