Unfortunately, sometimes statistics even within the U.S. military have conflicting information. Every year we try to consolidate and fact-check based on updated info to the best of our ability. Here are some of the sources we used: 

https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf

https://www.defense.gov/casualty.pdf (Adding together all KIA totals) 

https://www.smarthernews.com/quickreads/20210830-honor-the-fallen

WWI (1917 - 1918): 4.7M served; 53,402 died in battle

WWII (1941 - 1945): 16.1M served; 291,557 died in battle

Korean War (1950 - 1953): 5.7M served; 33,739 died in battle

Vietnam (1964 - 1975): 8.7M served; 47,434 died in battle

Persian Gulf (1990 - 1991): 2.2M served; 148 died in battle

"The Global War on Terror" is a term used for the American-led, international military campaign launched after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City. 

More than 2.8M U.S. service members have fought in this effort, with 5,400+ combat-related deaths.

In August of last year, America's war in Afghanistan — part of the Global War on Terror — came to a close. 

 During the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, 13 U.S. service members were killed in an attack on an airport — marking the deadliest day for America in Afghanistan since 2011. 

 The last American troops left Afghanistan — ending America's longest war. 

In the nearly 20 years the U.S. was in Afghanistan, more than 800,000 served and 1,926 were killed in action.

Under the U.S. Flag Code, on Memorial Day the U.S. flag is flown at half-staff from sunrise until noon — and then raised to the top until sunset — to both mourn and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation. 

smarther news

Memorial Day Honoring Our Fallen

Unfortunately, sometimes statistics even within the U.S. military have conflicting information. Every year we try to consolidate and fact-check based 