Veteran's Day 2013

WWI my Grandfather, Calvary
20 million died, 7 million civilians
WWII my Father, Patton's Third Army, Anti-aircraft machine gunner, wounded in action, scarred for life.
60 million dead with another 20+million from diseases related to the war, over 80 million died, 30 million of those were civilians.

When Veteran's Day comes along I watch the old movies and feel intense gratitude for those who sacrificed so much so we would be free to choose how and what we believe and where we live and what we do with our lives. These are very precious principles that are important because this is the way we learn that just because there are differences that doesn't mean we have to hate or kill. We can also choose to respect each other and give each other room to be who we are, without hurting anyone. This is as crucial to our survival as the air we breathe and the water we drink.

I remember these basic principles were realized because many paid the ultimate cost.
And I appreciate it. Everyday.

I have heard people make comments, rarely, but I've heard them nonetheless refer to war as birth control.
Speaking from a mother's perspective, we give so much time and effort and thought to tending to our children. To giving them a reason to live and be good people. Maybe not everybody does this but many who go unnoticed most certainly do. I would rather see people take birth control and stop bringing children into this world they cannot feed and take care of and instead preserve the precious lives we love so much.

So many lives are ruined in war and as a consequence of war. So many scars are left that are passed down from one generation to the next.

I hope we can start finding ways to resolve conflict with being better people and providing each other with good information so people make better decisions in the future so we can stop a war before it starts with wisdom and human decency.

We have so many young people who are true heroes.

It would be great if we could give them an outlet to be heroes by helping people and by helping us take care of this amazing planet before it is too late. That too would be a worthwhile sacrifice of time and effort. I would like to see that.



One way to understand the violence and slaughter that occurred in the Great War is to examine the number of casualties and deaths. Exact figures are still in dispute, because of different definitions used each category, the questionable accuracy of the recording system used and the loss or destruction of a number of official documents. The data in the tables below reflect numbers from several sources and are consistent with most experts' current estimates.

Country	Total Mobilized Forces	Killed	Wounded	Prisoners and Missing	Total Casualties	Casualties as % of Forces
ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS
Russia	12,000,000	1,700,000	4,950,000	2,500,000	9,150,000	76.3
British Empire	8,904,467	908,371	2,090,212	191,652	3,190,235	35.8
France	8,410,000	1,357,800	4,266,000	537,000	6,160,800	73.3
Italy	5,615,000	650,000	947,000	600,000	2,197,000	39.1
United States	4,355,000	116,516	204,002	4,500	323,018	7.1
Japan	800,000	300	907	3	1,210	0.2
Romania	750,000	335,706	120,000	80,000	535,706	71.4
Serbia	707,343	45,000	133,148	152,958	331,106	46.8
Belgium	267,000	13,716	44,686	34,659	93,061	34.9
Greece	230,000	5,000	21,000	1,000	27,000	11.7
Portugal	100,000	7,222	13,751	12,318	33,291	33.3
Montenegro	50,000	3,000	10,000	7,000	20,000	40.0
TOTAL	42,188,810	5,142,631	12,800,706	4,121,090	22,062,427	52.3
ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS
Germany	11,000,000	1,773,700	4,216,058	1,152,800	7,142,558	64.9
Austria-Hungary	7,800,000	1,200,000	3,620,000	2,200,000	7,020,000	90.0
Turkey	2,850,000	325,000	400,000	250,000	975,000	34.2
Bulgaria	1,200,000	87,500	152,390	27,029	266,919	22.2
TOTAL	22,850,000	3,386,200	8,388,448	3,629,829	15,404,477	67.4
GRAND TOTAL	65,038,810	8,528,831	21,189,154	7,750,919	37,466,904	57.5

War	Number Serving	Battle Deaths	Disease & Accidents	Wounded	Total Casualties
Revolutionary War	NA	4,435	NA	6,188	NA
War of 1812	286,730	2,260	NA	4,505	NA
Mexican War	78,718	1,733	11,550	4,152	17,435
Civil War	2,213,363	140,414	224,097	281,881	646,392
Spanish-American War	306,760	385	2,061	1,662	4,108
World War I	4,743,826	53,513	63,195	204,002	320,710*
World War II	16,353,659	292,131	115,185	670,846	1,078,162
Korean War	5,764,143	33,651	NA	103,284	NA
Vietnam War	8,744,000	47,369	10,799	153,303	211,147
Persian Gulf War	467,539	148	145	467	760
NA = Not available * Does not include the number of soldiers missing in action Source: U.S. Department of Justice