Another thought on Veterans’ Day…

A couple of us were chatting about our families and our participation in defending the country/being in the military and an interesting point came out- I don’t know if anyone has ever researched this, but at least within the 8 or 10 of us, there is an interesting corollary…

Most of those who fought in WWI also fought in WWII (if able). 21 years later
Those who fought in WWII also fought in Korea (some even fought in Nam). 6 years later
Those who fought in Korea also fought in Vietnam. 10 years later
Those who fought in Vietnam also fought in the 1st Gulf War. 16 years later
Those who fought in the 1st Gulf War are fighting again this time. 11 years later

This is a weird little cyclic, but in light of the normal career (20 years minimum) it makes sense. Mine started with Nam and ended with the 1st Gulf War, as did a couple of others. It’s almost as if you came in for one as cannon fodder, stuck around and ended up in another as a leader due to the spacing (assuming you survived).

One of the guys Dads was in Big Red One, he said his Dad told him they lost 21,000+ dead from the Division in WWII. The total size of a Division was 14,000!!! This means they took over 150% casualties during the war, and apparently “most” of the Division had at least one Purple Heart (If I remember right, his Dad had a couple of Silver Stars, etc. and three Purple Hearts)!

Comments

Another thought on Veterans’ Day… — 2 Comments

  1. Good thoughts, and just about right, and looks like we have a professional military core in our country.