Honor
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 9:25AM It is highly unlikely that anyone reading this editorial today does not have a family member or close friend who took up arms for this country. Some of them did not return home, but more than 20 million did. All of us owe them a debt we cannot repay, which is why we take one day a year to remind these courageous men and women that we appreciate them.
Of the 25 million veterans:
1.7 million The number of veterans who are women.
9.5 million The number of veterans who are age 65 or older.
2.3 million The number of black veterans. Additionally, 1.1 million veterans are Hispanic; 276,000 are Asian; 185,000 are American Indian or Alaska native; and 25,000 are native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander.
8.2 million The number of Vietnam-era veterans. More than 30 percent of all veterans served in Vietnam, the largest share of any period of service. The next largest share of wartime veterans, 3.9 million or fewer than 20 percent, served during World War II.
16% Percentage of Persian Gulf War veterans who are women. In contrast, women account for 5 percent of World War II vets, 3 percent of Vietnam vets and 2 percent of Korean War vets.
32,000 The number of veterans who served during both the Vietnam era and in the Gulf War.
In addition,
6The number of states with 1 million or more veterans. These states are California (2.3 million), Florida (1.8 million), Texas (1.7 million), New York (1.2 million), Pennsylvania (1.1 million) and Ohio (1.1 million).
$22.4 billion Aggregate amount of money received annually by the 2.6 million veterans receiving compensation for service-connected disabilities.
$59.6 billion Total amount of federal government spending for veterans benefits programs in fiscal year 2004.
Today is the day to thank those veterans for keeping us free and safe. So make that call, take a veteran to lunch and if you see a man or woman in uniform, say thank you.
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