Memorial Day is the kind of holiday that easily lends itself to all kinds of platitudes and bromides. I’m going to skip all that. Instead, I want to let the numbers speak for themselves:
Revolutionary War–4,435 combat deaths
War of 1812–2,260 combat deaths
Mexican War–1,733 combat deaths
Civil War–184,594 combat deaths
Spanish-American War–385 combat deaths
World War I–53,513 combat deaths
World War II–292,131 combat deaths
Korean War–33,651 combat deaths
Vietnam War–47,369 combat deaths
Gulf War I–145 combat deaths
Gulf War II–814 combat deaths
If you add these numbers up, it’s equivalent to the entire population of Columbus, Ohio. And keep in mind that these numbers only reflect combat deaths, not total casualties.
Draw your own conclusions.
