D. E. Larsen, DVM
I would like to take a moment in this Veteran’s Day to discuss my feelings on who really built this country. I should have put this discussion on Memorial Day, but better late than never.
We here the press and the politicians quote the “Founding Fathers” all the time. They also give much credit to current and past Presidents and to Congress. Mostly old men and women, although a few of the Founding Fathers were younger men (but men didn’t live so long in those years).
However, when you look closely at the history of this country, it is the blood of young men that soak the ground that we stand on. I many cases, very young men. Revolutionary War soldiers were as young as 15.
About 24,000 – 25,000 American servicemen died in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Most American soldiers were teenagers or young adults—generally 15–30 years old, with an average age around 22—although some were much older. Of that figure only about 6,800 died in combat, the other 17,000 died from disease or other causes, including death while in captivity. These are estimates, as exact counts do not exist.
Roughly 620,000 men died in the Civil War, 360,000 Union and 280 Confederate. Of that total about 110,000 Union and 95,000 Confederate deaths were from combat. Close to double those figures were from disease and other causes. There is no data on the ages of those who died, although the average age of a Civil War soldier was 26 years. Census data in Confederate states show that 20% – 33% of native-born white males who were ages 15 -34 years of age in 1860 died because of the war. That figure is less than 10% for the North.
World War I saw 116,516 military personnel deaths, including 53,402 battle deaths and 63,114 other deaths in service. Many of those other deaths were from the Spanish Flu Pandemic. The average age for ‘doughboys’ was approximately 25 years, but there is no breakdown of the ages for deaths. Total US military personnel who served worldwide during WWI was 5,734,991.
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, 2,519 servicemen died in the normandy invasion. Age data is not available, but the assumed average age for troops who took part in the invasion is about 26 years of age.
Some of the soldiers on D-Day were only 16 years old, boys who had lied about their ages to enter military service. Joseph Argenzio, Jr is described by the Army as the youngster infantryman on Omaha Beach. But is is impossible to determine the single youngest participant because underage recruits falsified their records.
Approximately 407,000 US military personnel died in WWII. Battle deaths number 291,557. There are no age breakdowns for WWII deaths but the average age of soldiers serving was about 26 years of age. That age was slightly younger for those in the Navy and Marines.
US pilots in WWII were often in their early twenties, although some were in their late teens and a few were considerably older. Army aviation cadets initially had to be between 19 and 25 to enter training. In 1941 the army authorized an enlisted pilot program and accepted candidates who were 18 – 22 yeas of age. They would go through about a year of training and graduate as an officer. Enlisting at 19, they could be a bomber pilot at the age of 20. In Europe in those years, they had a 20% chance of being shot down, killed or captured, on every mission.
The Korean War (1950 – 1953) saw 36,574 deaths of military personnel. Battle deaths account for 33,739 of those. For the Army, 4,702 deaths were in soldiers who were 19 or under. Ages 20 – 24 years account for 11,984 deaths. That is almost 50% of the battle deaths and does not account for the other services. Unlike earlier conflicts, more non-battle deaths were caused by injury (79%) than by disease (21%).
In the Vietnam War The US ha 58,220 military deaths. Of those 10,786 were non-hostile deaths. Of those fatalities, 61% were 21 or younger. And 11,365 were under 20. The overall mean age was pulled upward by older officers, for a mean age of 28.43 years. Enlisted personnel who died averaged 22.37 years of age.
Conflicts following Vietnam resulted in fewer fatalities, probably totaling less than 10,000 and the average age is maybe a little higher since the draft was discontinued in 1973. But still a significant number of young men were lost.
I feel confident in saying that over the last 250 years we have lost approximately 1.2 million men in various wars and conflicts. Of that number, well over 50% were under the age of 25. Many, at the time of their death, were to young to vote and too young to drink a legal beer in their home town.
They were young guys, possibly scared, but they also believed they were bulletproof, who just wanter to be home again. But they answered the call when their country needed them. And today this country stands on their sacrifice. And that has nothing to do with all the politicians in the world.
My father always said that there would be fewer wars if the politicians had to go fight them. And how true that would be.
