Monday is Veterans Day and the Rock-dale I SD is once again offering its traditional tribute. I t’s impressive and moving and if you haven’t been to one, you ought to check out the 2019 edition.
Students from all Rockdale I SD campus observe the day. Elementary, intermediate and high school students participate in the gym ceremony and the junior-high hosts a luncheon for veterans and their spouses.
Our country’s veterans population is changing, dramatically and rapidly.
There are about 18 million veterans in the United States today, about seven percent of the population. That percentage has been steadily declining. I t was almost 20 percent in 1980. Our veterans are 91 percent male and 9 percent female. That number is changing, too. Males die earlier than females and it’s estimated in 25 years half the male veterans now alive will have passed away.
California has the most veterans, just under 1.5 million, while Alaska has the highest percentage of veterans, 12 percent.
Most recent statistics show there are 6.2-million Vietnam-Era veterans now alive while Gulf War veterans total 4.2-million.
About 1.6 million veterans served in more than one wartime era.
There are 1.6-million Korean War veterans in the U.S. and the “Greatest Generation” still boasts 771,000 World War I I veterans although, sadly, their numbers are dwindling quickly. (Someone who was 17 in 1945, that was the war’s final year, is 91 today).
Statistics from the Veterans Administration reveal 77 percent current veterans served during wartime—that does not necessarily indicate they were in combat, although many did,just that they served during a wartime period—while 23 percent served their military careers totally in peacetime.
Veterans are aging. Statistics show 4.2-million are age 75 or older. And 4.7 million are ages 65 to 74.
That means almost half the American veterans alive today are 65 or older.
Which is one reason why observations like Monday’s are so important. We need to honor them while they are here.
This actually marks the 100th anniversary of Veterans Day which began as Armistice Day in 1919, exactly one year after the armistice to end World War I was declared on Nov. 11, 1919. Seven years later it became a national holiday.
During 1945 an idea was floated to expand Veterans Day to include commemorating all American veterans on the special day, not solely those from World War I . I t quickly caught hold and the day became more separate and distinct from Memorial Day, which honors and commemorates American military personnel killed in past conflicts.
See you Monday. No matter what era they served in our veterans deserve their day and their tributes.—M.B.
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