America’s 

Wars	 

Department of 

Veterans Affairs 

 Office of Public Affairs 

 Washington, DC 20420 

 (202) 461-7600 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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May 2016 

American Revolution (1775-1783) 

Total U.S. Servicemembers1 217,000 

Battle Deaths 4,435 

Non-mortal Woundings 6,188 

War of 1812 (1812-1815) 

Total U.S. Servicemembers 286,730 

Battle Deaths 2,260 

Non-mortal Woundings 4,505 

Indian Wars (approx. 1817-1898) 

Total U.S. Servicemembers (VA estimate) 106,000 

Battle Deaths (VA estimate) 1,000 

Mexican War (1846-1848) 

Total U.S. Servicemembers 78,718 

Battle Deaths 1,733 

Other Deaths (In Theater) 11,550 

Non-mortal Woundings 4,152 

Civil War (1861-1865) 

Total U.S. Servicemembers (Union) 2,213,363 

Battle Deaths (Union) 140,414 

Other Deaths (In Theater) (Union) 224,097 

Non-mortal Woundings (Union) 281,881 

Total Servicemembers (Conf.) 2 1,050,000 

Battle Deaths (Confederate) 3 74,524 

Other Deaths (In Theater) (Confederate) 3, 4 59,297 

Non-mortal Woundings (Confederate) Unknown 

Spanish-American War (1898-1902) 

Total U.S. Servicemembers (Worldwide) 306,760 

Battle Deaths 385 

Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) 2,061 

Non-mortal Woundings 1,662 

World War I (1917-1918) 

Total U.S. Servicemembers (Worldwide) 4,734,991 

Battle Deaths 53,402 

Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) 63,114 

Non-mortal Woundings 204,002 

World War II (1941 –1945) 

Total U.S. Servicemembers (Worldwide) 16,112,566 

Battle Deaths 291,557 

Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) 113,842 

Non-mortal Woundings 670,846 

Living Veterans 10 696,000 

NOTES: 

1. Exact number is unknown. Posted figure is the median of estimated 

range from 184,000 – 250,000. 

2. Exact number is unknown. Posted figure is median of estimated 

range from 600,000 – 1,500,000. 

3. Death figures are based on incomplete returns. 

4. Does not include 26,000 to 31,000 who died in Union prisons. 

Korean War (1950-1953) 

Total U.S. Servicemembers (Worldwide) 5,720,000 

Total Serving (In Theater) 1,789,000 

Battle Deaths 33,739 

Other Deaths (In Theater) 2,835 

Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) 17,672 

Non-mortal Woundings 103,284 

Living Veterans 10 1,592,000 

Vietnam War (1964-1975) 

Total U.S. Servicemembers (Worldwide) 6 8,744,000 

Deployed to Southeast Asia 7 3,403,000 

Battle Deaths 8 47,434 

Other Deaths (In Theater) 8 10,786 

Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) 8 32,000 

Non-mortal Woundings 9 153,303 

Living Veterans 10 6,953,000 

Desert Shield/Desert Storm (1990-1991) 

Total U.S. Servicemembers (Worldwide) 2,322,000 

Deployed to Gulf 694,550 

Battle Deaths 148 

Other Deaths (In Theater) 235 

Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) 1,565 

Non-mortal Woundings 467 

Living Veterans 10 4,483,000 

America’s Wars Total (1775 -1991) 

U.S. Military Service during Wartime 41,892,128 

Battle Deaths 651,031 

Other Deaths (In Theater) 308,800 

Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) 230,254 

Non-mortal Woundings 1,430,290 

Living War Veterans 16,104,000 

Living Veterans (Periods of War & Peace) 21,368,000 

Global War on Terror (Oct 2001 - ) 

The Global War on Terror (GWOT), including Operation 

Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), 

are ongoing conflicts. For the most current GWOT statistics 

visit the following Department of Defense Website: 

https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/casualties.xhtml 

Living Veterans 10	 4,398,000 

6. Covers the period 8/5/64 - 1/27/73 (date of cease fire) 

7. Department of Defense estimate 

8. Covers period 11/1/55 – 5/15/75 

9. Excludes 150,341 not requiring hospital care 

10. Veterans can be in more than one wartime period and the total 

living war Veterans is not the same as the sum of living Veterans from 

each individual war due to double counting. 

Source: Department of Defense (DOD), except living Veterans, 

which are VA estimates as of Sep 2016. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America’s Wars Fact Sheet, May 2016 

American Revolution 

Last Veteran, Daniel F. Bakeman, 

died 4/5/1869, age 109 

Last Widow, Catherine S. Damon, 

died 11/11/1906, age 92 

Last Dependent, Phoebe M. Palmeter, 

died 4/25/1911, age 90 

Mexican War 

Last Veteran, Owen Thomas Edgar, 

died 9/3/1929, age 98 

Last Widow, Lena James Theobald, 

died 6/20/1963, age 89 

Last Dependent, Jesse G. Bivens, 

died 11/1/1962, age 94 

War of 1812 

Last Veteran, Hiram Cronk, 

died 5/13/1905, age 105 

Last Widow, Carolina King, 

died 6/28/1936, age unknown 

Last Dependent, Esther A.H. Morgan, 

died 3/12/1946, age 89 

Civil War 

Last Union verified Veteran, Albert Woolson, 

died 8/2/1956, age 109 

Last Confederate verified Veteran, Pleasant Crump, 

died 12/21/1951, age 104 

Last Union Widow, Gertrude Janeway, 

died 1/17/2003, age 93 

Last Confederate Widow, Maudie Hopkins 

died 8/1/2008, age 93 

Indian Wars 

Last Veteran, Fredrak Fraske, 

died 6/18/1973, age 101 

Spanish-American War 

Last veteran, Nathan E. Cook, 

died 9/10/1992, age 106 

World War I 

Last Veteran, Frank Buckles, 

died 2/27/2011, age 110 

VA estimates the number of living World War II U.S. veterans will be: 

9/30/19..........356,000 9/30/20...........282,000 9/30/21............224,000 

9/30/23..........141,000 9/30/24..........113,000 9/30/25.............90,000 

9/30/27............58,000 9/30/28............46,000 9/30/29..............37,000 

9/30/31............24,000 9/30/32............19,000 9/30/33..............16,000 

9/30/22.........178,000 

9/30/26............72,000 

9/30/30...........30,000 

9/30/34...........13,000 

U.S. Veterans and Dependents on 

Benefits Rolls as of 

May 2016 

VETERANS CHILDREN PARENTS 

SURVIVING 

SPOUSES 

Civil War - 1 - -

Spanish-American War - 46 - 42 

Mexican Border - 3 - 6 

World War I - 1,590 - 1,236 

World War II 144,938 9,360 10 178,251 

Philippines 1,776 155 3 2,598 

Korean Conflict 181,893 2,207 25 74,041 

Vietnam Era 1,525,400 4,570 1,198 251,543 

1 Gulf War 1,990,094 4,488 1,788 26,799 

Peacetime 710,773 1,382 713 36,048 

2 Non service-connected 292,297 10,175 - 193,442 

2 Service-connected 4,262,577 13,627 3,737 377,122 

1. For compensation and pension purposes, the Persian Gulf War period has not yet been terminated and includes Veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring 

Freedom and New Dawn. 

2. This total includes peacetime veterans receiving benefits.