Sentence:  Sergeant Early let the new CO know just how lucky he was to be in the best troop in the best regiment in the <WSD>United</WSD> States Army . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776