Monday Top 5 – Veterans Day Numbers

Happy Veterans Day to everyone.  Always on 11/11 which some people say is lucky.  Could we argue that having a Veteran or a Hero in the family isn't Lucky?  That sounds wonderful to me.  And I'm proud to say that my Great Grandfather Howard Johnson was a war vet.  He has recently passed away and no he didn't start the Howard Johnson hotel chain.

November 11th is the day that World War One ended.  It hasn't always been known as veterans day.  I don't want to spoil the ending here so take a look at today's top 5.

1.  Veterans Day didn't start until 1954.  November 11th used to be Armistice Day, marking the anniversary of the end of World War One.  President Eisenhower changed it to Veterans Day to honor all of the veterans of all of the wars.

2.  There are more than 21 million military veterans in the U.S., and 1.6 million of them are women.

3.  The Vietnam War has the most living veterans, with approximately 7.4 million.  The two Gulf Wars have 5.4 million, the Korean War has 2.3 million, World War Two has 1.6 million and 5.3 million veterans served during peace time.

4.  There are no surviving U.S. World War One veterans.  Frank Buckles was the last one, he died two years ago at 110 years old.

5.  Alaska has the largest percentage of veterans, with 13.6% of the adult population.  Montana is second, at 12.7%.