THE COST OF WAR

The only constant cost of war is figured in lives lost and service members wounded. The financial costs are always enormous, but difficult to equate. Here are the “official” figures for killed and wounded in each of the United States’ major conflicts. Credit: The American Legion Magazine, May, 2015. Statistics gathered from various official sources. As General Sherman put it, war is hell. May God bless all our military people, past and present, living and dead.

Revolutionary War, 1775 – 1783
U.S. military deaths 4,435 U.S. wounded 6,188

Barbary Wars, 1801 – 1805 and 1815
U.S. military deaths 35 U.S. wounded 64

War of 1812, 1812 – 1815
U.S. military deaths 2,260 U.S. wounded 4,505

Indian Wars, 1813 – 1838 and 1866 – 1890
U.S. Military deaths: 1,000 (estimated) U.S. wounded unknown

Mexican War, 1846 – 1848
U.S. military deaths 13,281 (1,733 battle deaths) U.S. wounded 4,152

Civil War, 1861 – 1865
Union deaths 364,511 (140,414 battle deaths) Union wounded 281,881. Confederate deaths 133,821

Spanish-American War, 1898
U.S. military deaths 2,446 (385 battle deaths) U.S. wounded 1,662

Philippine Insurrection 1899 – 1901
U.S. military deaths 4,200 U.S. wounded 2,800

Mexico punitive expedition 1914 – 1919
U.S. military deaths 21, U.S. civilian deaths 35

World War I, 1917 – 1918
U.S. military deaths 116,516 (51,402 battle deaths) U.S. wounded 204,002

World War II, 1941 – 1945
U.S. military deaths 405,399 (291,557 battle deaths) U.S. wounded 670,846

Berlin Airlift, 1948 – 1949
U.S. military deaths 31

Korean War, 1950 -1953
U.S. military deaths 36,574 (33,739 battle deaths) U.S. wounded 103,284

Vietnam War, 1963 -1975
U.S. military deaths 58,220 (47,434 battle deaths) U.S. wounded (hospitalized) 153,303

Lebanon, 1982 – 1984
U.S. military deaths 265 U.S. wounded 177

Grenada, 1983
U.S. military deaths 19 (18 battle deaths) U.S. wounded 116

Persian Gulf 1987 – 1988
U.S. deaths 37

Panama, 1989 – 1990
U.S. military deaths 73 U.S. wounded 322

Gulf War 1990 – 1991
U.S. military deaths 382 (147 battle deaths) U.S. wounded 467

Iraqi Kurdistan 1991
U.S. military deaths 5

Somalia, 1992 – 1994
U.S. military deaths 43

Haiti 1994 – 1996
U.S. military deaths 4 (all non-battle)

Bosnia, 1995 – 2004
U.S military deaths 1

Kosovo, 1999 – present
U.S. military deaths 5

Global War on Terrorism 2001 – present
U.S military and DOD civilian deaths 2,355 (1,845 battle deaths) U.S. wounded 20,067

Afghanistan, 2001 – present
U.S. military deaths 2,215 (1,832 battle deaths) U.S. wounded 20,026

Iraq/ Operation Iraqi Freedom / Operation New Dawn 2003 – 2011
U.S. military and DOD civilian deaths 4,491 (3,529 battle deaths) U.S. wounded 32,244

Operation Inherent Resolve, 2014 – present
U.S. military deaths 3

All statistics as of March, 2015.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

The cost of war is also the cost of freedom. Some sobering numbers.

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

the cost of war also includes the life time of mental anguish and sorrow of the family and loved ones left behind............

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There's nowt so queer as folk

And it goes on, I was struck that there have been 14 conflicts since my time. Where has all the time gone? (kinda sounds like a song, doesn't it?)

the problem I had with the list in the Legion magazine was while it listed the cold war it failed to list the number killed. it is a fact that some 200+ air force and navy servicemen lost their lives flying NSA missions and were shot down.

TITLE SAYS IT ALL



There are 4,048 gold stars; each one represents 100 American military deaths.

yes it sure does sound like a song............and hopefully the message is heard.....

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There's nowt so queer as folk

Don't forget the Cold War and the years that followed. I think many would be surprised to learn there were more military deaths in the '80's than there were at the height of Desert Storm or the War on Terror -- Iraq and Afghanistan combined. It wasn't until Clinton's second term that the death rate got under 1,000 a year (and then barley).

Most were just accidents. A helicopter full of Marines crashes into the sea. A guy getting run over by a tank. Carrier landing "uh-oh". A duce-and-a-half flips. Sailor falls off a ship. The size of the Military was HUGE compared to today. And it was all in motion, because we had all of that great new equipment from President Reagan.

Anyone who served during those years knows there was a lot of training going on. Much of it at night, and the technology wasn't as good as modern stuff, and the safety precautions were definitely not as strict as what they are today.

As tragic as the loss of any member of the US Armed Forces is, consider the following statistics: The annual fatalities of military members while actively serving in the armed forces from 1980 through 2010:

1980 ....... 2,392
1981 ....... 2,380
1982 ....... 2,319
1983 ....... 2,465
1984 ....... 1,999
1985 ....... 2,252
1986 ....... 1,984
1987 ....... 1,983
1988 ....... 1,819
1989 ....... 1,636
1990 ....... 1,507
1991 ....... 1,787
1992 ....... 1,293
1993 ....... 1,213
1994 ....... 1,075
1995 ....... 1,040
1996 ......... 974
1997 ......... 817
1998 ......... 827
1999 ......... 796
2000 ......... 832
2001 ......... 943
2002 ....... 1,051
2003 ....... 1,399
2004 ....... 1,847
2005 ....... 1,929
2006 ....... 1,882
2007 ....... 1,953
2008 ....... 1,440
2009 ....... 1,515
2010 ....... 1,485

Congressional Research Service - American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

There are a couple of conflicts not listed but we may not have lost any people in them. The was an undeclared naval war with France and the Marines intervened in Haiti or the Dominican Republic. The "Philippine Insurrection" has a different name depending on which side you were on.