All gave some and some gave all

“We are forever indebted to those who have given their lives that we might be free.”

—President Ronald Reagan

Memorial Day, in May, honors and celebrates our military men and women who have served and died, while Veterans Day, in November, honors all Veterans, living and dead. The following statistics about military casualties in major U.S. conflicts, from memorialdayfoundation.org and U.S. Department of Defense, remind us of the immense debt of gratitude we owe our heroes:

• 4,435 American deaths in the Revolutionary War (1775–1783)
• 2,260 American deaths in the War of 1812 (1812–1815)
• 13,383 American deaths in the Mexican War (1846–1848)
• 364,511 Union deaths (North) in the Civil War (1861–1865)
• 199,110 Confederate deaths (South) in the Civil War (1861–1865)
• 2,446 American deaths in the Spanish-American War (1898–1899)
• 116,516 American deaths in World War I (1917–1918)
• 405,399 American deaths in World War II (1941–1946)
• 36,574 American deaths in the Korean War (1950–1953)
• 58,209 American deaths in the Vietnam War (1965–1975)
• 2,352 American deaths in Operation Endure Freedom–Afghanistan (2001–2014)
• 4,425 American deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003–2010)