* Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11th, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I.
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* The number of military veterans in the United States was 23.6 million in 2007.
* The number of female veterans in the United States was 1.8 million in 2007; 16% of Gulf War veterans in 2007 were women.
* There were 2.4 million black veterans in 2007. Additionally, 1.1 million veterans were Hispanic; 278,000 were Asian; 165,000 were American Indian or Alaska Native; 27,000 were Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and 18.7 million were non-Hispanic white.
* There were 9.3 million veterans 65 and older in 2007. At the other end of the age spectrum, 1.9 million were younger than 35.
* In 2007, the number of Vietnam-era veterans was 7.9 million. Thirty-three percent of all living veterans served during this time (1964-1975). In addition, 5 million served during the Gulf War (representing service from Aug. 2, 1990, to present); 2.9 million in World War II (1941-1945); 3 million in the Korean War (1950-1953); and 6.1 million in peacetime.
* In 2007, number of living veterans who served during both the Vietnam and Gulf War eras was 358,000.
Other living veterans in 2007 who served during two or more wars:
* 315,000 served during both the Korean and Vietnam wars.
* 69,000 served during three periods: World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
* 263,000 served during World War II and the Korean War.
* The number veterans with a disability equated to 6 million in 2007.
* Among those remembered at Veterans Day ceremonies, will be the select few who have received the nation's highest military decoration the Medal of Honor. One woman is on that list Mary Walker, cited for heroism in the Civil War by Generals William T. Sherman and George Thomas. As the first woman surgeon in the U.S. Army, she was often exposed to great danger operating, as battles raged. Walker not only tended Union troops but crossed lines to help wounded Confederates as well and, at one point, was captured and made a prisoner of war. Today in the U.S., nearly one-third of the 825,000 active medical doctors are women.
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