As of 2021, there were over 200,000 living United States veterans who served in the Second World War. The Department of Veteran Affairs projects that the number of living veterans will decline rapidly in the fifteen years until 2036, at which point just a few hundred Americans who served in the war will be still alive. The passing of the "Greatest Generation" is seen as symbolic by some, as for many people they represented the era when the United States' power on the world stage was at its greatest. The Second World war is particularly remembered as a "just" war in the U.S., as the United States was seen as fighting for democracy and self-determination, and against the tyrannies of Fascism, Nazism, and Japanese Imperialism.
The United States' involvement in the Second World War
World War II marked the peak in military enlistments in U.S. history, with over 16 million service members serving worldwide during the conflict. The U.S. joined the war in 1941 due to Imperial Japan's attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, before joining the European theater of the war in 1944 during the Invasion of Normandy. The U.S. military played a vital role in the defeat of Nazi Germany on the Western Front in May 1945, while the Soviet Red Army defeated the Wehrmacht in the East. The U.S. was also vital in the defeat of Fascist Italy, as they had led an allied invasion force onto the Italian peninsula from Northern Africa in September 1943. The final action of the war took place in the Asian theater of war, as Imperial Japan was the last of the Axis powers to concede defeat to the Allies. The United States effectively ended the war with the dropping of two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, leading to as many as a quarter of a million deaths. It remains to this day the sole use of atomic weapons in an active conflict.
Annual projected number of living WWII United States military veterans from 2021 until 2036
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US Department of Veterans Affairs. (May 1, 2021). Annual projected number of living WWII United States military veterans from 2021 until 2036 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved October 11, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1333701/us-military-ww2-veterans-living-estimate/
US Department of Veterans Affairs. "Annual projected number of living WWII United States military veterans from 2021 until 2036." Chart. May 1, 2021. Statista. Accessed October 11, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1333701/us-military-ww2-veterans-living-estimate/
US Department of Veterans Affairs. (2021). Annual projected number of living WWII United States military veterans from 2021 until 2036. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: October 11, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1333701/us-military-ww2-veterans-living-estimate/
US Department of Veterans Affairs. "Annual Projected Number of Living Wwii United States Military Veterans from 2021 until 2036." Statista, Statista Inc., 1 May 2021, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1333701/us-military-ww2-veterans-living-estimate/
US Department of Veterans Affairs, Annual projected number of living WWII United States military veterans from 2021 until 2036 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1333701/us-military-ww2-veterans-living-estimate/ (last visited October 11, 2024)
Annual projected number of living WWII United States military veterans from 2021 until 2036 [Graph], US Department of Veterans Affairs, May 1, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1333701/us-military-ww2-veterans-living-estimate/