May 29, 2016
Morning Service

Monday, May 30, we celebrate Memorial Day.

This is a day when we honor our military and our fallen heroes—brave men and women who fought and died so readers of this essay can enjoy the freedom we all too often take for granted.

More than 1.1 million Americans have died in our nation’s wars.  Roughly 620,000 died in the Civil War—the deadliest war in our history.

In World War I:                         116,516 Americans died, more than half from disease

World War II:                            405,399 Americans died

Korean War:                             36,574 Americans died

Vietnam Conflict:                      58,220 Americans died.  More than 47,000 Americans were killed in action and 11,000 died of other causes.

Operation Desert Shield/

Desert Storm:                           148 U.S. battle deaths and 145 non-battle deaths

Operation Iraqi Freedom:          4,422 U.S. service members died

Operation New Dawn:               66 U.S. service members died

Operating Enduring Freedom:   2,318 U.S. service members have died as of May 2, 2014

Right now the U.S. has 1,473,900 men and women on active duty.  More than 10,000 are in Afghanistan and Iraq.  It is worth noting where others are deployed:

 Japan: ---------------------- 52,060

Germany:------------------- 36,691

South Korea:--------------- 24,899

Kuwait:--------------------- 15,000

Italy:------------------------- 11,799

United Kingdom:------------ 8,920

Guam:------------------------ 5,666

Bahrain:--------------------- 3,419

Spain:------------------------ 2,503

Turkey:----------------------- 1,581

Belgium:--------------------- 1,210

Cuba:--------------------------- 668

Qatar:--------------------------- 593

British Indian Ocean Terr:-- 488

Portugal:------------------------ 457

Honduras:---------------------- 395

United Arab Emirates:------- 391

Greece:------------------------- 373

Netherlands:------------------- 362

Saudi Arabia:------------------ 315

Thailand:----------------------- 304

Syria:--------------------------- 300

Egypt:--------------------------- 250

South Africa:------------------ 236

Singapore:---------------------- 189

Australia:---------------------- 175

Puerto Rico:-------------------- 152

Greenland:--------------------- 145

Canada:------------------------ 133

So while you are enjoying the holiday weekend, take a moment to thank these men and women for the sacrifices they are making.

On this Memorial Day weekend more than 32 million Americans will be traveling.  The average price of unleaded gas is way down.  Across America we will be consuming more than 800 hot dogs a second.  The top choice for grilling will be burgers (85 percent.)  The largest parade will take place in Washington, D.C., with more than 250,000 watching.  The smallest parade will likely be in Fox Pointe, Wisconsin, where in 2013 a dozen boy scouts of Troop 391 and their scoutmasters marched. In 1966, Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, N.Y., the “birthplace” of Memorial Day.

Permit us to wish you a great weekend.  But let us never forget the courageous men and women who have served and sacrificed so much in past wars so we could enjoy this holiday, just as we honor those who stand duty today to keep us safe.