November 11, 2022
Context and Opinion by Tom Harris
November 11th is Veteran’s Day.
The Sentinel recognizes our community veterans, especially our local WWII veteran. According to US Department of Veterans Affairs statistics, 167,284 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II are alive in 2022. We are honored to have long time Swansboro resident, Louie Bacigalup, WWII veteran, among us. Lou served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theater of operations.
Lou and Lorraine are regular customers at Frank’s Diner. If you see him there, please thank him for his service. And also remember Mel Joyner, who we lost a few weeks ago. Mel was a career Air Force veteran and with his wife Seglinde, are long time Swansboro residents.
Did you know that many US veterans of the Korean War are still alive? It’s important that we never forget the sacrifices made by Americans during the Korean War and those who have served in Korea since the war’s end. Approximately 1.2 million Korean War veterans are still living.
How many Vietnam veterans are still alive in 2022? There were an estimated 58,318 U.S. soldier casualties alone. A total of 9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the Vietnam Ara. Of those, over 2,709,000 Americans served in Vietnam, which represents about 9.7% of the generation.
If you served in the military after 1990, there’s a good chance you served somewhere in the Middle East. The Gulf Wars involved about 750,000 troops and stretched from August, 1990, all the way up to the present. As a Gulf War veteran, we honor your sacrifice and service to our great nation.
To the many veterans of our community, thank you for your sacrifice and service.
Community Blog 