Taking Time Out to Honor America's Nearly 20 Million Veterans

Today marks Veterans Day in the United States, a holiday originally known as Armistice Day and declared by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919. Originally established to commemorate the end of the First World War, it became Veterans Day in 1954.

The chart below provides some fast facts about America's nearly 20 million veterans. In 2010, there were 21.8 million veterans in the United States and this decreased to 19.3 million in 2014. 998,377 Second World War veterans were still alive in 2014, along with 36,386 who each served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined.