Veteran’s Day; November 11th. It is the day that we honor all of the men and women that have served our country. Veteran’s Day is important to me for many reasons; it is important because they have died for us, they have fought for our future, and they have given their heart and soul for our country. It makes me proud to say that I am a part of the United States of America, “land of the free and home of the brave.”

When you think of veterans, you may think of the military and it’s branches, in which there are five. The first is the Army, which is the main ground-force branch. It is one of the oldest of the military branches, dating back to when it was established in 1775 by the Continental Congress. It is also the largest branch in the US Military, with an active duty population of around 471,000 personnel.

Going from the oldest to the newest, you have the US Air Force. As you can probably tell, its name says it all. This branch protects our country by air and space. It, as I said before, is the newest of the military branches, only being established back in 1947, when the US Government decided the Army Air Corps needed to be a separate service. The US Air Force also has the third-highest active duty population at about 322,000 personnel.

Next you have the United States Navy, which is the second largest of the military branches, having around 324,000 personnel. It also takes the place of one of the oldest branches, getting established at the same time as the Army back in 1775. The Navy, as you would suspect, protects the United States in the water, primarily by transporting marines to areas of conflict and enhance Air Force air power, since the Navy can go where runways are not available.

There’s also the United States Marine Corps, which is a mixture of all of the branches. This branch strives to be self-sufficient and independent. It has its own aircrafts, including attack helicopters and bomber planes, but with this branch comes dependability. The Marine Corps does not have medics. They use specially-trained Navy medics in combat for injuries. The Marine Corps comes in fourth when it comes to personal, having an active duty population of 184,000 personnel.

The last and smallest branch is the US Coast Guard, which only has about 36,000 personnel.

Although it’s primary concerns are illegal immigration control and law enforcement, the Coast Guard can be transferred to the Department of the Navy in times of need.

As I said before, Veteran’s Day is important to me for many reasons. To be honest, though, the biggest reason is that we don’t give the military veteran’s enough credit. When we walk past them, we know what they do, but we don’t recognize them for EVERYTHING they do. At least give them a ‘Thank you’ or shake their hand.

Sources:

US Military 101