WASHINGTON, May 25, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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SUPREME SACRIFICES

Profile America — Monday, May 25th. Today is Memorial Day, looked on as the start of the summer season, and a time for family gatherings and sporting events. But the true meaning of the day is underlined by the continuing sacrifices made by U.S. forces in Afghanistan and other tense areas. The first official observance of Memorial Day was on May 30 in 1868. Ordered by General John Logan, flowers were placed on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. From the Revolutionary War through the first Gulf War, some 651,000 U.S. service personnel died in combat, a total that includes around 75,000 Confederates. Nearly half of all these deaths occurred in World War II — over 290,000. Across the U.S., there are just over 21 million veterans of the armed forces. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov. 

Sources:
Origins:  http://www1.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/history.asp 
Casualties: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004615.html 
Veterans: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_13_5YR_S2101&prodType=table

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

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