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