National WWII Museum says 131 WWII veterans die each day (2024)

FAQs

National WWII Museum says 131 WWII veterans die each day? ›

How many WW2 veterans are still alive as of 2023? As of the start of 2024, it was reported that 119,550 American World War Two veterans were still alive, out of over 16 million participants — or well below 1% of the original population — with 131 veterans dying daily.

131 World War II vets die each day, on average; here is how their stories are being preserved.

Every day, memories of World War II are disappearing from living history. The men and women who fought and won this great conflict are now in their 90s or older; according to US Department of Veterans Affairs statistics, 119,550 of the 16.4 million Americans who served in World War II are alive as of 2023.

Founded in 2000, it was later designated by the U.S. Congress as America's official National WWII Museum in 2004. The museum is a Smithsonian Institution affiliated museum, as part of the Smithsonian Institution's outreach program.

Ilie Ciocan (born 28 May 1913) of Romania is the current oldest living world war II veteran in the world. He became the oldest known living veteran world war II veteran following the death of 111-year-old Tsuneji Oyama of Japan on 30 January 2024.

The median age of veterans today is 65 years. By service period, Post-9/11 veterans are the youngest with a median age of about 37, Vietnam Era veterans have a median age of about 71, and World War II veterans are the oldest with a median age of about 93.

Approximately 16 million Americans wore the uniform in WWII, and 290,000 died in combat. So, just under 2%. Another 115,000 died non-combat deaths, so now you're up to 4%. The odds change, of course, depending on where - or if - you saw combat.

Less than 1% of the 16.4 million Americans who served in the armed forces during World War II were still alive at the end of last year, and 131 are dying every day, according to estimates from the U.S. Veterans Administration.

USD18 - USD28 ⋅ nationalww2museum.org

The National WWII Museum / Tickets

We had opportunity to visit the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, LA last week. Excellent museum with many interesting displays, and the staff are fantastic! Our visit was very well worth the time. Highly recommended if you are in the NOLA area.

What do you call a soldier that died in war? ›

Battle Casualty (BC): Any person lost to his organization because of death, wound, missing, capture, or internment providing such loss is incurred in action.

The branch of the military with the highest percentage of deaths during war historically has been the Army. This is primarily due to their significant role in ground combat and operations, often placing them directly in harm's way.

However, the comparison was not adjusted for age and sex. According to a report published by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in 2016, which analyzed 55 million veterans' records from 1979 to 2014, the current analysis indicates that an average of 20 veterans die from suicide per day.