Veterans Day 2024 Is Monday–How Many Vets Does Illinois Have?

This coming Monday is Veterans Day 2024, which we observe each year on November 11th, honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. observation coincides with other holidays including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day which are celebrated in other countries.

For those who didn't know, November 11th was chosen because the fighting in World War I formally came to a close at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the armistice with Germany was officially recognized.

I think that most of us agree that all veterans deserve honor and respect regardless of how many there are, so just how many Illinois residents will we be honoring this coming Monday on Veterans Day 2024?

If You Want To Shake The Hand Of Every Man And Woman Veteran In The United States, You'll Be Extending That Handshake To About 18 Million Americans, Or 7 Percent Of The Adult Population

But I'm sure you're busy, and to do that would require a lot of state-to-state travel, so maybe instead of shaking hands with every vet in America, we should limit it to only Illinois veterans. How many do think that would be?

According to VeteransData.info:

In Illinois, 537,552 residents, or 5.4% of the 18 and older population, are military veterans -- the sixth smallest share among all the states. Of all veterans in Illinois, 18.4% served after September 11th 2001, 18.7% served during the Gulf War, 35.9% served during the Vietnam War era, 7.2% served in Korea, and 2.9% are veterans of WWII. 23.9% of veterans served between conflicts.

Illinois War Veterans By The Numbers

World War I: There are no more WWI veterans living in Illinois, or anywhere else in the world. The last officially recognized WWI veteran, Florence Green, died in 2012 at the age of 110. The last living combatant of WWI, Claude Choules, died in 2011 also at the age of 110.

World War II: As of January 1st of this year, there were 2,531 WWII veterans living in Illinois, according to the National World War II Museum. Nationally, there are about 150,000 WWII vets still alive.

Korean War: As of January 1st, Illinois was home to 38,703 veterans of the Korean Conflict.

Vietnam: As of January 1st, there were 192,981 Vietnam veterans living in Illinois. During the course of the Vietnam war, nearly 3000 (2,970) Illinois military members were killed in action.

Gulf War: As of January 1st, there were 100,522 Gulf War veterans living in Illinois

The War On Terror/Iraq-Afghanistan: As an ongoing conflict, there aren't final numbers on veterans of the conflict, but Illinois has seen roughly 280 servicemen and women killed in action.