Facts and Statistics

Military Service
"Never in our country's history have so few been asked to do so much"
- John Freudenberg, Government and Military Affairs Liaison
  • 2.77 million have served in our wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Syria
  •  1.3 million are current active-duty military service members
  • 826,000 are National Guard and Reserve service members
  • 17% of today's military are women
  • 7,000 service members have died in our post-9/11 wars
  • 54,000 have suffered physical wounds
  • 325,000 have suffered a traumatic brain injury
  • 970,000 veterans have an officially recognized war-related disability
  • 15-20% of veterans have a diagnosis of PTSD
  • 57,849 veterans are homeless on any given night
  • 20 veterans die by suicide every day
Military Families and Children
"Our nation did not anticipate such protracted conflicts. We owe it to military families and children to better understand and address the challenges they are facing today"
- Mary Scott, Past Chair, National Military Family Association
  • 55% of today's military is married
  • 43% of today's military has children
  • 84,000 are dual military couples
  • 36,000 are dual military couples with children
  • 1 million spouses, children, and other family members are caregivers to post-9/11 veterans
  • 37% of military spouses have one or more mental health diagnoses due to multiple and prolonged deployment of a partner
  • 2.7 million children have parents who served in post-9/11 wars:
    • 50% of military children are under the age of 5
    • 73% are under 12
    • 24% are 12-18
    • 7% are 19-22
  • A military child will change schools 6 to 9 times 
  • 4,000 children have had a parent die in our post-9/11 wars
  • 2/3 of children whose parent deployed report that stress of deployment caused emotional and behavioral issues

Recommended Reading

Books:

Deployment and Combat Experience in our Post 9/11 Wars:
 
1. Places and Names
by Elliott Ackerman (2019)
Marine Corps Veteran, Iraq and Afghanistan. A National Book Award Finalist
 
2. The Fighters
by C.J. Chivers  (2018)
Marine Corps Veteran. Journalist, A Pulitzer Prize Winning Author
 
3. A Hard and Heavy Thing
by Matthew Hefti  (2016)
Air Force Veteran, Iraq and Afghanistan. A 2016 Great Group Reads Selection
 
4. Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield
by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon (2015)
Journalist, New York Times Bestseller
 
5. The Forever Wars
by Dexter Filkins (2008)
Journalist, a Pulitzer Prize Winning Author, George Polk Award
 
6. Afghan Post
by Adrian Bonenberger (2014)
Army Veteran, Afghanistan, Journalist
 
7. War
by Sebastian Junger (2010)
Journalist, Filmmaker, Peabody Award, Academy Award Nominee
 
8. The Good Soldier
by David Finkel (2009)
Journalist, ALA Alex Award, a Pulitzer Prize Winning author
 
9. The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier’s Education
by Craig Mullaney (2009)
Army Veteran, Afghanistan.
 
 
 Homecoming, Reintegration, and the Impacts of War on Military Families:
 
1. Homefront 911: How Families of Veterans Are Wounded By Our Wars
by Stacey Bannerman (2015) 
Military spouse, Creator and Director of Homefront 911: Military Family Monologues
 
2. Redeployment
by Phil Klay (2014)
Marine Corps Veteran, Iraq. National Book Award for Fiction and National Book Critics Circle's Award
 
3. Thank You For Your Service
by David Finkel (2013)
Journalist, National Book Critics Circle Award
 
4. The Long Walk: The Story of War and The Life That Follows
by Brian Castner (2012)
Air Force Veteran, Iraq, New York Times Editor’s Pick, An Amazon Best Book of 2012
 
5. When The War Came Home
by Andrea Carlile (2012)
Military Spouse and Mother, Speaker on PTSD and families in crisis


Articles:
1. Letters from the Children of Fallen Service Members to the Parents They Lost, by Mitty Mirrer
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/25/magazine/memorial-day-letters.html
(About Gold Star Children, how they cope and honor their parents)
 
2. I Couldn’t Be the Only One Having This Experience, by Brian MacQuarrie
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/02/22/couldn-only-one-having-this-experience/Mx8wUfUEVV2RaSgvPsQ9eM/story.html
(About surviving the suicide of her veteran husband and the unique program provided to military spouses of suicide at the Home Base clinic in Boston)
 
3. Finding Some Peace After War, by Dave Phillips
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/us/finding-some-peace-after-war.html
(About soldiers whose lives were changed by combat, the difficulties of reintegrating into civilian life, and finding serenity in nature)
 
4. What Civilians Can Do To Support Military Members: Tips for welcoming back returning veterans, by Jamie Howard, PhD
https://childmind.org/article/what-civilians-can-do-to-support-military-members
 
5. Military Families: Coping With War, by Suzannah Creech, PhD
https://childmind.org/blog/military-families-coping-with-war
 
6. Military Caregivers Kids Are Hidden Heroes
https://www.militaryfamily.org/military-caregiver-kids-are-hidden-heroes
 
7. At War, A dedicated forum for exploring the experience and costs of war
https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/atwar