In the United States, there are over fourteen Military holidays and observances. The most familiar is Memorial Day. As a young boy, I would often ponder the meaning of this yearly celebration. For as long as I can remember, Memorial Day has been a day of grand parades, lavish fanfare, and long lines of veterans marching through the streets of my hometown. I remember some Memorial days when the Governor would join the procession, escorted by his foot guard. The happy faces of Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Little League players were all dressed in their very best uniforms. It was also the unofficial kick-off to the summer season, as families celebrated across the country with picnics and get-togethers.

As years passed and I left my home for war far away in South-East Asia, it finally occurred to me that Memorial Day was simply a number. We gather on this day to honor the 1.3 million American lives sacrificed from 1775 to this very day. Today that number is close to 1.3 million. In the backdrop of those many lives lost are the 1.3 million families that lost a family unit member. Each loss affects parents, grandparents, siblings, wives, sons, and daughters—one empty chair at the dining room table for 1.3 million American Families. Each life that is lost affects Americans for generations. 1.3 million is roughly the population of New Hampshire or the combined population of Vermont and Wyoming.

The silence jumps out if you walk through row after row of the white marble gravestones in Arlington National Cemetery. The silence gives a deeper meaning to the phrase “final resting place.” Beyond the monuments, apart from the American flag draped over the coffin and the honor guard firing a volley in salute, the real honor is always felt deep within the heart. You cannot walk the rows of marble tombstones in Arlington without feeling a sense of respect and honor. This is the true and only meaning of Memorial Day in the United States.

When you delve deeper into the facts of a conflict, you come away with an entirely new perspective. The total number of deaths from any war or conflict often has a deeper meaning that most of us never realize. For example, during our civil war, roughly 750,000 died. However, it is estimated that close to two-thirds of civil war deaths were due to sickness and disease, not combat. During World War II, our country lost 405,399 men and women, with roughly one-third dying from reasons other than combat.

In Vietnam, the total American loss was 58,220 souls, with 10,786 dying from reasons other than combat. Deaths from natural causes and accidents are included in the final number. Then additional facts go unnoticed for generations. Vietnam was a prime example of a history lost. While officially, there were over 58,000 deaths, it is estimated that 300,000 men and women from the Vietnam Conflict died prematurely from exposure to Agent Orange after they came home. They did not receive a Purple Heart for their sacrifice, nor were their families recognized as a Gold Star Family. I knew two soldiers who died an early death due to Agent Orange. I, myself, have a disability from exposure. It takes looking deep into the war statistics to understand what happened entirely.

Since 1775, our country has participated in over 80 wars, conflicts, and actions. This has resulted in over a million deaths of American servicemen and women. A new set of parameters enters the history books with each further involvement. Learning the truth of the past is the doorway to understanding the future possibilities. Here is a better frame of reference you can use when trying to understand the war of my generation: Vietnam.

I landed at Tan Son Nhut airfield in Vietnam in April of 1968. I was 18 years old. I was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division in Lai Khe, a base camp within the old French Michelin rubber plantation. I spent the next year repairing tanks and tracked vehicles, both on basecamps and out in the jungle. In October of that same year, I worked on a fire support base when a Red Cross worker told me that my son had been born a few days earlier in Milford, Connecticut. My view of the war was based on what I experienced.

The Vietnam conflict was one of those moments in history where the news media’s coverage was not as accurate as possible. My father’s generation had based its combat perspective on World War II. When those soldiers returned home, there were grand parades, G.I. benefits, and handshakes galore for a job well done. The returning Vietnam Veterans’ experience was quite different. It was a time of great confusion and division across our country. There were no parades. The G.I. benefits were considerably less than those during World War II, and there was no sense of “a job well done.”

Most Vietnam Vets returned quietly to their hometowns by train, bus, or plane. There may have been the occasional “Welcome Home” sign on the front of the house, but that was it. It soon became apparent that discussing the war was not something friends and family wanted to do. Our country was divided, and our families and friends were unsure how to react to the returning veteran. Indifference was the veterans’ measuring stick. Some returning veterans were even booed and spat upon.

An accurate perspective on the Vietnam conflict should include that 75% of those stationed in-country had volunteered to be there. Only 15 to 20 percent of the service personnel spent their time in actual combat situations fighting in the jungle. There might be as many as eight other men and women supporting their efforts behind the lines for each combat soldier out in the field. They supplied ammunition, food, medical support, transportation, equipment repair, administrative support, graves registration, and support services for base camps for each combat soldier. Everyone in Vietnam was subject to rocket attacks, land mines, and ambushes along the many dirt roads connecting the base camps. No one was safe in Vietnam.

The most common military personnel in Vietnam were mechanics. The second largest group was science, engineering, and information technology specialists.

The materials and manpower brought to bear in Vietnam were enormous. In total, 2.7 million men and women served during the ten long years of the Vietnam conflict. There were over 200 base camps in Vietnam, and most had an airfield. The Long Binh supply depot near Saigon had 3,500 buildings alone. In contrast, when the allies landed on D-Day, there were a little over 160,000 troops landing in Normandy. The year I was in Vietnam, over 500,000 servicemen and women with boots on the ground.

All wars are different, and most usher in a new paradigm of machines used to kill the enemy. The only true constant in combat is the many deaths of those who serve their country. Today we honor 1.3 million individuals who lost their lives for our nation.

Jamie Boss