|
Veterans and Dependents
on the
Compensation and Pension Rolls as of
September, 2007
| |
VETERANS |
CHILDREN |
PARENTS |
SURVIVING SPOUSES |
|
Civil War |
- |
3 |
- |
- |
|
Indian Wars |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Spanish-American War |
- |
108 |
- |
108 |
|
Mexican Border |
- |
15 |
- |
62 |
|
World War I |
|
3,500 |
- |
6,059 |
|
World War II |
396,944 |
15,006 |
167 |
225,908 |
|
Korean Conflict |
223,499 |
3,278 |
335 |
60,885 |
|
Vietnam Era |
1,141,946 |
9,227 |
3,252 |
158,127 |
|
Gulf War (1) |
802,381 |
13,189 |
859 |
14,471 |
| |
|
Nonservice-connected |
322,875 |
19,176 |
- |
180,664 |
|
Service-connected |
2,844,354 |
28,176 |
6,133 |
317,385 |
(1) For compensation and pension
purposes, the Persian Gulf War period has not yet been terminated and includes veterans of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.
(2007)
Sources: All figures are the latest compiled statistics and data filed September 2007: Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Advance to:
Recommended Viewing:
America at War Megaset (History Channel) (Number of discs:
14) (Run Time: 1948 minutes). Description: From the first musket shots at Lexington and Concord
to the precision-guided munitions in modern-day Baghdad. America's history has been forged in the heat of battle. AMERICA AT WAR presents twenty-five documentaries from THE HISTORY CHANNEL charting
U.S. military conflict over two centuries.
This "fourteen disc set" explores key moments of the American Revolution, the Alamo, Mexican American War, the Civil War,
Spanish American War, World Wars I and II as well as the conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and Iraq.
The chronological
collection draws upon the expertise of noted historians, military authorities, engineers, and war correspondents to convey
the personal side of conflict not often found in history books. A trove of archival footage and documents brings viewers closer
than ever to the heated heart of combat. This is truly a one-of-a-kind collector's
set!
Recommended
Viewing: The
History Channel - The Battle History of the United States Military (2005) (Number of discs: 5) (766 minutes).
Description: A mighty compendium of America’s five major military
branches--Marines, Navy, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard--THE BATTLE HISTORY OF THE
UNITED STATES MILITARY trumpets the myriad strengths of one of the world’s greatest military powers. Plunge
headlong into the great battles fought on land, sea, and air. Marvel at the arc of musket to missile. Meet the key figures
and lesser-known heroes who have shaped the organization, the strategy, and the future of the United States armed forces. Encompassing over two centuries of courage and conquest,
THE BATTLE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY marches through America’s military development from its earliest Coast
Guard days to the technological wonders of the Gulf War. Continued below...
With official
government documents, extensive combat footage, and commentary by historians and decorated veterans, THE BATTLE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY is a full-scale, full-dress salute to the men and women
who give and have given to America’s fight for freedom. DVD Features: Downloadable
Historical Documents; Branch Heraldries; Bonus Film: "Pageantry of the Corps"; Interactive Menus; Scene Selection.
Recommended
Viewing: The
World at War (30th Anniversary Edition) (1357 minutes)
(A&E). Description: Sir Jeremy Isaacs highly deserves the numerous awards for documentaries
he has earned: the Royal Television Society's Desmond Davis Award, l'Ordre National du Mérit, an Emmy, and a knighthood from
Queen Elizabeth II. His epic The World at War remains unsurpassed as the definitive visual history of World War II.
Continued below...
The Second World War was different from other wars in thousands of ways,
one of which was the unparalleled scope of visual documents kept by the Axis and Allies of all their activities. As a result,
this war is understood as much through written histories as it is through its powerful images. The Nazis were particularly
thorough in documenting even the most abhorrent of the atrocities they were committing--in a surprising amount of color footage.
The World at War was one of the first television documentaries that exploited these resources so completely, giving viewers
an unbelievable visual guide to the greatest event in the 20th century. This is to say nothing of the excellent, comprehensible
narrative. Some highlights:
• A New Germany 1933-39: early German and Nazi documentation
of Hitler's rise to power through the impending attack on Poland
• Whirlwind: the early British losses in the
blitz in the skies over Britain and in North Africa
• Stalingrad: the turning point of the war and Germany's first defeat
• Inside the Reich--Germany
1940-44: one of the most fascinating documentaries that exists on life inside Nazi Germany, from Lebensborn to the Hitler
Youth
• Morning: prior to Saving Private Ryan, one of the only unromanticized views of the Normandy invasion
• Genocide: this film is one of the most widely shown introductions to the Holocaust
• Japan
1941-45: although The World at War is decidedly focused more on the European theater, this is an important look into wartime
Japan and its expansion--early 20th-century history that lead to Japan's role in World War II is superficial
• The
bomb: another widely shown documentary of the Manhattan Project, the Enola Gay, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki
The World at War will remain the definitive visual history of World War II, analogous to Gibbon's Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire. No serious historian should be missing The World at War in a collection, and no student should leave school
without having seen at least some of its salient episodes. Rarely is film so essential. --Erik J. Macki
Recommended Viewing: The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns. Review: The
Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns is the most successful public-television miniseries in American history. The 11-hour Civil War didn't just captivate a nation,
reteaching to us our history in narrative terms; it actually also invented a new film language taken from its creator. When
people describe documentaries using the "Ken Burns approach," its style is understood: voice-over narrators reading letters
and documents dramatically and stating the writer's name at their conclusion, fresh live footage of places juxtaposed with
still images (photographs, paintings, maps, prints), anecdotal interviews, and romantic musical scores taken from the era
he depicts. Continued below...
The Civil War uses all of these devices to evoke atmosphere and resurrect an event that many knew
only from stale history books. While Burns is a historian, a researcher, and a documentarian, he's above all a gifted storyteller,
and it's his narrative powers that give this chronicle its beauty, overwhelming emotion, and devastating horror. Using the
words of old letters, eloquently read by a variety of celebrities, the stories of historians like Shelby Foote and rare, stained
photos, Burns allows us not only to relearn and finally understand our history, but also to feel and experience it. "Hailed
as a film masterpiece and landmark in historical storytelling." "[S]hould be a requirement for every
student."
Recommended Viewing:
Gone with the Wind (Four-Disc Collector's Edition)
1939 (1941) Description: First off, if you're a GWTW fanatic, you must buy this four-disc collection. But then again, you
probably don't need to read this to make that decision. For the rest of us, know that the kitchen-sink approach has been established
here with two full discs of extras. Continued below…
The film's restoration under Warner's
brilliant Ultra-Resolution process is the major contribution to the set. However, the bare-bones version released years ago
isn't bad and the film still doesn't pop off the screen as do films from the headier days of Technicolor (like the earlier
Ultra-Resolution DVD release of Meet Me in St. Louis). That said, the set is worthy of the most popular movie ever made. Rudy
Behlmer's feature-length commentary is dry but an exhaustive reference guide to the entire history of the film. Need more?
There's the excellent full-length documentary The Making of a Legend (1989) narrated by Christopher Plummer, plus two hour-long
older biographies on the two main stars. There are many new vignettes on the rest of the cast, all narrated by Plummer (a
nice touch to tie everything together). The new 30-minute interview/reminisce with Oliva de Havilland will be interesting
to older fans, but tiresome for the younger set. The usual sort of trailers and premiere footage is here along with a curious
short ("The Old South," directed by Fred Zinnemann) that was produced to help introduce the world to the history of the South.
--Doug Thomas
Recommended Reading: The
Civil War Battlefield Guide: The Definitive Guide, Completely Revised, with New Maps and More Than 300 Additional Battles
(Second Edition) (Hardcover). Description: This new edition of the definitive
guide to Civil War battlefields is really a completely new book. While the first edition covered 60 major battlefields, from
Fort Sumter to Appomattox, the second covers all of the 384 designated as the "principal battlefields" in the
American Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report. Continued below...
As in the first edition, the essays are authoritative and concise, written by such leading Civil War historians
as James M. McPherson, Stephen W. Sears, Edwin C. Bearss, James I. Robinson, Jr., and Gary W. Gallager. The second edition
also features 83 new four-color maps covering the most important battles. The Civil War Battlefield Guide is an essential
reference for anyone interested in the Civil War. "Reading this book is like being at the bloodiest battles of the
war..."
|
