US Military Personnel (1939-1945)



Year Army Navy Marines Coast Guard Total 1939 189,839 125,202 19,432 334,473 1940 269,023 160,997 28,345 458,365 1941 1,462,315 284,427 54,359 1,801,101 1942 3,075,608 640,570 142,613 56,716* 3,915,507 1943 6,994,472 1,741,750 308,523 151,167 9,195,912 1944 7,994,750 2,981,365 475,604 171,749 11,623,468 1945 8,267,958 3,380,817 474,680 85,783 12,209,238

*Coast Guard listed only as wartime strength

Profile of US Servicemen (1941-1945)

38.8% (6,332,000) of U.S. servicemen and all servicewomen were volunteers

61.2% (11,535,000) were draftees

Average duration of service: 33 months

Overseas service: 73% served overseas, with an average of 16 months abroad

Combat survivability (out of 1,000): 8.6 were killed in action, 3 died from other causes, and 17.7 received non-fatal combat wounds

Non-combat jobs: 38.8% of enlisted personnel had rear echelon assignments—administrative, support, or manual labor.

Average base pay: enlisted—$71.33 per month; officer—$203.50 per month

Minority Participation in the Military



African American 901,896 Puerto Rican 51,438* Japanese American 33,000 American Indian 20,000 Chinese American 13,311 Filipino American 11,506 Hawaiian 1,320

*Full Latino numbers are not known because Latinos, other than Puerto Ricans, did not serve in segregated units, like African Americans.

Women in the US Military

Women's Army Corps (WAC) 150,000 Navy’s Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES) 100,000 Coast Guard Women’s Reserves (SPARS) 10,000 Marine Corps Women’s Reserve 23,000 Army Nurse Corps 60,000 Navy Nurse Corps 14,000 Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) 1,074

US Military Casualties in World War II



Branch Killed Wounded Army and Air Force 318,274 565,861 Navy 62,614 37,778 Marines 24,511 68,207 Coast Guard 1,917 Unknown TOTAL 407,316 671,278

Merchant Marine Casualties

