Veterans

From AI Gemini:

As of 2026, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) projects that approximately 30,600 to 31,000 American World War II veterans remain alive. Out of the roughly 16.4 million Americans who served in the armed forces during WWII, less than 0.2% are still living today.

Because the youngest surviving veterans are now in their late 90s and many are past 100, the population is declining by roughly 40 veterans each day.

Worldwide context: Exact global totals are harder to track due to varying record-keeping across nations, but demographers estimate the total worldwide surviving population (including veterans from Allied and Axis nations) is around 50,000 to 70,000. Projections: VA models project the U.S. count will fall below 10,000 by 2029 and under 1,000 by 2034.