The Memorial
Conflicts
"Archidamus
gave a great defeat to the Arcadians, in the fight known by the name of
the Tearless Battle, in which there was a great slaughter of the enemy
without the loss of one Spartan . . . The old men and the women marched
out as far as the river Eurotas, lifting up their hands, and thanking
the gods that Sparta was now cleared again of the disgrace and indignity
that had befallen her, and once more saw the light of day."
-- Plutarch
As of this writing (March 2008) the United States had just turned 231 years of age. It has not been a peaceful two and one-third centuries. Prior to the Revolutionary War, from 1622-1774, a period of 152 years, there were no fewer than nine wars between the European colonists and various Indian tribes. These wars were mostly along the eastern seaboard but also occurred in the Ohio Valley and in Arizona - New Mexico. In addition to the Indians the combatants included the British, French, and the Spanish.
While savage and bloody, good records were not kept and attempting to establish a casualty count would be sheer speculation.
UNITED STATES MILITARY CONFLICTS
The Early Years
|
Primary
Name
|
Dates
(U.S.
Only)
|
Approximate
Length
|
Type
|
Primary
Opponent(s)
|
|
American
Revolution
|
1775-1783
|
8
years
|
Revolution
|
Great
Britain
|
|
The
Indian Wars
|
1775-1890
|
115
years (Sporatic)
|
Wars
of Conquest
|
Native
Tribes/Nations
|
|
Shay’s
Rebellion
|
1786-1787
|
1
year
|
Rebellion
Against Mass.
|
Anti-state
Rebels
|
|
The
Whiskey Rebellion
|
1794
|
Less
than 1 year
|
Rebellion
Against Penn.
|
Anti-state-tax
Rebels
|
|
Quasi-War
w/ France
|
1798-1800
|
2
years
|
Inter-state
Naval War
|
France
|
|
Fries’s
Rebellion
|
1799
|
Less
than 1 year
|
Rebellion
in Pennsylvania
|
Anti-tax
Rebels
|
|
The
Barbary Wars
|
1800-1815
|
15
years
|
Inter-State
War
|
The
Barbary States
(Tripoli, Algiers & Morocco) |
|
The
War of 1812
|
1812-1815
|
3
years
|
Inter-State
War
|
Great
Britain
|
The Growing Years
|
Primary
Name
|
Dates
(U.S.
Only)
|
Approximate
Length
|
Type
|
Primary
Opponent(s)
|
|
Mexican
– American War
|
1846-1848
|
3
years
|
Inter-State
|
Mexico
|
|
U.S.
Slave Rebellion
|
1800-1865
|
65
years
Sporatic |
Slave
Rebellions
|
Various
Slave Groups
|
|
“Bleeding
Kansas”
|
1855-1860
|
5
years
|
Civil
War (Kansas)
|
Pro
v Anti-Slave Kansans
|
|
Brown’s
Raid - Harper’s Ferry
|
1859
|
1
day
|
Rebellion
|
Anti-Slave
Rebels
|
|
U.S.
Civil War
|
1861-1865
|
4
years
|
Civil
War
|
United
v Confederate States
|
The Expansionist Years
|
Primary
Name
|
Dates
(U.S.
Only)
|
Approximate
Length
|
Type
|
Primary
Opponent(s)
|
|
U.S.
Intervention in Hawaiian Revolution
|
1893
|
Under
1 year
|
Internal
Rebellion & Foreign Intervention
|
Hawaiian
Government
|
|
Spanish
– American War
|
1898
|
Under
1 year
|
Inter-State
War
|
Spain
|
|
U.S.
Intervention in Samoan Civil War
|
1898-1899
|
1
year
|
Civil
War & Foreign Intervention
|
Samoan
Faction
|
|
U.S.
– Philippine War
|
1899-1902
|
3
years
|
Colonial
War
|
The
Philippines
|
|
Boxer
Rebellion
|
1900
|
Under
1 year
|
Internal
Rebellion & Foreign Intervention
|
Chinese
Government & “Boxer” Rebels
|
|
The
Moro Wars
|
1901-1913
|
12
years
|
Colonial
Wars
|
Philippine
Muslim Rebels
|
|
U.S.
Intervention in Panamanian Revolution
|
1903
|
Under
1 year
|
Secessionist
Revolution & Foreign Intervention
|
Columbia
|
|
The
Banana Wars
|
1909-1933
|
23
years
|
Civil
Wars & Foreign Intervention
|
Various
Rebel Groups in Central America
|
The Global Years
|
Primary
Name |
Dates
(U.S. Only) |
Approximate
Length |
Type
|
Primary
Opponent(s) |
|
U.S.
Occupation of Vera Cruz
|
1914
|
Under
1 year
|
Inter-State
War
|
Mexico
|
|
Pershing’s
Raid Into Mexico
|
1916-1917
|
1
year
|
Inter-State,
Border War
|
Mexican
Gov’t. & Mexican Rebels (Bandits)
|
|
World
War I
|
1917-1918
|
1
1/3 years
|
Inter-State
War
|
Germany
& Its Allies
|
|
Allied
Intervention in Russian Civil War
|
1919-1921
|
2
years
|
Civil
War & Foreign Intervention
|
Russian
Bolshevik (Soviet) Government
|
|
World
War II
|
1941-1945
|
3
2/3 years
|
Inter-State
War
|
Germany,
Japan, Italy & their Allies
|
|
The
Cold War
|
1945-1991
|
47
years
|
Global
Inter-State Cold War
|
The
U.S.S.R. & Communist China
|
|
The
Korean War
|
1950-1953
|
3
years
|
Inter-State
War
|
North
Korea & Communist China
|
|
The
Vietnam War
|
1956-1975
|
21
years
|
Civil
War, Inter-State War
|
North
Viet Nam & South Viet Nam Rebels (Viet Cong)
|
|
U.S.
Intervention in Lebanon
|
1958
|
Under
1 year
|
Civil
War & Foreign Intervention
|
U.S.
Support of Lebanese Government
|
|
Dominican
Intervention
|
1965
|
Under
1 year
|
Civil
War & Foreign Intervention
|
Dominican
Republic Rebels
|
|
Mayaguez
Rescue Operation
|
15-May-75
|
1
day
|
Hostage
Rescue & Inter-State Conflict
|
Khmer
Rouge Guerrillas (new Cambodian Government)
|
|
Iranian
Hostage Crisis & Rescue Attempt: Desert One or Operation Eagle Claw
|
25-Apr-80
|
1
day
|
Hostage
Rescue & Inter-State Conflict
|
Iran
|
|
U.S.
Libya Conflict
|
1981
& 1986
|
Under
1 year
|
Inter-State
War
|
Libya
|
|
U.S.
Intervention in Lebanon
|
1982-1984
|
2
years
|
Civil
War, Foreign Intervention, & Inter-State War
|
Syria
& Various Muslim and Leftist Lebanese Rebels
|
|
U.S.
Invasion of Grenada
|
1983
|
|
Inter-State
War
|
Marxist
Grenadian Faction & Cuba
|
|
The
Tanker War – “Operation Earnest Will”
|
1987-1988
|
1
year
|
Inter-State
War
|
Iran
|
|
U.S.
Invasion of Panama
|
1989
|
Under
1 year
|
Inter-State
War
|
Panama
|
|
Persian
Gulf War-“Operation Desert Storm’
|
1991
|
Under
1 year
|
Inter-State
War
|
Iraq
|
|
“No-Fly
Zone” War
|
1991-2003
|
12
years
|
Inter-State
War
|
Iraq
|
|
U.S.
Intervention in Somalia
|
1992-1994
|
Under
2 years
|
Civil
War & Foreign Intervention
|
Various
Somali Militias
|
|
NATO
Intervention in Bosnia – “Operation Deliberate Force”
|
1994-1995
|
1
year
|
Civil
War, Foreign Intervention, & Inter-State War
|
Bosnian-Serb
Rebels
|
|
U.S.
Occupation of Haiti
|
1994
|
Under
1 year
|
Foreign
Intervention
|
Haitian
Government
|
|
U.S.Embassy
bombings & strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan (The bin Laden War)
|
August,
1998
|
1
month
|
Terrorist
Conflict
|
al-Qaida
bombings in Kenya & Tanzania. Retaliation in Afghanistan & Sudan.
|
|
Operation
Desert Fox
|
Dec-98
|
1
month
|
Inter-State
War
|
Irag
|
|
Kosovo
War
|
1999
|
Under
1 year
|
Civil
War, Foreign Intervention, & Inter-State War.
|
Yugoslavia/
Serbia
|
|
Attack
on U.S.S. Cole
|
12-Oct-00
|
1
day
|
Terrorist
Conflict
|
al-Qaida
(Osama bin Laden)
|
|
Attack
on World Trade Center & Pentagon
|
11-Sep-01
|
1
day
|
Terrorist
Conflict
|
al-Qaida
(Osama bin Laden)
|
|
Afghanistan
War (Operation Enduring Freedom)
|
7
October 2001 to Present
|
Nearly
six years to date
|
War
against radical Muslims
|
al-Qaida
(Osama bin Laden) & The Taliban
|
|
Third
Persian Gulf War (Operation Iraqi Freedom)
|
19
March 2003 to Present
|
Nearly
4 1/2 years to date.
|
Inter-State
War
|
Iraq
|
|
Intervention
in Haiti
|
Mar-04
|
1
month
|
Foreign
Intervention in a Civil Conflict
|
Haiti
|
|
Intervention
in Somali Civil War
|
December
2006-January 2007
|
Under
2 months
|
Foreign
Intervention in a Civil Conflict
|
The
Islamic Courts Union &
al-Qaida |
Definition of a Veteran
A veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America', for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'
That is Honor, and
there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand
it.
-- Author Unknown
*
The United States
military has been in a conflict or war, or cold war, for almost the entire
history of the Republic. Thank the veteran for getting us through thus
far.
