{"id":14220,"date":"2014-06-06T07:00:23","date_gmt":"2014-06-06T12:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/on-d-day-anniversary-only-1-million-world-war-ii-veterans-still-alive\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:21:55","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:21:55","slug":"on-d-day-anniversary-only-1-million-world-war-ii-veterans-still-alive","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/06\/06\/on-d-day-anniversary-only-1-million-world-war-ii-veterans-still-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"On D-Day anniversary, only 1 million World War II veterans still alive"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"GOP<\/a><\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/a>
U.S. WW II veteran Arden C. Earll, right, from Erie, Pennsylvania, who landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, with the 116th infantry regiment, salutes along with other WWII veterans as part of the commemoration of the 70th D-Day anniversary. Credit: AP Photo\/Remy de la Mauviniere<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n\n
\"FT_14.06.05_D-Day-anniversary\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

President Obama marks the 70th<\/sup> anniversary of the pivotal invasion of Europe at a ceremony in Normandy, France, today\u00a0to pay tribute to the 16 million Americans who served in World War II. The moment is a particularly special one, given the dwindling ranks of the \u201cgreatest generation\u201d whose members fought in that costly battle.<\/p>\n\n

Just over one million World War II veterans survive today, according to Veterans Administration figures collected by\u00a0The National WWII Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

When Ronald Reagan made his presidential pilgrimage to the battle site of Pointe du Hoc<\/a> in 1984 on the invasion\u2019s 40th<\/sup> anniversary, paying tribute<\/a> to the American Ranger team that took heavy casualties capturing a German-occupied cliff, there were still 10.7 million World War II veterans alive<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

By the next decennial anniversary, the VA estimates that their numbers<\/a> will be down to 81,117.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By the next decennial anniversary, the VA estimates that their numbers will be down to 81,117. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[203,81,100,366,98,428],"bylines":[859],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-14220","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-greatest-generation","category-military-veterans-2","category-military-veterans-1","category-military-veterans-3","category-war-international-conflict-1","category-war-international-conflict-2","bylines-bruce-drake","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":183,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/06\/06\/on-d-day-anniversary-only-1-million-world-war-ii-veterans-still-alive\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":26503,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.05_D-Day-anniversary640-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.05_D-Day-anniversary640-jpg.webp?w=564&h=300&crop=1","width":564,"height":300,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":26503,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.05_D-Day-anniversary640-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.05_D-Day-anniversary640-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":26503,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.05_D-Day-anniversary640-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.05_D-Day-anniversary640-jpg.webp?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":26503,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.05_D-Day-anniversary640-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.05_D-Day-anniversary640-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":26503,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.05_D-Day-anniversary640-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.05_D-Day-anniversary640-jpg.webp?w=640&h=300&crop=1","width":640,"height":300,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":26503,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.05_D-Day-anniversary640-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.05_D-Day-anniversary640-jpg.webp?w=640&h=300&crop=1","width":640,"height":300,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"On D-Day anniversary, only 1 million World War II veterans still alive","description":"By the next decennial anniversary, the VA estimates that their numbers will be down to 81,117.","og_title":"On D-Day anniversary, only 1 million World War II veterans still alive","og_description":"By the next decennial anniversary, the VA estimates that their numbers will be down to 81,117. 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