Facts: U.S. had 22M male and 1.7M female veterans in 2006

The six states with 1 million or more veterans in 2006 were California, Florida, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Out of all veterans age 25 and older in 2006, an estimated 25 percent had at least a bachelor's degree while about 90 percent had a high school diploma or higher. About 17.4 million veterans voted in the 2004 presidential election.

The number of veterans age 18 to 64 who were in the labor force in '06 was 11.1 million. The average median income for all veterans last year was $34,437 and slightly less than 6 percent of all vets were considered to be living in poverty, according to the 2006 American Community Survey.

Vets with disabilities totaled 6.1 million last year, with 3.5 million of those 65 and older. About 2.7 million vets received compensation totaling $26.6 billion for "service-connected' disabilities that occurred as of 2006. In the last fiscal year (2006) the federal government spent an estimated $72.4 billion on veterans benefits programs, divided almost in half between compensation/pensions and medical programs.

In 2002 there were an estimated 3 million veterans who owned businesses, and about 68 percent of them were age 55 and older, according to those who responded to a Census request for data, indicating the numbers may be higher. About 7 percent of those business owners said they were disabled as a result of a new injury while activated or one that was aggravated during active military duty.

One final flurry of figures: Veterans Day, which was first known as Armistice Day, began 88 years ago on the first anniversary of the end of World War I. In 1926, Congress passed a resolution for an annual observance, and by 1938, Nov. 11 became a national holiday. In 1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation that changed the name to Veterans Day to honor those who served in all American wars.

---

E-mail: speckman@desnews.com