Research Starters: US Military by the Numbers

 

 

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
 

Died as POWs 37
Dead 5,662
Missing/Presumed Dead 4,780
Killed at Sea 845