Today is an overlooked holiday, Armed Forces Day.
Armed Forces Day in the United States. Many Americans celebrate Armed Forces Day annually on the third Saturday of May. It is a day to pay tribute to men and women who serve the United States' armed forces. Armed Forces Day is also part of Armed Forces Week, which begins on the second Saturday of May.
Some facts, although a couple of these are sketchy.
1. Thirty American presidents served in the U.S. Army, 24 during time of war. Of the 30, two became 5-star generals – George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower. Teddy Roosevelt was awarded the Medal of Honor. -- military.com
2. 1,760 PlayStation 3s were used to build a supercomputer for the Department of Defense. -- escapistmagazine.com
3. There are 1.8 million people on active duty, according to the Department of Defense. -- DOD
4. The Department of Defense owns 29,819,492 acres of land worldwide. -- DOD
5. The United States has 737 military installations overseas. -- DOD
6. According to Military.com, the Navy’s bell-bottom trousers are believed to have been introduced in 1817 to permit men to roll them above the knee when washing down the decks. In addition, the trousers can be used as a life preserver if you knot the legs.
7. The Marine Corps motto is "Semper Fidelis,” Latin for “Always Faithful.”
8. The last time the United States "declared war" was in 1942. -- Wikipedia
9. The U.S. Department of Defense is the world's largest employer. -- DOD
10. The Department of Defense uses 4,600,000,000 US gallons of fuel annually -- DOD
11. Stores on U.S. military bases outside of America will not accept pennies as currency. It’s too expensive to ship them there and back. -- Los Angeles Times
12. The U.S. military uses a nearly silent type of Velcro which reduces the ripping noise by over 95 percent. -- Reddit
13. A service member in a designated combat zone or hazardous duty area, generally does not have to pay federal income tax on the military pay and reimbursements during his or her service there. -- Internal Revenue
14. In 1949, a U.S. Army Private First Class – known to the payroll department as an “E-3” -- took home a monthly check of $99.55 in “basic pay.” That $99.55 came after he had been in the service for 2 years and had no dependents.
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