{"id":807,"date":"2011-11-11T10:20:25","date_gmt":"2011-11-11T14:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/?p=807"},"modified":"2015-06-10T20:38:42","modified_gmt":"2015-06-11T00:38:42","slug":"honoring-veterans-day-by-the-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/honoring-veterans-day-by-the-numbers","title":{"rendered":"Honoring Veterans Day by the Numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Reflections<\/a><\/p>\n

11\/11\/11 is here. Not only is this date a palindrome, more importantly it marks the truce made between the Allied nations and Germany<\/a> in the First World War on the 11th<\/em> hour of the 11th<\/em> day of the 11th<\/em> month in 1918. One year later, it was commemorated as Armistice Day, but in the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, the U.S. changed the name to Veterans Day\u2014to pay tribute to veterans of all wars. Canada and the U.K. (along with other Commonwealth countries) call November 11th \u201cRemembrance Day\u201d to praise the heroes lost in The Great War. In honor of this momentous date, let\u2019s take a look at some interesting facts by some other notable numbers.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

100,000<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>The number of machine guns at the German’s<\/a> disposal during WWI. The new technology at the time was rejected by the British Army. And thus the British and French had access to only a few hundred equivalents when the war began.<\/p>\n

4,744,484 and 1,058,863<\/strong><\/p>\n

Machine gun production by the Allies and Axis powers, respectively during WWII.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10<\/strong><\/p>\n

The age of the youngest soldier to enlist for the Canadian Infantry in WWI. Standing at just four feet six inches, Bugler Reuben Rosenfield was also one of the smallest soldiers. He was discharged for enlisting underage but he remained on battalion strength unofficially until 1916.<\/p>\n

68<\/strong><\/p>\n

The age of the oldest soldier, bricklayer William John Paxton, to enlist in the Great War in London.<\/p>\n

2,000 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The number of soldiers invited to the White House<\/a> for a homemade ravioli dinner at the end of WWI by President Woodrow Wilson. Wilson was sensitive to the psychological toll of the war, \u201cHunger, breeds madness\u201d he would say. Why ravioli? It was extremely popular at the time thanks to commercial canning.<\/p>\n

8<\/strong><\/p>\n

The standard ration amount of cheese, in ounces, per week in the United Kingdon during WWII. Vegetarians were allowed an extra three ounces. Other ration limits included one egg and four ounces of tea per person, per week.<\/p>\n

800<\/strong><\/p>\n

The number of messages etched into a tunnel once filled with wounded Canadian<\/a> warriors. After the Battle of Vimy Ridge, the soldiers left their mark by carving maple leaves and other inscriptions on tunnel walls as they waited to be shipped to hospitals.<\/p>\n

25<\/strong><\/p>\n

The maximum number of words that the Japanese restricted in letters to prisoners of war in WWII. They had to be typed in all caps. Also, the number of words that the Red Cross could use to pass on information or inquiries about POWs.<\/p>\n

24.5<\/strong><\/p>\n

The amount of living U.S. veterans, in millions today. 107,000 of those surviving vets served during all three war periods: World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong><\/p>\n

One tomb became symbolic for all \u201cUnknown Soldiers\u201d when a pencil-marked grave was discovered by a chaplain on the Western front in 1916. \u201cAn Unknown British Soldier\u201d was written on a rough cross. He proposed this unknown warrior be buried with due ceremony in Westminster Abbey<\/a> amongst kings to represent hundreds of thousands of fallen soldiers. The idea was well received and several nations followed the example.<\/p>\n

Explorica salutes all our veterans of wars, past and present. On this holiday and beyond, take a moment to learn more about the men and women who have given their lives for freedom. Along with lessons in war history, a number of our tours offer visits to places that memorialize our troops. Visit Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.<\/a>, the National War Memorial in Confederation Square in Ottawa<\/a>, Westminster Abbey in London<\/a> and the Arc De Triomphe<\/a> in France.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

11\/11\/11 is here. Not only is this date a palindrome, more importantly it marks the truce made between the Allied nations and Germany in the First World War on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. One year later, it was commemorated as Armistice Day, but in the aftermath Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173,63,172],"tags":[58,144,173,63,172,171,174],"class_list":["post-807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-parents","category-students","category-teachers","tag-educational-travel","tag-educational-travel-united-states","tag-parents","tag-students","tag-teachers","tag-veterans-day","tag-war-history-tours","post_format-post-format-aside"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5696,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions\/5696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}