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By the numbers: Memorial Day and veterans

Posted at 3:52 PM, May 26, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-26 15:52:56-04

As the country heads into the Memorial Day weekend, there are over 1.3 million U.S soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines on active duty, and more than 150,000 of them are stationed in foreign countries.

So far, more than 6,800 U.S. servicemen and women have died during the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and at least 52,000 more have been wounded.

Here is a look at the numbers behind the sacrifices of American military veterans of current and past wars:

More than 8,300 — Number of coalition troops who have died during the military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The vast majority of them — about 6,800 — are U.S. troops.

635 — Number of troops from the United Kingdom who have died during military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The United Kingdom has the second-highest number of casualties behind the United States.

181 — Number of coalition servicewomen who have died during military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

162 — Number of U.S. servicewomen who have died during military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

More than 52,000 — Number of U.S. troops who have been wounded in action during military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Department of Defense.

At least 3,308 — Number of coalition troops who have died in improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is the leading cause of fatalities.

At least 36 — Number of countries that have lost troops in military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

24 — Notes in “Taps,” the bugle call traditionally played at the end of a military funeral.

Approx. 620,000 — Combined troops killed during the Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865.

63 — Percent of Union troop deaths caused by disease during the Civil War.

6 — Number of wreaths engraved on the sides of the Tomb of the Unknowns, in Arlington National Cemetery. Each wreath recognizes a major campaign of World War I.

38 — Including reflections, the number of statues there appear to be at the Korean War Memorial, symbolizing the length of the war, 38 months, and the 38th parallel that divides North and South Korea; 34,000 U.S. troops were killed.

90 — State and local chapters of Rolling Thunder, a national group participating since 1988 in Memorial Day weekend bike rides to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

58,000+ — Names inscribed on the walls of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial of U.S. troops who died serving in the Vietnam War.

3,497 — Recipients of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor in action (as of May 2016).

76 — Living Medal of Honor recipients (as of May 2016).

ARLINGTON, VA - MAY 28:  Crystal Lewis (L) and her daughter Morgan Lewis sit at the gravesite of Morgan's high school sweetheart, U.S. Marine Nicholas Cain Kirven, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005, on Memorial Day at section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery May 28, 2007 in Arlington, Virginia. This section of the cemetery is where U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and  the Afghanistan war are buried.  (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

ARLINGTON, VA – MAY 28: Crystal Lewis (L) and her daughter Morgan Lewis sit at the gravesite of Morgan’s high school sweetheart, U.S. Marine Nicholas Cain Kirven, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005, on Memorial Day at section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery May 28, 2007 in Arlington, Virginia. This section of the cemetery is where U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and the Afghanistan war are buried. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)