As a country, we've been at war a very long time. There have been honorable and dishonorable wars, as there are honorable and dishonorable motives, government war proponents and even that mix among soldiers. But this day, Memorial Day, is about honoring those whose lives were lost in carrying out the wars, the brave and the terrified (that can be, and often is, the same thing), the ones whose lives were taken by unfriendly and friendly fire, cut short often in the first bloom of their lives, serving their country, leaving behind fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters and husbands and wives; children who might know little more than a photo to grow up with. So we also honor their families - who gave their best to the machinery of war. To all of them - those invisible medals of diamonds and dust.We've been too long at war.
American History Timeline
American Involvement in Wars from Colonial Times to the Present
| Dates | War in Which American Colonists or United States Citizens Officially Participated | Major Combatants |
| July 4, 1675 - August 12, 1676 | King Philip's War | New England Colonies vs. Wampanoag, Narragansett, and Nipmuck Indians |
| 1689-1697 | King William's War | The English Colonies vs. France |
| 1702-1713 | Queen Anne's War(War of Spanish Succession) | The English Colonies vs. France |
| 1744-1748 | King George's War(War of Austrian Succession) | The French Colonies vs. Great Britain |
| 1756-1763 | French and Indian War (Seven Years War) | The French Colonies vs. Great Britain |
| 1759-1761 | Cherokee War | English Colonists vs. Cherokee Indians |
| 1775-1783 | American Revolution | English Colonists vs. Great Britain |
| 1798-1800 | Franco-American Naval War | United States vs. France |
| 1801-1805; 1815 | Barbary Wars | United States vs. Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli |
| 1812-1815 | War of 1812 | United States vs. Great Britain |
| 1813-1814 | Creek War | United States vs. Creek Indians |
| 1836 | War of Texas Independence | Texas vs. Mexico |
| 1846-1848 | Mexican-American War | United States vs. Mexico |
| 1861-1865 | U.S. Civil War | Union vs. Confederacy |
| 1898 | Spanish-American War | United States vs. Spain |
| 1914-1918 | World War I |
Triple Alliance: Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary vs. Triple Entente: Britain, France, and Russia. The United States joined on the side of the Triple Entente in 1917.
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| 1939-1945 | World War II | Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan vs. Major Allied Powers: United States, Great Britain, France, and Russia |
| 1950-1953 | Korean War | United States (as part of the United Nations) and South Korea vs. North Korea and Communist China |
| 1960-1975 | Vietnam War | United States and South Vietnam vs. North Vietnam |
| 1961 | Bay of Pigs Invasion | United States vs. Cuba |
| 1983 | Grenada | United States Intervention |
| 1989 | US Invasion of Panama | United States vs. Panama |
| 1990-1991 | Persian Gulf War | United States and Coalition Forces vs. Iraq |
| 1995-1996 | Intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina | United States as part of NATO acted peacekeepers in former Yugoslavia |
| 2001 | Invasion of Afghanistan | United States and Coalition Forces vs. the Taliban regime in Afghanistan to fight terrorism. |
| 2003 | Invasion of Iraq | United States and Coalition Forces vs. Iraq |
Have a moment of mournful remembrance Monday. Do something for peace.
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