Stephenson Family Ties

Comment from my bro Joe:
I just finished an interesting book about the ‘pilgrims’ and the Mayflower. About 40 years after they arrived their relationship with the natives went really bad – and a war that lasted about 4 years started. History calls it the ‘King Phillip War’ because one of the Indian leaders’ name was King Phillip. It was brutal (like most wars – except the ones we are in now) - Anyway when it was all over the death rate for the English pilgrims (not Americans yet) was about 9% - worse even than the Civil War. The death rate for the Indians is estimated to be about 25%.

A U.S. serviceman’s chance of death in battle, per Nicholas Hobbes’ Essential Militaria (2003):

• War of Independence: 2 percent (1 in 50)
• War of 1812: 0.8 percent (1 in 127)
• Indian Wars: 0.9 percent (1 in 106)
• Mexican War: 2.2 percent (1 in 45)
• Civil War: 6.7 percent (1 in 15)
• Spanish-American War: 0.1 percent (1 in 798)
• World War I: 1.1 percent (1 in 89)
• World War II: 1.8 percent (1 in 56)
• Korean War: 0.6 percent (1 in 171)
• Vietnam War: 0.5 percent (1 in 185)
• Persian Gulf War: 0.03 percent (1 in 3,162)