Actually, I seem to remember a thread recently about what percentage of the population served and was surprised to learn that it was actually about 7%. Here’s a link that sheds some light on the numbers. Still a small portion.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/what-percentage-of-americans-have-served-in-the-military/
thanks! 7 percent ever served.
But, from the NYT: (2011) “At any given time in the past decade, less than 1 percent of the American population has been on active military duty, compared with 9 percent of Americans who were in uniform in World War II. As a result, there is a growing generation gap, with younger Americans far less likely than older ones to have a family member who served.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/us/civilian-military-gap-grows-as-fewer-americans-serve.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/us/civilian-military-gap-grows-as-fewer-americans-serve.html