Periods of War

Many wars or conflicts in United States history have a federally designated periods of war date for their beginning and ending. These dates are important for qualification for certain veterans pension or disability benefits. The American Legion also follows these dates closely in determining who is eligible for membership the Veterans of Foreign Wars has its own much more elaborate list of dates. Unfortunately, confusion can occur because beginning and ending dates for periods of war in many nonofficial sources are often different from those given in treaties and other official sources of information. Also, armistice dates can be confused with termination dates. This report lists the beginning and ending dates for periods of war found in Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations CFR dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs. It also lists and differentiates other beginning dates given in declarations of war, as well as termination of hostilities dates and armistice and ending dates given in proclamations, laws, or treaties. Title 38, Part 3, Section 3.2 of the CFR lists beginning and termination dates for each war period from the Indian Wars to the present. This report reproduces this list. After each lettered section of CFR language, the declaration, armistice, cease-fire, and termination dates from other official sources are listed. The specific wars listed are the Indian Wars Spanish-American War Mexican Border War World War I against Germany and Austria-Hungary World War II against Germany, Japan, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania Korean War Vietnam War Persian Gulf War and Global War on Terrorism including Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. This report will be updated when events warrant.