I always hear people talk about how insignificant the US's role in the war just because of their official entrance in 1917. I'm tired of hearing people bash without knowing any real facts about the US's role
It's a numbers game.
The United States suffered ~250,000 casualties and ~50k KIA.
The UK suffered ~2.6M Casualties and ~740k KIA
France suffered ~5M casualties and ~1.1M KIA
Germany suffered ~5M Casualties and 1.8M KIA
Russia and Austria suffered similarly large losses.
So the US suffered about 5% of the casualties of any of the other major belligerents. If we include civilian losses it's an even worse ratio. If we include material losses it's a even worse still.
The US Army played a critical role in the Hundred Days Offensive, which ended the war. However, overall the contribution and suffering of the US was not on the same apocalyptic scale that other western nations experienced.
"insignificant" isn't a word I would use (I'm an American after all) to describe the contribution of the US in the war. However, the massive casualties and social and political dislocation which WWII brought was barely felt by the US, and in that sense the American experience of the war is less significant then the European experience.