When the 1960s came around, the “Greatest Generation” – those men and women who served during World War II were still largely and stoically silent about their wartime experiences – but the television networks began television shows about the war. Series such as “Combat,” “12 O’Clock High,” and “Men at War” became staples of primetime viewing. Knowing things about WWII became part and parcel of determining one’s status within the pack (and here I am referring to Cub Scouts). Sure, you might be able to identify the German Messerschmitt 109 fighter aircraft from a flash card, but the real test was could you identify the difference between 109-C and the 109-G series (except the 109-G6 which was soooo… obvious). Clearly such things were critical to national defense among the Cub Scouts. Or so it seemed at the time.

WWII seemed like recent history. I mean, our fathers fought in the war! And we had grandfathers (and uncles) who fought in WWI, the “war to end all wars.” The world wars were history, but still kinda’ recent in the 1960s. It has been 108 years since that war ended. A lot of water under the bridge since then. WWII war ended 81 years ago

Frank Buckles was the last of the WWI vets to pass away. He died in February 2011 at the age of 110 years. It is estimated there are approximately 30,000 WWII veterans still with us – that is out of the almost 17 million women and men who served. Two weeks ago, at Quantico National Cemetery, I presided over the burial of a WWII vet. He died at 100 years, 16 days.

Among us are women and men have served their country in Korea, Vietnam, regional conflicts, the Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The Pew Research Institute estimates there are 18 million Americans, still living, who have served and are rightly called veterans. That represents about 6% of all adult Americans. There is a wide variance by age cohort.

What is the profile of our veterans? And how will it change? Within 25 years all the veterans of WWII and Korea will have passed away as the Gulf Wars veterans become the majority. An increasing percentage of our service men and women will be people of color and women will play a larger role in the armed services.

And what about the people who will make decisions to send our men and women into harm’s way? How many of our Senators and Representatives have served? When was the last time we had a combat veteran in the Oval Office? George H.W. Bush was the last serving combat veteran president. He served in WWII as a Naval Aviator receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross. President Bush left office in early 1993. That was 33 years ago.

The recent election resulted in 70 veterans joining the 10 Senators (who were not up for re-election) to bring the total veterans in Congress to 80 (out of 535 Senators and Congressmen ~ 15%). At least 12 women veterans will be in the House and Senate which is a record, up from nine in the current Congress. To me that is encouraging.

What about us as a people? In 1980 approximately 18% of US citizens were veterans. In 2023 it was 7%. It is estimated that ~5% are veterans today.

In reading essays from veterans about their reasons for serving, their experiences, and their coming home, one notes that every story is different, but there were common threads: all were proud to serve, mourned their loss, and were grateful to come home. And all were silently worried about us, as a people, where fewer families and political leaders have a direct familial connection to service in the armed forces. One writer said that he gratefully accepted “Thank you for your service,” but wondered what the answers would be if he asked in reply, “what are you grateful for?”

That is a question we as people and as a nation need to be able to answer.