Awash in history: The aging of America’s veterans

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Harry Chandler was 103 years old when he died last week in Florida.

Any centenarian is worthy of praise, but Chandler’s life has the kind of distinction to which we should always pay attention: The Navy medic rescued sailors who were thrust into the oil-slicked waters of the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

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According to an Associated Press story on Chandler’s death, he then tenderly washed their bodies. 

The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor marked the moment when America would go into battle, an initially hesitant power forced by Japan and Germany into history’s deadliest war.

Chandler’s distinction is shared by only 66,143 men and women who fought that war and are still alive today. That number – out of the total 16.4 million Americans who served in World War II – will likely get shorter by the time you read this story.  

That’s because they are now in their 90s or older, according to the museum. Chandler was the third Pearl Harbor survivor to die in the past few weeks, the AP noted. They and their comrades from that war are going fast. 

Veterans of the Korean War – some of whom put the uniform back on after service in WWII – numbered about 767,000 in November of 2023, reports the Pew Research Center. A total of 6.8 million men and women served in that conflict.

Vietnam vets used to be the youngsters among America’s war veterans. Estimates are that 5.6 million survivors of that conflict served during its nearly 20-year history. National Vietnam War Veterans Day, established in 2012, is celebrated annually on March 29.

But today, the Vietnam vets are creeping closer to being senior citizens like Bradley, yielding to a younger generation of veterans from the Gulf War era, which began with the campaign to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqis in 1990. Included in that population are those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq post-9/11. 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the estimated 19 million veterans now in America, about 7.4 million are from the Gulf War era, and 50% of them are 45 to 54. The Veterans Administration (VA) projects that the number of all living vets – quite naturally – will continue to decline over the next 25 years, to an estimated 12.1 million in 2048. 

By then, Gulf War-era veterans are projected to be the majority of those still alive. 

As the number of veterans declines over the next 25 years, their demographics will shift, VA population models show. Women, Hispanic and Black adults, and adults under 50, will all make up larger shares of the total veteran population. Today, 28% of vets are younger than 50, compared with a projected 34% in 2048.

Eventually, they will be the oldest veterans in the U.S. and, like Chandler, some of their birthdays will be noted along with their service. Because attention should be paid.   

“The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country,” said former VA director Jeff Miller, “has earned them our lasting gratitude.”

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