Before They're Gone

When I enlisted in the Marines in early 1975, there were still people on active duty who had fought in World War II—and many more who had fought in Korea.

Today, those veterans belong to a dwindling few. The youngest of the World War II generation are now approaching their hundredth year. The Korean War veterans aren’t far behind. Vietnam veterans are now in their 70s.

We see them with canes, walkers, and wheelchairs. We see them sitting quietly in the corner, sometimes overwhelmed by the noise and motion around them. We see them needing help with the simplest tasks. We see some confined to beds in the final chapters of their lives.

And yet, some remain remarkably strong—sharp, steady, and full of life. It can be hard to imagine them as anything other than what we see today.

But we can—if we try.

If we look closely, past the years etched into their faces, we can see them as they once were: seventeen… or even sixteen, having lied about their age to serve. We can see the energy, the restlessness, the determination—the kind that only youth can conjure. We can see them stepping forward when their country called, not fully knowing what that call would demand.

We can imagine the tension before battle, the fear they carried, and the courage that carried them through it. We can see them in rain-soaked foxholes, hunkered under ponchos, writing to mothers and sweethearts and reading letters from home for the twentieth time. We can hear them laughing over cards, telling stories about the lives they planned to live when they made it back home.

Many left a part of themselves in those distant places.

Many left everything.

Some brought pieces of it back with them.

And now, they’re disappearing.

After they’re gone, another generation of old warriors will take their place. The youngest Desert Storm veterans are in their 40s now with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans not far behind.

Separated by time, these generations share something enduring: when their nation called them in the fullness of their youth and potential, they answered. Not cautiously, not conditionally—but with resolve.

We ought to remember them—not only as they were, but as they are today: living icons.

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