Coming of Age

It's an unfortunate fact that wars are not fought by old men. There are fought by children. They are fought by young people that have barely experienced life. The average age of the solders during the Vietnam War was nineteen. They were barely out of high school. Many were high school and college dropouts. Those that were fortunate enough to have graduated college were made officers that would lead these children into battle. They were kids from all walks of life. Kids recruited and drafted from the big cities, small towns. They represented every nationality and ethnic group in the United States. Caucasians, Asians, African American, Hispanic, Native American were thrown together, for many it was the first time interacting with people outside of their own ethnic group. For many of these kids going to Basic Training was their first time away from home. They went from the senior prom to graduation to Basic Training to the jungles and fighting to stay alive in a matter of months. War is a hell of a place to grow up and reach maturity. Approximately 58,200 American military personnel never got the chance to grow old.