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>That makes the US today very similar to the US during the Vietnam era or the UK during WWI/II.

Not really, no. The average age of a US soldier in Vietnam was 19. In Iraq it was 28. That's a huge difference, and you don't get an average of 28 without having a lot of guys in their 30s.

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The "19" figure is mythical - just google "average age of soldiers in Vietnam" and you'll see that the real figures are known to be younger than other recent wars, just not so extreme - around 22-23 years old depending on the exact statistic you're working from.

That said, the Paul Hardcastle song "19" is still pretty good. [0]

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3LdMAqUMnM

or Redgum's I was only 19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urtiyp-G6jY and cover https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns82tHhJOr0

Soldiers, but which service. 28 seems very high for US army combat troops. Throw in the navy/airforce with all their specialists and I could see higher numbers. The army on the ground is seems far younger than 28. If not, then the differences in culture must be from something altogether more complicated.

The National Guard and Army Reserve were deployed extensively in the Bush years. I can very readily see that 28 age (and you need a firmer definition of "combat" as well).

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