Only about 2% of world war 2 veterans are still living now..

I realized that in order for a WW2 veteran to be alive now, they'd be in their mid 90s. If you stormed the Normandy beaches in June 1944 at age 19, you'd be 95 now. If you were a 20 year old British Hurricane pilot in the blitz, you'd be 100 now. According to this WW2 veterans association, there were 389,000 of 16,000,000 US WW2 veterans still alive in Sept of 2019. That's about 2.4% from 5 months ago.

WWII Veteran Statistics | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

ModerationNow! said:

I realized that in order for a WW2 veteran to be alive now, they'd be in their mid 90s. If you stormed the Normandy beaches in June 1944 at age 19, you'd be 95 now. If you were a 20 year old British Hurricane pilot in the blitz, you'd be 100 now. According to this WW2 veterans association, there were 389,000 of 16,000,000 US WW2 veterans still alive in Sept of 2019. That's about 2.4% from 5 months ago.

WWII Veteran Statistics | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

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It's a sad fact, but the Second World War will soon leave the realm of memory to become history. The same happened only recently for World War I.

Soon we shall all have to bid a fond farewell and Godspeed to the Greatest Generation.

My Great Uncle, a WW2 vet, is turning 96 this year I believe. It's sad to think I'll see the last of the WW2 generation pass in my lifetime.

Jredbaron96 said:

My Great Uncle, a WW2 vet, is turning 96 this year I believe. It's sad to think I'll see the last of the WW2 generation pass in my lifetime.

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You are fortunate he is still with you, Jredbaron96. My grandfather was the nose-gunner on a B-24 Liberator, and we lost him in 2011. I miss him very much.

Both my grandfathers were WW2 vets, and both died before I was really old enough to remember them. My grandfather on my dad’s side was in the Army(he had about three months or so left on his enlistment when Pearl Harbor happened, and so got stuck for the duration) and then he taught marksmanship skills to law enforcement after the war.

My grandfather on my mom’s side was a sonar operator on a destroyer. We still have the various little guide books to each country that the Navy handed out.

Felis Leo said:

You are fortunate he is still with you, Jredbaron96. My grandfather was the nose-gunner on a B-24 Liberator, and we lost him in 2011. I miss him very much.

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Funny thing is I had no idea he had fought in the war until he found out I was joining the Army. Our first real conversation was him telling me of the importance of sticking to my morals and not following orders and leaders whom I find reprehensible. It must of stuck with me, because that's all I can think about whenever someone asks me advice about the army.

Korean War Veterans are starting to drop off at a good pace as well.

Felis Leo said:

It's a sad fact, but the Second World War will soon leave the realm of memory to become history. The same happened only recently for World War I.

Soon we shall all have to bid a fond farewell and Godspeed to the Greatest Generation.

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The same happened only recently for World War I.

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Yes, I remember when the last one died

ModerationNow! said:

I realized that in order for a WW2 veteran to be alive now, they'd be in their mid 90s. If you stormed the Normandy beaches in June 1944 at age 19, you'd be 95 now. If you were a 20 year old British Hurricane pilot in the blitz, you'd be 100 now. According to this WW2 veterans association, there were 389,000 of 16,000,000 US WW2 veterans still alive in Sept of 2019. That's about 2.4% from 5 months ago.

WWII Veteran Statistics | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

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I read that the average age of US soldiers was closer to 25 than 20 during WW2. And if you were 25 in 1944 you will be about 101 now. Most people will have died by that age. Especially men, who generally live a bit shorter than women.

ModerationNow! said:

I realized that in order for a WW2 veteran to be alive now, they'd be in their mid 90s. If you stormed the Normandy beaches in June 1944 at age 19, you'd be 95 now. If you were a 20 year old British Hurricane pilot in the blitz, you'd be 100 now. According to this WW2 veterans association, there were 389,000 of 16,000,000 US WW2 veterans still alive in Sept of 2019. That's about 2.4% from 5 months ago.

WWII Veteran Statistics | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

Click to expand...

My Grandfather on My mothers side was a Pearl Harbor survivor

My Grandfather on my Fathers side was a Captain in a Tank division and was at the Battle of Salreno Italy

I must be getting old, because when I was a kid I remember a lot of world war ONE veterans.

Peter King said:

I read that the average age of US soldiers was closer to 25 than 20 during WW2. And if you were 25 in 1944 you will be about 101 now. Most people will have died by that age. Especially men, who generally live a bit shorter than women.

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Yeah, that makes sense, as some would've been in their late 20s to early 30s, while others lied about their age in order to be accepted, despite really being only 15 or 16 years old in many cases! That happened A LOT in WW1 and WW2! But either way, they'd have to be trained and shipped over before they ever saw combat. Then there's the logistics of organizing raw recruits into specific units, being transported to a domestic military base, trained, relocated to Britain or Hawaii/Australia, then shipped to the various theaters of war, followed by even more pre-combat logistics! That would've taken at least 1-3 years before they actually made it into combat.. By that time they'd be 1-3 years older than when they first signed up. So 25 sounds like a reasonable average age.

But NOT if you were an actor playing the part of a soldier in WW2! It's funny how most of the actors portraying everyday WW2 soldiers, sailors or pilots in the "classic Hollywood" WW2 movies of the late 40s to 80s, looked to be in their late 30s to mid 50s on average! WTH??

ModerationNow! said:

Yeah, that makes sense, as some would've been in their late 20s to early 30s, while others lied about their age in order to be accepted, despite really being only 15 or 16 years old in many cases! That happened A LOT in WW1 and WW2! But either way, they'd have to be trained and shipped over before they ever saw combat. Then there's the logistics of organizing raw recruits into specific units, being transported to a domestic military base, trained, relocated to Britain or Hawaii/Australia, then shipped to the various theaters of war, followed by even more pre-combat logistics! That would've taken at least 1-3 years before they actually made it into combat.. By that time they'd be 1-3 years older than when they first signed up. So 25 sounds like a reasonable average age.

But NOT if you were an actor playing the part of a soldier in WW2! It's funny how most of the actors portraying everyday WW2 soldiers, sailors or pilots in the "classic Hollywood" WW2 movies of the late 40s to 80s, looked to be in their late 30s to mid 50s on average! WTH??

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And then you have the issue that a lot of Americans joined the war effort in 1941 after Pearl Harbor. So if they were 22 then, when the war was over they were at least 25, add to that 75 years and you have all centenarians. If you were 18 in 1944 you will also be at least 94 this year. That is also why all the WW1 veterans are now all dead really.

And again, men on average live shorter than women. And the average age for men now is about 76 to 77. And the life expectancy of someone born in the between 1920 and 1925 was a lot lower. For all those veterans to still be alive is a great joy and honor because these people (from all allies, even the commies) risked their lives or gave their lives to that the Nazi's and the Japs were defeated.

ModerationNow! said:

I realized that in order for a WW2 veteran to be alive now, they'd be in their mid 90s. If you stormed the Normandy beaches in June 1944 at age 19, you'd be 95 now. If you were a 20 year old British Hurricane pilot in the blitz, you'd be 100 now. According to this WW2 veterans association, there were 389,000 of 16,000,000 US WW2 veterans still alive in Sept of 2019. That's about 2.4% from 5 months ago.

WWII Veteran Statistics | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

Click to expand...

I was sad when just a handful of years ago, the last person known to be born in the 1800's died.

My father was a turret gunner on a B-24. He went through several army schools before he shipped over. I'm fairly certain it was more than a year after he enlisted that he finished all the schools. He is 95 and still works part-time because he likes it. Last summer I called him but he couldn't talk on the phone because he was up in a tree cutting limbs off with a chain saw. He had to get reading glasses last year.

I've taken him to the WWII Museum in New Orleans twice. The museum is quite an experience. It's probably more than most people imagine. It was for us. One of my brothers went with us the second time. Even after he had heard us talk about it my brother was stunned. The museum is interactive. It just very well done.

It was a special thrill both times to see it with my dad, a WWII vet. On the first trip, we took a break and had a beer in the museum bar and happened to meet another vet who had flown P-51s.

It was a once in a lifetime experience for me to sit and listen to those two old war dogs talk about their experiences. They talked for over an hour. I wish I had recorded it.

WWII vets are admitted free to the museum as you might well imagine. They are also treated with great respect by the museum staff and by people touring the museum. A couple of times watching the heartfelt thanks expressed from citizens of a grateful nation almost brought tears to my eyes.