The cannon fodder that was used during the Iran - Iraq War mostly people born during the reign of the Shah. This includes children to clear minefields.
Just to think that all of this was started by a Democrat over 48 years ago. The Shah of Iran was friendly toward the United States and the only Middle Eastern Country that supplied the United States with oil when OPEC boycotted us. He was dumped by Jimmy Carter for a man of religion. The Iranian Military was the second largest in the region, just behind Israel. In retrospect, the trouble in the Middle East was minuscule, as compared to today.
I have a very good memory when I was very young. I remember FDR’s speech on December 8, 1941, air-raid drills, when all the lights had to be off and the black window shades pulled all the way down so that no light could be seen from the outside. I was less than 18 months old at the time.
I was in Iran during the revolution and saw the havoc firsthand. The Shah was trying his best to Westernize Iran and promoting women into roles other than being homebodies. We now see how well that worked out with the return of the Ayatollah Khomeini.