“I remember lots of deaths among late 1960s teens, a couple of dozen that I knew.”
I don’t beleive you for a second. I am a product of the 60’s, and kids simply were not dying at such a rate outside of 18-19 year olds in Vietnam, and even then not so much that someone knew “dozens” dead.
In my grade school clas through high school lost one kid. Was sledding down hill, went onto turnpike and hit by truck. Lost about 1/2 dozen within 5 years of graduation to cancer, drugs and car accidents.
We had tons of deaths in my age group, the normal cancers, other medical, cars, and motorcycles, I killed one in football practice, and we had suicides, murders, drug overdoses, and shot doing a crime.
There were spurts where it was just plain nasty, especially the suicides.
You must have lived a sheltered life or gone to a small school or something if you don’t remember the deaths of the late 60s.
Back then I remember some of the older teenagers being killed or maimed playing chicken in their cars.
*Two cars driving head-on and the first avoid a crash was “Chicken”.
Asked my older cousin and others, just what movie did y’all watch to try/play that stunt?
They did not recall or fess up.