I am 64, so I still have a ration book issued in my name in 1943. We are the bridge to the baby boomers. I can recall serving on the USS Iwo Jima [LPH-2] taking the 1/26th Marine Battalion to Vietnam. On the way over we stopped by the island of Iwo Jima and held a ceremony in honor of the battle on the flight deck with the Marines on deck including two Gunneys who had been in the battle. A moving moment and a real life link to the past.
I am the same age. First memories a lot of people still in uniform. I tried to sign up for Vietnam, stupid probably, but they dithered around so much I got a job in a defense plant and then the draft board didn’t want me at all. So I worked in the shipyard building submarines.