The Grand Army of the Republic, the GAR, was a group of Union Civil War veterans. It was one of the most influential groups in the late 19th century. But as its members — lets face facts and call it what it is — got old and died, its influence faded. Eventually, it ceased to exist.
It’s the way of things. There are no Civil War veterans left. fewer than a handful of WWI vets. I don’t have any children, but if I manage to, they will probably never meet or remember a WWII vet. Even the very youngest Vietnam vet is pushing 60.
I estimate the youngest VN vets to be in their early to mid 50s. If you were 18 in the early 70s, you’d be 54 now.
Didn’t the Grand Army of the Republic later relent and allow Confederate veterans to join, as Civil War vets from both sides became aged and wartime hatreds cooled?
I’m not quite 57 and I was in Nam 72-73 USS Midway CVA-41 ... VA 93 Blue Blazers