“The disgusting dearth of veterans amongst our GOP ‘leaders’ is only mitigated slightly by the even larger dearth among young people on the Left.”
The military has been a volunteer force, shrinking in size since the mid 1970s.
Meaning fewer people become veterans, overall. That is just the math.
My own congressman is one of the most conservative in the US House, and is a Vietnam era NON-vet. Dana Rohrabacher.
And John Kerry is a vet. And everything in between.
So what is the point of your post? We’ve transitioned from a partially conscripted force to a totally recruited force and Dana didn’t want to participate in either? That speaks to his judgment, or lack thereof. As regards the overall force numbers, they’ve fluctuated, and have not steadily declined since the mid-seventies.