If you read the article, boys and girls, the Army wouldn't let them do it for the 50th in 1994 either -- the then-septuagenerians (sp?) trained and showed Uncle that they still had what it takes to jump safely.
The reasons the Army is concerned are (1) if some old hero crunches his pelvis in Normandy, the press, which hates soldiers viscerally, will blame the Army; and (2) we have a LOT of data that shows that as one gets older, one injures more easily and heals more slowly. Unfortunately I am part of those statistics.
As far as the greatest generation, I can tell you sometime about the men that trained me in the 1970s... guys whose heroism (in Vietnam in the 60s) was no less because it was done on the QT, than any set of men we have ever sent to war.
I just discovered that a friend of mine, who fell in the earliest moments of this war, has a son who is picked up his standard and is now in Iraq... I think that real heroism is in the air we breathe and the soil our ancestors are buried in. It is possible for each of us to, if we will, take it up and carry it on. That others in the past have done what now look like greater deeds doesn't matter. Do what you can, do your best, and we'll be proud of you. You can do no more.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Well said.
Semper Fi