Memorial Day

The past is fast becoming the past.

The median age of all veterans is 57, with most who were in World War II past their mid-70's. (Nearly half of the World War II veterans describe themselves as disabled in some way.) The median age of Korean War veterans is 70; for Vietnam-era veterans it is 53.

Among veterans of World War II - the second-largest combat-era group, after Vietnam veterans - an average of 1,200 die each day.

"With the passing of every veteran," said Andrew Carroll, whose latest anthology of soldiers' letters is titled "Behind the Lines," "we lose one more voice to remind us of the harsh realities of warfare and the sacrifices demanded of those who serve, as well as of their loved ones on the home front."

"Many expressed to me a fear that war - and not any specific conflict, but warfare itself - was increasingly being romanticized in the popular culture, particularly with video games, movies, television shows and fashion (dog tags, camouflage gear, etc., are still all the rage)," Mr. Carroll said in an e-mail message.