http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203476804576614790512877256.html?KEYWORDS=MICHAEL+M+PHILLIPS
The Old Soldier Who Didn’t Fade AwayA 59-year-old sergeant in Afghanistan is determined to serve any way he can. His real fear? Retirement
Staff Sgt. Don Nicholas disproves the old refrain: Old soldiers do not, in fact, fade away. They re-enlist.
At 59, Sgt. Nicholas is the oldest of the 6,000 soldiers in the 25th Infantry Division in eastern Afghanistan, the Army says. And he is probably one of the very few Vietnam vets now back for more in Afghanistan. He’s certainly the only one who saw first-hand the ugly end of that war from the roof of the U.S. embassy in Saigon.
“It’s really not a fascination with war itself,” Sgt. Nicholas explains. “It’s more trying to keep people from getting killed. I’m taking the spot of some 19-year-old.”