DAT_DROP OP t1_j6gxiid wrote on January 30, 2023 at 6:08 AM

Reply to comment by Landlubber77 in TIL that World War One flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker became a long-time head of Eastern Air Lines and survived well into the 1970s by DAT_DROP

older redditors may be shocked to know he was still alive when they were young, WW1 was a long time ago

Landlubber77 t1_j6himhb wrote on January 30, 2023 at 10:53 AM

We can chop this up however we want but it always goes back to the fact that the guy lived until he was 82. That's not "shocking." Yes of course WW1 was a long time ago, but 1973 when this guy died was 50 years ago itself. It would be like us hearing someone died today who was born in 1941. That's not shocking lol.

Anyway, like I said to the other guy I was discussing this with, this isn't a big deal and you posted an interesting TIL, I just found the wording sorta funny. He lived "well into the 1970s." First of all, not sure making it to '73 constitutes making it well into the decade, but fine. Secondly, a great number of people who fought in and survived WW1 made it to 1973. You talked about how older Redditors would view this story, my whole thing is how young ones view it. They hear WW1 and think we're talking about a bunch of cavemen riding into battle on the back of an ankylosaurs.