I had a friend who was a member of an RAF Bomber Command crew and his fellow crew members called him "Dad" because he was 25 years of age with a wife and family.
He explained that he was more circumspect about taking on the risks involved because of his family commitments whereas his fellow crewmembers, not one of whom was over 21 knew that they were going to survive because at that age they were invincible. One day as they approached the end of their first tour of thirty flights they were accosted by Hamish Mahaddie, one of Don Bennetts "Horse Thieves" who suggested that they may wish to join the RAF Bomber Command Pathfinders and stay on operations and complete a tour of 60 flights before being "rested" because they got an extra 5p a day and an enamel Pathfinder badge to show the girls down the pub. Most of his young crewmates were very keen but he suggested that they take their weeks leave before coming to a decision, after they returned from the leave the subject was never mentioned again and they survived to be old men I am glad to say.
My friend did say that if his younger crewmates had insisted on joining the Pathfinders he would have gone with them knowing that in the winter of 1943 and the Battle of Berlin it was a virtual death sentence.