I plead guilty to have been flying combat when quite a lot of you were not even thought of.....and have looked askance at more than a few youngsters....and quite rightly so.
That being said....I always embraced the notion that I can learn from everyone that I fly with or next to, be he brand new or older than dirt. I learned my trade at the side of some very experienced pilots and made like a sponge even when it was acid flowing.
It is not the Vietnam syndrome that causes what we sometimes see in our crusty old denizens of the tea room....but somethng more along the lines of burn out caused by working year after year in very hostile circumstances such as poor pay, obnoxious managers, and frustration over it all. They know only too well how it used to be and can still be when you get shown no courtesy or respect.
Don't expect to see them get all excited about things and perhaps you might take a moment for some self contemplation and try to visualize yourself thirty years down the road doing the same job as you are now.
Just remember these old farts have done things that legends are made of....and set the standard for those that followed in their foot steps and did it without all the fancy avionics, NVG's and the like. They did it with guts and skill and a great many of them did not make it home.
I would suggest there is a great many of us Vietnam Vets that have been urging improvements in safety, avionics, and training beginning in our Army days. Ask Nick Lappos, Devil 49, Dan Tyler, and the others where they stand on the issues and see if you don't get a chorus telling it like it is and how it should be.
There was a time in the GOM when the pilots went ten years without even a cost of living raise to their wages....think how it must be to raise families with a pay scheme such as that? The prevailing wage in the GOM is where it is due to these old farts standing up to management and demanding an improvement that you young'uns enjoy today.
Respect has to be earned.....it doesn't come along with a title.