GAINESVILLE — As Veterans Day approaches many people have images in their mind of older men who have served their country.

But as the war in Iraq continues to call on those in military service, the faces of veterans today are becoming much younger.

"The younger generation has really taken over in this war," said Ray Shubert, a former commander and current adjutant at the Paul E. Bolding Post 7 in Gainesville. "The veterans’ problem now is that there isn’t too many World War II veterans left — they are in their mid 80s. Then the Korean War came along and the Korean Veterans are in their 70s, and then Vietnam and they are in their 60s, so all of them are getting pretty old."

First Sgt. Jeff Chandler at Riverside Military Academy agrees that the face of the veteran is changing.

"We have a war now where many people are coming back — young and old — with the same situation," he said. "To me, Veterans Day is anyone that has served ... that understands and signed their name on the dotted line to fight for their country."

Chandler, who worked with field artillery, served in the Gulf War and in Bosnia in 1998. He retired in 2004.

He added that the divisions between the branches of the military are also starting to fade.

"The walls were built in the military long before," Chandler said. "The Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines; there was a wall built where each particular branch didn’t look too favorably at the other. Now you don’t see that anymore.

"That happened over a period of time since, I guess 1991, where we went to Iraq the first time and everybody saw what everybody did and knew that everyone else’s job complemented theirs to make the mission happen, and those walls actually came down."

Now Chandler, a Macon native, hopes to see young and old alike honored on Veterans Day.

"I had a chance to go to Walter Reid (Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.) and I saw these young guys that had just come back in the wheelchairs, legs missing, arms missing. To me that was the realization that, ‘OK you see this anywhere now,’" he said.

At Riverside, not all students are necessarily ready to follow in Chandler’s military footsteps. But some students’ ideas are changing about Veterans Day.

"It’s (in my view) kind of the same," said Jacob Sands, a ninth-grader from Lawrenceville. "It’s the older guy that you see, but I can see (the image) changing."

Brenden Haddad, who said he was interested in joining the Air Force, has family who has served in the military. He said he thinks the idea of a young veteran is a little weird, but those are just the days we are living in now.

Students Chris Bechtler and David Shrock both have family members that are currently serving in Iraq and said it is a wonderful day to observe their service.

Although, Bechtler isn’t very interested in military service for himself.

"I have one uncle in Iraq right now and a cousin in Iraq," he said. "One of my uncles, when he got the papers to go over there, it was hard on our entire family, and I don’t really want to put my family through that. It would be real hard if anything were to happen to me, like if I died over there."

Shrock has three cousins and a best friend who are stationed in Iraq.

"One of my cousins is on the front lines," he said. "He’s been shot at a couple times. My best friend left the day after I came here, but that’s what he wanted to do — he wanted to be a medic."

For all those who have served their country, the American Legion has a Veterans Day ceremony planned for Monday along with a flag retirement ceremony.

"We will have a World War II, Korean War and Vietnam veteran speaking," Shubert said. "We will go through the POW/MIA program, we will have speakers and we will have the 21-gun salute; we will have ‘Taps.’

"The flag retirement will be at 4 p.m. Everyone is welcome to bring their flags and we have barrels at Lowe’s, one at Home Depot and one at the Post home that they can put their worn out flags in."

The flag retirement ceremony will follow a set of rules to honor the flag. The honor guard cadets at Riverside will be assisting the American Legion that day with the events.

"We have a group, particularly our honor guard, that helps support community events," said Kate Maine, public relations director at Riverside. "They will be participating in some events, one downtown that is sponsored by the (American) Legion ... they are also helping with the flag retirement ceremony at the Legion."