The US minimum age for conscription was 18 back in the 1960s and 1970s. (It still is, but it used to be, too.) This was amended from age 18 in WWII to ages 19 to 26 by the Selective Service Act in 1948, but 18 year olds still had to register.
In (old) press releases for Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, Guile is listed as being born in 1960, and allegedly fought in Vietnam alongside his buddy "Charlie." The last US troops were withdrawn from Vietnam in April of 1975. Thus, 1990s Capcom was apparently a fan of AmeriKKKan child soldiers. Regardless, the US MIC wasn't scooping up kids straight out of middle school and shipping them over to get composted by Uncle Ho.
(Note that Guile was later retconned to being a "trainee," according to the wiki.)
Edit: my source on the original 1994 stuff is an ancient Electronic Gaming Monthly article. I don't remember the issue number, but the writer and editors had a definite "wait, what?" moment when they got the character bio stuff from Capcom.
The US minimum age for conscription was 18 back in the 1960s and 1970s. (It still is, but it used to be, too.) This was amended from age 18 in WWII to ages 19 to 26 by the Selective Service Act in 1948, but 18 year olds still had to register.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/classroom/app/uploads/2014/03/Timeline-of-of-conscription.pdf
In (old) press releases for Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, Guile is listed as being born in 1960, and allegedly fought in Vietnam alongside his buddy "Charlie." The last US troops were withdrawn from Vietnam in April of 1975. Thus, 1990s Capcom was apparently a fan of AmeriKKKan child soldiers. Regardless, the US MIC wasn't scooping up kids straight out of middle school and shipping them over to get composted by Uncle Ho.
(Note that Guile was later retconned to being a "trainee," according to the wiki.)
Edit: my source on the original 1994 stuff is an ancient Electronic Gaming Monthly article. I don't remember the issue number, but the writer and editors had a definite "wait, what?" moment when they got the character bio stuff from Capcom.