How many WWII soldiers stayed in, had a great career, and retired?

I'm having to say this from memory, so pardon me if I screw up the dates. An old friend of mine, SMG Rudolph Cooper, and I became friends after he retired from the Army. He was a tough old bird, if I ever saw one. He was a triple CIB recipient, as well as a Silver Star (WWII) and three awards of the Purple (Korea and Viet Nam) recipient. He joined the Army in about 1939 or 1940, and retired in 1976. He was on active duty for every day of WWII, Korea and Viet Nam. He was a motorcycle scout in WWII and had some amazing stories about his long life. One of those amazing things about Rudy was his retirement jump. He streamered in. He spent the rest of his life wearing full leg braces. He dedicated himself to helping cripple children through the the Shriners -- serving as a clown at Shrine circuses where his big flowing trousers hid his braces and the children though of his uneasy gate as part of the act. He told me of being at a circus one day and noticed a little girl that refused to come down to the main rings with the other children. Rudy hobbled up to try and encourage her down. In doing so, he gave a tug to the coat on her lap. The coat accidentally fell free, exposing the full leg braces that she wore and was ashamed to let others see. Rudy hiked up his trouser to show her his matching set, but covered her legs back up with her coat and hobbled back down to the main floor. He understood like no one else could. When he got back down out of the stands he turned to see the little girl was hobbling down behind him. He was a great man and a good friend. A closer look at both of our arms in the above picture you can see Rudy and I had many of the same scars from our combat wounds -- but that's where the similarity ends. I wasn't worth to carry Rudy's spit. May he rest in peace.

SPC Richard Skeen, my father, Jack Curlee (now deceased), enlisted in the Navy on 12MAY43, entered on active duty on 1JUL43 and was commissioned an ensign on 29JUN44. After serving aboard ship in the Pacific, he was released from active duty on 23JUN46 and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Naval Reserve on 1SEP55.
Three years was enough for him, and a career in the service was not in his plans. Many of his Navy friends encouraged him to join them in the active USNR. He declined and felt most fortunate, as many of his Navy buddies at the reserve center ended up in Korea in the early fifties.

The obituary from my B-Detachment commander in Viet Nam:

SOUTHERN PINES–Retired Army LT Col. Mearlen Guy “Pappy” LaMar, 84, of Southern Pines, died Monday, Sept. 27,2004 in Pinelake Health & Rehabilitation Center in Carthage. Mr LaMar was born on Sept. 4, 1920 and enlisted in the Army at the age of 14 and served from 1935 to 1970. He was a veteran of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, where he served for three tours. He was awarded the Silver Star for service in Korea in 1952, the Bronze Star in 1964, the Air Medal with “V” device in 1967, the Legion of Merit for service in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968, three Purple Hearts, one for World War II and two for Vietnam, and the Army Commendation Medal in 1968 for his service in Vietnam. He retired from the Army after 32 years of service.