I remember seeing on this website a post where someone said with the population that fought in WW2 dying out and Steve Rogers having anyone from his time still alive losing its believability, perhaps it was time to reboot Captain America as having come from a different war, like the Vietnam War.
And I totally get the point they were making. Part of what we love about Steve is all the people he runs into who knew him before the ice. Those living connections are important.
But what makes the creation of Captain America work is that folks can generally agree the United States was one of the "good guys" during WW2. It's generally agreed fighting Hitler was the right call to make. After WW2, it's hard to find a war where international audiences can agree the United States was in the right. Every side in every war does horrendous things, but WW2 was the last war where the majority of folks tend to agree going to war was the right call. Any other war, the United States creating a super soldier is going to be a lot more ominous. The kind of ominous Steve wouldn't be signing up for. Steve wants to be a soldier for the wholesome reason of standing up for others. Fighting in WW2 is the best way to keep the wholesomeness of his reasons for being a soldier. That's why I think Steve should remain a man of the 1940's out of his time.
