"...I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain...."

But your story doesn't end with: "Time to die." Instead it rather, begins, doesn't it?

From experience, soldiers always seem to look older than they are actually.