two separate points.
1. I grew up with stories from the war told by my mum. She used to talk to me for hours about the air raids , rationing, putting a stocking line up the back of your legs with gravy powder , how her bro was killed on the Prince of Wales ( he was awarded a posthumous VC) etc. I loved hearing those stories. However, i was , naturally,never in contact with ppl who fought in Crimea or the Spanish war. Perhaps it is just that as the ones who experienced these things pass away, there is no one to keep the realities of it alive.
2. I dont know if grammar is disappearing with the coming of text speak. Perhaps it is just that our language is evolving. We do not speak , today,in the same way that Shakespeare did.