The Greatest Generation continues to lead the way for all Americans. The term “The Greatest Generation” was “coined by journalist Tom Brokaw to describe the generation who grew up in the United States during the deprivation of the Great Depression, and then went on to fight in World War II, as well as those whose productivity within the war’s home front made a decisive material contribution to the war effort….”
An article posted on a blog called The Art of Manliness wrote of the manliness of the Greatest Generation: “Every generation has its share of men who fully live the art of manliness. But there may never have been a generation when the ratio of honorable men to slackers was higher than the one born between 1914 and 1929. These were the men that grew up during the Great Depression. They’re the men who went off to fight in the Big One. And they’re the men who came home from that war and built the nations of the Western world into economic powerhouses. They knew the meaning of sacrifice, both in terms of material possessions and of real blood, sweat, and tears. They were humble men who never bragged about what they had done or been through. They were loyal, patriotic, and level-headed. They were our Greatest Generation.”
The article continues with a discussion of seven lessons about manliness taught by the Greatest Generation. 1) They took personal responsibility for their own lives and “relished the chance to step up to the plate and test their mettle.” 2) They were frugal and lived by the motto “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” 3) They were humble and did not consider themselves as any other than “simply fulfilling their duty” with “no reason to brag” about what they did or any medals they earned. Many of them said that the heroes of World War II were those who never came home. 4) They were loyal in their love. To them “marriage was a commitment and divorce was not an option.” 5) They knew how to work hard and “learned to focus on the objective at hand and not give up until that objective and the mission as a whole was accomplished.” 6) They embraced challenges. They were not The Greatest Generation “despite the challenges they faced, but because of them.” 7) They did not complicate life. They had a “level-headed approach to life” and used “common sense.”
The Greatest Generation includes men who fought in battles all over the world. They went where they had to go and did what they had to do. They stood proudly and firmly between their homeland and the enemy.
Now these heroes are in their late eighties and early nineties. Thousands of them took “honor flights” to Washington, D.C. for the very purpose of viewing the World War II Memorial built in their honor. Can you imagine how they felt when they arrived in Washington and found barricades around their memorial? These were men who fought tyrants and dictators and brought freedom to many people. They fought in the mud and in the snow and in the hot, bug-infested Pacific. They scaled the cliffs of Dover and fought on Iwo Jima? Why would they be deterred by a few barricades? Even though many of them are now in wheel chairs and ill health, they were not kept from visiting their memorial. With the help of members of Congress, family members, and other people, the barricades were moved and the veterans visited their memorial in spite of the government shutdown.
Doug Patton summarized his passionate article about the World War II heroes: “And now his [Obama] regime tries to close the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., to the very people it was erected to honor. Only after being faced with a negative public relations nightmare did the National Parks Department relent and allow these brave men to visit their memorial, which never should have been closed to them, or anyone else, in the first place. How stupid do these people think we are that they can expend the resources and manpower to set up barricades around an open-air memorial during a supposed government shutdown?
“If you are not incensed by the fact that your president tried to keep the courageous men who saved this nation from Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan seven decades ago from seeing their memorial, then you are either an enemy of this country or you are a brain-dead idiot.”
The veterans of World War II are all over the age of 70 now and are reportedly dying at the rate of 700 to 1100 per day. There will come a time in the not distant future when we will no longer be blessed with the presence of The Greatest Generation. I am very grateful for the men who fought in the war and for the women who loved and supported them. They set great examples for us then and throughout the years. They have recently shown us how to deal with the unfair, undisciplined, and unrealistic tyrant who is living in our White House. May we always remember them and follow their examples! May God continue to bless them and may God bless the United States of America!