The Greatest Generation

With our nation at war, a war which divides us, it is easier to talk about another war and what has become to be known as our “Greatest Generation”, the US military personal who fought in World War Two. Some who read what I am about to write will read things that I am not writing; that the US military personal of World War Two were not heroes or that they did not do a great job. I will not write that and I do not believe it either, BUT what I do believe is that by giving our military personal so much credit as the “Greatest Generation”, we take that title away from the rest of the “Greatest Generation”, the people that stayed home.

Yes, our military fought very well, but so did many on the opposite side of the line. Yes, our military was brave, but so were so many of the men on the opposite side. Many of the military personal that our brave military fought against actually believed that they were defending their country and their way of life, just as our boys did. Our military was vital to our winning the war, but there were other people who got very little credit for our victory; they were the men and women who produced the airplanes, tanks, small arms, bullets, cannons, uniforms, submarines, aircraft carriers, battleships, destroyers and bombs, and the food supplies that were used by our fighting men and who also produced the merchant ships that got the supplies over to our military and our other allies.

Occasionally, I have heard talk about the men who designed our tanks and planes and also about the men who were factory owners and managers who supplied our war effort as heroes, but in my opinion, the workers, particularly the women who had been housewives, homemakers, school teachers, etc., but who became the munitions manufacturers, airplane and ship builders that “Rosie the Riveter” became the symbol for were equally the heroes of WW11. Besides working long hours, they also sacrificed their living standards as many goods were rationed or where totally kept from commercial sales.

That is why, while I do not want anything taken away from our military men who have become know as our “Greatest Generation”, I do feel that the men and women who stayed home and produced the never ending stream of supplies, be given equal recognition with the soldiers, sailors, pilots and marines who went to battle.

Many can argue about the merits of any or all of the wars since WW11. Some can even debate how we became entangled in that war so far away from our shores, but in this time when only our people who are fighting in Iraq and their families are making sacrifices, I would like to point out that one of the differences between the great war of the mid 20th century and our first war of the 21st century is the level of sacrifice and participation by the general public of the USA.

Let's extend our thanks not only to that quickly vanishing breed of WW11 soldiers for our freedom, but let's also thank those people that made those soldier's victory, the USA's victory and our freedom possible; the people who worked long hard hours with their hands to supply the military. And they did all those things while worrying about the lives of their brothers, husbands, fathers and boyfriends who were overseas and they had to keep going when the news was as bad as bad news could get about their loved ones.

My hat goes off to all of the members of the “Greatest Generation”, both the men and women who went abroad, and the men and women who stayed home. I thank you all.

Tom: I'm rather new at this, as you probably can imagine. What do these last two posts mean to accomplish? Selling drugs?

These clowns are spammers. They are very annoying. Whenever I see these posts I report them to the management. You can do this by clicking on the red and white triangle that appears at the top right-hand corner of the post.

Thanks ya'll. I appreciate the feedback.