Can We Ever Repay The Greatest Generation?
By Barbara Stock (06/07/04)
Can my generation ever repay the sacrifices made by our parents and grandparents? Yes, and no.
We baby-boomers can never completely understand the suffering our grandparents and parents endured during the Great Depression. Trying to feed their families anyway they could, men would sweep the streets and clean toilets. They would do anything they had to do to buy milk or bread for their children. Yet, through these troubled times, the crime rate was low, dispelling the notion that poverty is the cause of crime. Never had so many Americans felt poverty like that experienced in the years leading up to World War II.
The stock market crash of 1929 set off a chain of world events that would not correct itself for nearly two decades or one entire generation. America was so intent on pulling itself out of the depression that many did not see nor admit to the gathering warnings of war from Europe.
December 7, 1941, the day that would indeed live in infamy, changed everything. There are few days in American history that are remembered as vividly as December 7, 1941. That was the day that America grew up. That was the day that Americans put aside their own wants and needs and pulled together to face an enemy that stood diametrically opposed to everything this country held close to their hearts and had engrained in their souls.
With the exception of Great Britain, the free countries of Europe were falling before the Nazi machine and being absorbed against their will into the German empire. England, despite standing strong, suffered a terrible beating every night from Germany’s new buzz-bombs. Hitler knew as long as the United States kept her head in the sand and ignored his aggression, all of Europe would be his, including England, in time.
Japan was impatient. Japan ruined Hitler’s plans by attacking our ships in the American Naval port, Pearl Harbor. When America declared war on Japan, Germany honored their country’s pact with Japan as allies--perhaps the only agreement Germany honored--and declared war on America and the Second World War was officially underway. It didn’t happen a moment to soon. Had Pearl Harbor happened one year later, it may have been too late. America’s failure to recognize the strength and danger of the Nazi empire nearly ended the great American experiment in her adolescence.
Is the World War II generation the “greatest generation?” These WWII heroes say no, they are not. There is great wisdom in those few words. Is there a “greatest generation” or is every generation the greatest?
Our founding fathers saw greatness in this fledgling country and that generation fought and died for their freedom--and for ours. That generation gave us the chance to fulfill our destiny. It was up to succeeding generations to see that it happened. The torch was passed.
There have been 12 generations in the 228 years since America severed the ties with an oppressive ruler and took the first, uncertain step towards an unknown future. The first generation of Americans was willing to give up life, limb, and property to be free.
Each succeeding generation had hurtles to overcome. Each generation was successful.
America’s fourth generation had perhaps the greatest challenge of all. It was asked to keep America united. This challenge was made even more painful because demons from within had divided the country. "...but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came." Abraham Lincoln’s second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865. The scars on that generation ran deep, but it survived, endured, and grew. More Americans died in the Civil War than in all American wars combined.
Our seventh generation went to Europe and fought in trenches and flew bi-wing airplanes made of paper and wood. World War I, the War to end all Wars, sadly, did not teach the world that tyranny and oppression cannot stand. Some still do not understand that the human spirit must be free.
One generation later, Americans once again heard the drum-beat of war. As every generation before them, they answered the call. Woefully unprepared for war, Americans united, sacrificed, and died not only to keep America free, but to give the nations of the world the chance to be free. Foreign soil became the final resting place for 400,000 Americans from 1941 to 1945. Those men and women did not die in vain. Those who survived shun the title of the “greatest generation.” “We had a job to do and we did it.” These great Americans have said. The eighth generation did a superb job, and we, and the succeeding generations, are grateful.
The WWII generation accepted the torch of freedom handed to them with love and that torch was protected by the souls of all those who had given their lives and from previous generations of Americans who gave their sons, daughters, fathers, brothers, and husbands to keep America free.
The Korean War generation; the Vietnam War generation and the Gulf War generation passed the torch of freedom from father to son.
Once again the winds of war are upon us. The twelfth generation of Americans is fighting radical Islamic terrorists who claim no country, have no set borders, and wear no uniform. The goal of radical Islam is no different than America’s previous enemies. Terrorists use different tactics however. Attacking and killing the innocent is the weapon of choice. Children are targets; babies are targets and all is justified because it is radical Islam’s belief that Islam is destined to be the supreme rulers of world. This religious terrorist believes he has God’s will and power on his side just as most of our enemies before him have believed.
December 7, 1941, heralded the beginning of World War II. September 11, 2001 marked the beginning of World War III. That was the day America woke up. This enemy hides in the shadows, covers its face, and evokes the name of God as he murders.
The words of “God Bless America” come to mind. “God bless America, land that I love, stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light from above.” May God protect and guide this “greatest generation” as he has all the generations that have become before it. May God embrace those that make the ultimate sacrifice and shield those still in harm’s way from danger for they are the parents of the next “greatest generation” of Americans who will stand ready to protect this great country from enemies still unknown.
That is how we will repay all the generations that have come before us. Americans yet unborn will grow and stand ready to accept the torch handed down to them with great love and held high through great sacrifice.
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