Originally Posted by fatbuckRTO (Post 528646)

I've never bought Brokaw's characterization here. There were a lot of great people from the Great Depression and WWII era, no question. But consider how they treated they're own children during the Vietnam War (who "the greatest generation" had sent to that place). Consider how they treated women and minorities. Consider how they allowed Hitler to rise to power in the first place, giving him countries as he rose. Consider how they locked up their own fellow citizens by the thousands, for simply looking like one of their enemies. And then how they put men in a position to destroy our entire world with, essentially, the touch of a button.

They endured hardships, but no more so than the colonists who founded our country. They fought a tough war, and won, but no tougher than the wars before their time. But I don't blame people for buying into the idea of "the greatest generation," because they damn sure knew how to give themselves great press:

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...arade.span.jpg

Originally Posted by EpyonXero (Post 528648)

Agreed. Good old nostalgia, the past always seems better than the present and the future always seems worse.