“The Greatest Generation” is a term used to describe the generation who were the children of the Great Depression and who became the adults of the Second World War (Brokaw). There may be strong reasons why other generations may be considered great. The generation born during the war undertook the task of putting a man on the moon. This is perhaps the most important of all human endeavors. They are certainly worthy of being considered great but not the greatest. In fifteen years America and indeed the world endured the crushing poverty of the Great Depression and the costliest war in all of human history. The enormous struggles and accomplishments of this generation is what makes it the greatest.
I intend to show by way of reason and evidence why this generation deserves the title given to them. I will concentrate on the war years as they were the most trans formative. The America which emerged from the war was radically different from the one that entered it. We were the most powerful nation left standing. One of the groups that I will be discussing is those who were left at home. These people brought our nation to the heights of industrial output. Indeed with these hard working people, the United States supplied the Allied Nations with the implements needed to fight and win. I would like to also shine some light on those men and women who fought the war. The US Army Air Corps in the European Theater, and my fellow Marines in the Pacific.
The United States had begun to re-arm in 1940. From 1939 to 1941 the size of the US Armed forces grew from 334,473 to 1,801,101 that is a 538% increase. By the war's end there were over 12,000,000 men in the armed forces ("By the numbers: the US military"). The vast majority of those serving ...
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Record, Jeffrey. "The Pacific War: The Strategy, Politics, and Players that Won the War.(Book review)." Parameters 22 Sept. 2009: 18. Print.
Staff, History.com. "Rosie the Riveter." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. .
Stockings, Craig , and Clinton Fernandes. "Air power and the mythh of strategic bombing as strategy." Independent Scholars Association of Australia 5.2 (2006): 6-20. Print.
"U.S. GDP by Year." About.com US Economy. InterActive Corp, n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. .
"Uncommon Valor: 1940 - 1945." The National Museum of the Marine Corps. Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. .
The author of The Pacific War is Saburo Ienaga, is a leading Japanese scholar and political activist. Within the Note, located at the beginning of the book, is a brief overview of Ienaga’s career written by Frank Baldwin. The
Works Cited McGee, William L. The Solomons campaigns, 1942-1943, from Gudalcanal to Bougainville : Pacific war turning point. Tiburon: BMC Publications, 2002. Miller, John.
starts out with Marine Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith on the bridge of the command ship Mt. Olympus, off Iwo Jima on the morning of 23 February 1945 with Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal who said that the raising of our flag atop Mt. Suribachi means there will be an Marine Corps for the next five hundred years. Smith commented “When the war is over and money is short they will be after the Marines again”, and a dozen Iwo Jimas would make no difference. The resolute general was voicing the frustrations of the many generations of Marines before him who had learned through hard experience that fighting for the right to fight often presented greater challenges than fighting their country’s enemies.
Stahl, David C. "The burdens of survival: Õoka Shõhei's writings on the Pacific War." United States: University of Hawii Press, 2003. 96-145.
Tzu, Mo. Against Offensive Warfare. Ed. Michael Austin. Reading the World: Ideas that Matter. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2010. 254-255. Print.
ISBN 0-87021-562-0. Cressman, Robert J.; et al. d. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. "A Glorious page in our history", Adm. Chester Nimitz, 1942: the Battle of Midway, 4–6 June 1942. Missoula, Mont. -. Pictorial Histories Pub.
Lawson, Robert L., and Barrett Tillman. U.S. Navy Air Combat: 1939-1946. Osceola, WI: MBI Pub., 2000. Print.
Dower, John. War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986.
That next generation is me and my peers. However, we must ask ourselves what can we do to serve our country. We must learn from our veterans selfless acts of service to lead and serve others. We must spread the word of the great sacrifices our veterans have made. We must also realize the importance of voting and encourage other younger members to vote and express their opinions. We must be the voice of democracy that reminds our friends and speaks to the world that our nation stands tall only due to the men and women who lived a life of sacrifice to our greatest nation.
Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi. “Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman and the Surrender of Japan.” Taking Sides: Clashing View in United States History. Ed. Larry Madaras & James SoRelle. 15th ed. New York, NY. 2012. 289-298.
Growing up as a millennial, I have always looked to the works of the baby boomers. Not only have the baby boomers paved the way for my generation, but they have also laid a foundation. As a result, this proves that the baby boomers have had a tremendous impact and vital value on the lives of the millennial generation. With that being said, the baby boomers deserve to be respected and should continue to be the idols of the present and future society. Unfortunately, sometimes that is not always the case. For instance, “some writers have been harshly critical of boomers as a group, describing them as selfish” (Moody and Sasser 2015, 455). That is to say, not everyone agrees that the boomers have had a positive impact on the American society. On
My generation is pushed to think big, achieve the unthinkable, break cultural barriers and speak up. America’s valuable gift of freedom allows my generation to never settle for average but to strive for excellence. Being an American gave me the right to receive a free education in great public schools.Without an education, our intelligence level wouldn’t be as it is as of right now. So my
The 1960's saw the emergence of the first of the baby boomer generation as late teenagers and young adults able to make their own lifestyle and value judgements. This generation had grown up in relative safety and generous circumstances with abundant work and many opportunities. The Vietnam War was not considered favourably by the younger generation who resisted conscription and protested about the reasons for the war. Many young people however went to the war and did their duty for their country but received little support from their own generation for this duty.
Every twenty to thirty years, there is a new generation that is born. Every generation is different and brings advances as well as challenges into the world. In 1945 a new generation was born and by the time it was through it would be the biggest that this nation has ever seen. The baby boomers had arrived in staggering numbers and were ready to take the world by force. They made major advances in technology and modern medicine helping build a bigger and stronger America, but now they are entering their elderly years. The baby boomers are now becoming the elderly boomers and are dependent on this generation to make even greater progress so that they can be taken care of. As we move forward there are many challenges we will to overcome, such
...chkey kids.” I can appreciate my senior citizens more because some of them fought in wars for my honor. I can appreciate the people who went through the civil rights movement, which are the Baby Boomers. All of these generations bring certain uniqueness to the world and each one should be appreciated for it.