The Greatest Generation. - Review - book review

Aerospace Power Journal,  Summer, 2000  by Robert Stroud

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It should come as no surprise that The Greatest Generation has continued its reign on the best-sellers lists as long as it has. Brokaw's tribute has struck a resonant chord in America. We are a land hungry for heroes--and heroes are exactly what he provides us. But these heroes are common folk not all that different from us, aside from the fact that they were products of a generation and culture that equipped them to pass tests of personal character at least as great as any challenges we have known. For his tribute to this pivotal American generation and the consequent resurgence of a recognition of the value of patriotism, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society bestowed its Patriot Award on Brokaw.

The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw. Random House (http://www.randomhouse.com), 201 East 50th Street, New York, New York 10022, 1998, 390 pages, $24.95.

What makes this passing generation unique? How can the author justify labeling it our "greatest"? Furthermore, if these people were truly so exceptional, is there any way in which we can recapture a portion of their legacy today? These are the questions this volume explores. In 41 brief chapters, Brokaw provides biographical snapshots of more than 50 members of the generation who entered adulthood as the world endured the flames of the Second World War. He argues persuasively that the values and fabric of our nation--despite its imperfections--equipped these women and men to face enormous challenges and overcome obstacles, even as they expended their sweat and blood to protect and extend democracy and freedom.

Rather than downplay the differences among Americans in the first half of the twentieth century, Brokaw acknowledges that they came from diverse social and geographic backgrounds: "They were not lockstep in their ideologies. Their varied views on social, diplomatic, and military questions" were particularly manifest in their postwar contributions to our nation's development (p. 330). This is an important message of the text. The sacrifices and labors of many of the individuals whose lives were tested by this global conflict continued to build the United States into the world's foremost power, even as the echoes of gunfire and explosions dimmed in their memories. But they did not forget entirely, as we are reminded by Charles Van Gorder, a surgeon in the 101st Airborne who participated in the D day invasion: "I have flashbacks of the war every day. You can't get it out of your mind" (p. 35). Sustained by his faith in God through combat and captivity, this hero describes how he and his fellow surgeons operated nonstop for 36 hours, until "finally I got so tired my head fell down into an open abdomen" (p. 28).

Brokaw goes to great lengths to affirm that the nobility of this generation is not restricted to its combatants. People on the home front pitched in to do their share and work toward victory. He also mentions (repeatedly) that this generation was not without its flaws, particularly "the stains of racism that were pervasive in practice and in policy" (p. 183). For some readers, the validity of this sad truth would be more powerful if Brokaw mentioned it less frequently in his narrative and allowed the far more persuasive testimonies of its victims to stand on their own stark merit. A case in point is the shocking story of Sgt Johnnie Holmes, who "encountered real, bitter racial hatred and segregation for the first time" when he arrived for training in Kentucky. Brokaw records that "Holmes is persuaded that Fort Knox dentists experimented on the black soldiers. He remembers being strapped in a dentist chair and getting his teeth drilled with no novocaine" (p. 195).

Due to the large number of individuals whose stories are told in this book, it is no exaggeration to say that The Greatest Generation includes something for everyone. Some will find the combat stories inspiring, and others will be moved by the many stories of love and fidelity. Still others will find the postwar accounts of community service and a strong commitment to a profound work ethic particularly intriguing. Some will see parallels between these stories and the lives of their parents and grandparents; others will have their eyes opened to a panorama of patriotism heretofore unseen.

Although the overall tone of the book is serious, as befits a discussion of war, its pages provide ample occasion for humor. Likewise, it includes a number of surprises, such as the tale of Julia Child, who found herself ineligible for the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) due to her height (six feet, two inches). Eventually, she worked her way into the Office of Strategic Services and ended up in Bombay, India. Child, now in her eighties, relates that sailing aboard a troopship was quite memorable: "The trip was quite jolly. There were not very many women and lots of boys" (p. 301). Art Buchwald and Andy Rooney also share their unique insights into military life. The book includes the stories of a number of people with recognizable names, but the majority of experiences are recounted by average people-not too different from us.