There is No "Greatest"
With Memorial Day approaching, I’m reminded that Americans have come to believe that one generation of soldiers, above all others, are most deserving of our respect. Dubbed “the Greatest Generation” by Tom Brokaw, the men and women who fought in World War II, either in Europe or the Pacific, are believed to have given more, suffered more, and are therefore owed more. I’m here to tell you otherwise.
I have just returned from accompanying my father to his 50th college reunion. He is of the class of 1960, West Point. He and his classmates believed in the cause of freedom; believed in a world that could be made better by their service, but they got stuck in a war of counter-insurgency in Vietnam, a war fought as much in the halls of Congress, on the nightly news and on college campuses as in the stifling jungles they found themselves in. They were no less heroic, brave, sacrificing or scared. They were as young, noble, prepared and yet unprepared to meet the challenges and horrors of war as any generation before or after them, but there were no tickertape parades. There was no V-Day.
Never mind that upon returning from war they repacked their gear, shipping off to defend Western Europe against Soviet expansion for another couple decades. I watched them on the parade field at West Point, standing in silent respect in a cold, steady rain, the Class of ’60, a grey and dying group of noble warriors, most of them out of uniform for longer than they were in it, standing with pride and dignity. They remembered their fallen comrades of 45 years ago. Memories of men who were cut down in their 20s are still fresh in these old soldiers’ minds.
Anyone who has seen combat will tell you there is little glory in war. It is harrowing and awful, forging bonds and creating memories that can never be escaped. It wakes them at night and haunts their days.
Whether our servicemen and women were defeating Hitler or establishing a school or clinic in a tiny village in Afghanistan, if they served, they deserve every honor we have to give. There is no “greatest.”
Dave Wilkie is an over-opinionated, under-educated, job-seeking advertising guy who blogs, tweets, dreams big and writes unmarketable books.
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I have just returned from accompanying my father to his 50th college reunion. He is of the class of 1960, West Point. He and his classmates believed in the cause of freedom; believed in a world that could be made better by their service, but they got stuck in a war of counter-insurgency in Vietnam, a war fought as much in the halls of Congress, on the nightly news and on college campuses as in the stifling jungles they found themselves in. They were no less heroic, brave, sacrificing or scared. They were as young, noble, prepared and yet unprepared to meet the challenges and horrors of war as any generation before or after them, but there were no tickertape parades. There was no V-Day.
Never mind that upon returning from war they repacked their gear, shipping off to defend Western Europe against Soviet expansion for another couple decades. I watched them on the parade field at West Point, standing in silent respect in a cold, steady rain, the Class of ’60, a grey and dying group of noble warriors, most of them out of uniform for longer than they were in it, standing with pride and dignity. They remembered their fallen comrades of 45 years ago. Memories of men who were cut down in their 20s are still fresh in these old soldiers’ minds.
Anyone who has seen combat will tell you there is little glory in war. It is harrowing and awful, forging bonds and creating memories that can never be escaped. It wakes them at night and haunts their days.
Whether our servicemen and women were defeating Hitler or establishing a school or clinic in a tiny village in Afghanistan, if they served, they deserve every honor we have to give. There is no “greatest.”
Dave Wilkie is an over-opinionated, under-educated, job-seeking advertising guy who blogs, tweets, dreams big and writes unmarketable books.
Labels: America, Memorial Day, united states military, veterans, West Point
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