Tom Brokaw‘s coined it “The Greatest Generation” those who preceded the Boomer Gen.
This weekend we remember many who fought those huge battles.
The way they carried themselves: smoking, shooting and even kissing in the streets of New York (celebrating victory).
Subsequent G.I. Bill made possible their going to college (many were into
engineering and management, having been exposed to the world beyond their immediate borders and compelled by much needed infra-structure projects). They weren’t the “Deer Hunters” of the later war.
Instead, they hit the books and started families, despite Post Traumatic Disorder Syndrome.
I was born later, but the previous generation seemed to have left some trails, very gentlemanly ones.
People tilted their hats, held the door, and smiled at neighbors.
I used to shine shoes for my dad, prepared his coffee and watched him interact with peers.
(I remembered seeing titles by Somerset Maugham, Saint Exupery and Ernest Hemingway around the house.)
They way he carried himself, the romantic incline and how he responded to crisis (w/courage).
Those were the times. I even secretly wished I had grown up much faster then.
Maybe deep down, I knew those happy times would be short-lived.
And true to form, history pulled a quick dialectic turn on me: I was tossed into the seas (literally) to stake out my life and time.
I “imagined” (all the people, living for today) while my hair grew longer than generation, before or after.
My counterparts in the US fled to Sweden and Canada,
while my upper classmates to Australia, US and France.
The Greatest Generation secured an industrial base strong enough to spill over to the next century.
Just try to have breakfast at one of those 50’s diners, and you will get feel for what it was like back then: sturdy counter,
pleasant hostess and full breakfast. Hate to say, but it was manly. Just like their days in war.
In French, it would be “le jour le plus longue”, whistling and marching to their destiny with bravery and grandeur.
Propaganda discounted, I would say, they staked out their places in history by living, fighting and rebuilding a society worthy of men.
We are all inheritors of their war-rebuilding efforts, and the least we can do is to salute and keep our shoes shined. Oh, and don’t forget to hold the door.
Thang Nguyen 555 