The Greatest Generation

[Weasels wake]

A friend of mine sent this to me, so awesome, an outstanding example of the greatest generation.  It's to bad that all the vets didn't come back the same as this guy did, 91 years old and he totally gets it.

https://www.dvidshub.net/video/395572/jerry-yellin-world-war-ii-veteran-interview#.VTrr3KZ0yM8

[headmount]

Great point he made a few times about being one of 16 million that served.  When everyone is in on it then there is a sense of purpose and focus.  Like he also pointed out about women who made planes, tanks and amo, man the whole country was onboard.  The manner of serving now, where only a small segment does the work, and has done so since Korea, is one of the many problems associated with the military adventures our country conducts. 

Most people nowadays have no idea what is going on overseas.  In WWII, even with antiquated communications, everyone across the country was well briefed on every battle taking place, whose son was in it and the casualties that were taking place.  That was total war.  And the thing is that it's total war right now and many in the US don't even know it.  These extremists don't consider any of us innocent civilians.  We're all on their target lists, just as much as any uniformed soldier.

Stunning to see these old vets that survive so long.  Very rich.

[feet]

No doubt, the Greatest Generation is the best way of describing them. Between surviving the Great Depression and WWII and then pushing Civil Rights legislation; they remade the United States in the name of freedom.  Both of my grandfathers served in WWII, one a tail gunner in the pacific and the other on the USS Intrepid.  I only knew the one, and he was an amazing man that I miss dearly. 

Here in NJ, we have a 95 year old WWII Vet named Pat Tirotta that still gets up and goes to work every day.  He runs his own one-man roadside food stand.  I had the pleasure of eating there and talking with him several times.  Served in WWII in North Africa, D-Day and then the Battle of the Bulge, if I remember correctly. 

Here's a vid about him:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNvHqDsT2OI

[PonoBill]

Wow, great stories, both of them.

[jdmotes]

Great tribute! My Pop is 94 yrs young and served as a infantryman in France. He still, to this day, doesn't like to talk about those days. He just says he hopes and pray that none of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren experience what he had to experience...

[stoneaxe]

My father-in-law past about a year ago. He opened up a lot about what he experienced in the war in the last few years of his life. Amazing stories, I wish we had recorded an interview. A very different time and sense of purpose. Like Pat he was a small guy, barely 5' and 130 lbs, but that meant he fit into plane cockpits easily. He was the Civilian Military Corp when the war broke out....in the cavalry... . He was on his way in to enlist in the Army when he saw a pilot poster for the navy. Got his wings at Pensicola and was hunting German subs from a cruiser in the Caribbean and then late in the war a dive bomber in the Pacific. It was kind of shocking to see the emotional effect telling the stories had even so many years later. He would suddenly go silent and stare into the distance or a tear would form and you could tell he was thinking of something or someone too difficult to share even now (never saw him cry otherwise).

A great generation for sure but I think they seem so great only in comparison to the overly entitled generations that followed.

[headmount]

My father-in-law past about a year ago. He opened up a lot about what he experienced in the war in the last few years of his life. Amazing stories, I wish we had recorded an interview. A very different time and sense of purpose. Like Pat he was a small guy, barely 5' and 130 lbs, but that meant he fit into plane cockpits easily. He was the Civilian Military Corp when the war broke out....in the cavalry... . He was on his way in to enlist in the Army when he saw a pilot poster for the navy. Got his wings at Pensicola and was hunting German subs from a cruiser in the Caribbean and then late in the war a dive bomber in the Pacific. It was kind of shocking to see the emotional effect telling the stories had even so many years later. He would suddenly go silent and stare into the distance or a tear would form and you could tell he was thinking of something or someone too difficult to share even now (never saw him cry otherwise).

A great generation for sure but I think they seem so great only in comparison to the overly entitled generations that followed.

Yet they were the parents of those entitled generations that followed.  Parenthood is where the unheralded greatness hides.

[Weasels wake]

Pretty cool pics of WWII pacific planes found under water fairly well intact.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3073254/Stunning-pictures-reveal-hundreds-World-War-Two-aircraft-lost-70-YEARS-Pacific-Ocean-seabed.html
One of the pics~