I AGREE WITH TOM BROKAW – MY PARENT’S GENERATION IS THE GREATEST!*
Vol. 1, No. 12, August 29th, 2010
TITLE: I AGREE WITH TOM BROKAW – MY PARENT’S GENERATION IS THE GREATEST!*
S & R*N Vol. 1, No.1, August 29th, 2010
SAVE & READ* S & R* NEWS*
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MY LIFE & TIMES*
“The Greatest Generation” by Tom Brokaw is my book for this week. It got me thinking about my parents.
My folks were toddlers when the depression in the 30s hit. Life was hard then. They did not have any luxuries…they were lucky if they could get a good meal every day. They were both very young when in Italy, they had to face the horrors of World War II. However still old enough, they had vivid memories. Growing up, I heard tragic stories of their war time experiences. My parents suffered hunger, pain and fear. From one day to another, they did not know where they would get food and if they would live to see the sun rise the next day. I have often said that it’s hard for me to imagine how they got through it!
Once the war was over, my parents got married. In post war Italy, my father could not find work. Therefore, they decided to emigrate to Canada, the land of opportunity. Once here, they worked VERY hard and achieved much success. Although feeling loyalty to the land of their birth, they loved Canada – they made it their permanent home. When I was very young, my parents became Canadian citizens – I remember how so proud they were that day. Although highly proud of their rich Italian culture and heritage, my folks embraced Canada in its richness as well. Like the gum commercial, they were two (both Italian and Canadian) in one!
My parents are my all-time heros. My father was the best. He awakened very early and worked all day supporting his family, intent on giving us the chances that he did not have. Yet, on returning home each night, he assisted my mother; and more still, he was patient and loving with his children, who were jumping to get his attention. He was kind, gentle and also instructive. With my father, my mother had a real love affair of a marriage. She was my SUPERWOMAN – she worked SOOOOO hard. She did everything WELLLLLl She made the time to do everything. She worked outside the home and brought home a pay check. She ran an efficient household of a husband and four children. The home was meticulous. The meals were well- cooked and tasty. She was VERY watchful of the kids- she made sure that we were on the straight and narrow. She did it all; today, middle aged, I wonder: “How did she do it?” I get tired just thinking about it.
This said, due to author Tom Brokaw, I turned my thoughts to my parent’s generation overall. Here is some of what occurred during their lifespan. (I think that you should sit down, … it might take a while.)
(Stock market) Crash of 1929 (also known as THE GREAT CRASH and also Black Tuesday)
The Wall Street (United States) Crash of (October 29) 1929) was terrible. People were wiped out financially. Investors jumped out of windows to their death. It was the implosion, causing a chain reaction of world-wide proportions. It began a 10-year global depression.
Great Depression
It was launched after the Crash of 1929. It impacted onto the entire world and had severe effects, as for example, whether working or middle class or higher, personal incomes collapsed dramatically. Countries saw a major drop in profits and prices and also much lower tax revenue. International trade fell by one half. Unemployment in the U.S. sky-rocketed upwards to a lofty 25%, and in some countries, to the awful high of 33%. Businesses closed. Construction was very slow. Farming and rural areas suffered as crop prices sunk like a stone by 60%+-. Farms were lost. Homes were abandoned. People migrated to the over-crowded cities. Urban areas were hard hit, especially where heavy industry was situate. Soup kitchens became the common place for the hungry. It was bad…really bad.
It was the longest- 10 years, most widespread, and deepest depression of the 20th century. Now in the 21st century, economists point to it to show how bad things could get.
World War II
It was a worldwide military conflict, in which, all of the GREAT POWERS were involved. Churchill in the U.K. (and King in Canada ) and Roosevelt in the U.S. led the Allied countries. The Allies included the U.K. (inclusive of Canada, Australia, etc.), who fought early, suffered much, but never gave up. They were heroic as for example, during the siege in the Far East (Hong Kong, etc.), the Dunkirk escape, the Dieppe raid, the Battle of Britain, the North Atlantic (U-Boat) War, etc. , to name a few. France fought and was occupied and the hearty Free French and the brave underground kept fighting and along with the allies liberated their homeland. The Poles, Czechs, Italians, etc. sustained unimaginable horrors. The Soviet Union was invaded, and there was much devastation on their soil. The U.S.S.R. sided with the western democracies. The Yanks from the United States led by Eisenhauer, Bradley, Patton, Nimitz, MacArthur, etc. fought courageously alongside the U.K. troops led by Montgomery, etc., in North Africa, Middle East, Europe: D-Day on the Normandy beaches, Holland, Battle of the Bulge, Sicily with the brave Italian partisans, the Pacific: Midway, etc. The other side was the Axis, comprising rogue regimes: the Nazis in Germany, the Fascists in Italy plus the pre-war militarists of Japan, etc.
Never before in history was war so BIG, this with over 100 million military personnel mobilised. Countries put their total economic wherewithall in support of the total war effort. The Axis made civilians open season. The Holacaust happened and must NEVER be forgotten. This conflict was DEADLY! Lives lost are estimated to have been between 50 and 70 million. This was a NASTY time for all!
Korean war
The Korean War (1950–1953) followed the second world war and the surrender of Japan and after the division of the peninsula with the U.S. troops in the south and the Communists in the North.
Cold war
Churchill coined the expression, “Iron Curtain”. As the second world war was winding down, the U.S.S.R. was becoming dominant in the vacuum that was Eastern Europe. The Cold War is the conflict between the Communist nations led by the Soviet Union and the democratic nations led by the United States. The U.S. had the atomic bomb. The U.S.S.R. got it later. Missiles were built as delivery systems for the atomic bomb. It was a scary time. Dr. Strangelove was a movie that poked fun at a very unfunny situation. It was conceivable that a super power would start a conflict that could spell the end of the world.
Great Emigration (Post W.W. II)
From 1941 to 1950, 1,035,000 people emigrated to the U.S., including 226,000 from Germany, 139,000 from the U.K., 171,000 from Canada, 60,000 from Mexico and 57,000 from Italy. The (U.S.) Displaced Persons (DP) Act of 1948 finally allowed displaced people of World War II to start emigrating to America. Canada was another major destination. Palestine, now Israel was another. Lives were re-launched at this time.
Soviet 1956 Hungarian invasion
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was spontaneous. After an announcement by the ruling council to negotiate a withdrawal of Soviet forces, it changed its mind and moved to crush the revolt. On November 4th, a large Soviet force invaded Budapest and other regions of the country. These Soviet actions increased U.S.S.R. domination and fear all over Europe.
Vietnam war
The U.S. fought a war supporting the Southern regime as against the Communist North. The U.S. was afraid that other countries would fall into the Communist fold. It fought hard – but peaceniks objected. The U.S. did not win the war and casualties were 50,000 plus.
The U.S., nevertheless, declared a peace treaty and departed leaving Vietnam to the Communists. The U.S. and the world was deeply fragmented as a result.
Cuban missile crisis
This is also known as The October Crisis in Cuba. It was a stand-off between the nuclear super power of the U.S.S.R. as against the nuclear super power of the U.S. The U.S.S.R. was building missile sites in Cuba, just a mere miles from the U.S. homeland. The U.S. led by President J.F. Kennedy said NO! After a blockade and days when the entire world was at the precipice of the abyss, the U.S.S.R. by Nikita Kruschev ordered the removal of the weapons to which the U.S. objected.
THE AUTHOR
Tom Brokaw, born in South Dakota on Feb. 6, 1940, graduated from the University of South Dakota, earning a degree in Political Science. He started his career as an American television journalist. He hosted major NBC News programs: The Today Show, NBC Nightly News and Meet the Press. He has won awards. He is respected by colleagues and the public. In a few words, he is one of the best that TV has given us.
SERIES/COLLECTION
This thoughtful man, who has lived history, is an able author. His books include the following: (a) 1998 The Greatest Generation; (b) 1999 The Greatest Generation Speaks ; (c) 2001 An Album of Memories ; (d) 2002 A Long Way from Home: Growing Up in the American Heartland ; (e) 2006 Galen Rowell: A Retrospective – Foreword by Tom Brokaw; (f) 2007 Boom!: Voices of the Sixties Personal Reflections on the ’60s and Today .
THE BOOK: “The Greatest Generation” by Tom Brokaw
The book is about Americans who matured during the Great Depression and fought World War II. “The Greatest Generation” is a term coined by Tom Brokaw. Their achievement was growing up in the U.S., doing without at the time of the Great Depression, and then fighting the good fight in World War II and also building America, and its increasing productivity and growing GNP output on the home front. It is a book, an everlasting testament to the sacrifice and achievement of a generation, of which my parents were and are a part. Read this suberbly written book; and learn about their times, real lives lived and the great things done because: they had to be done and someone had to do it. You will also want to pay tribute to these remarkable people. Indeed, Franklin Delano Roosevelt said: “This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.”
CONCLUSION
Get ready world – I have a conclusion;
Get set – you might not like my message; and
Go – Listen up – it’s important!
My personal comments
This GREAT generation had too much to bear during their lifetimes. And yet they overcame all and they did it all!
The point
We owe our parent’s generation respect and homage. As they age, it is our duty to see that their well-being is assured. We, the Baby Boomers are the sandwich generation. I am now walking in those shoes.
I exhort my generation mates to extend respect and solace to the GREATEST GENERATION. The time is now – they are aging as I write. They need your attention NOW! I am not telling you to do as I do, to the extent as I do. All I am saying is “DO!”. Make time to visit and/or call on the phone. Also, make sure that they have food, shelter and personal care. If they are not self-sufficient, step up to the plate. If you are without funds, give of your time liberally …after work hours if need be. Do not pass the buck to another sibling, organize the care as needed. If able financially, write a cheque and further cheques as needed.
“Why?” I answer: “First, because they deserve it. Second, because you will feel better for it now and especially after they are gone. Third, your children are watching – what you do now will pay dividends or give you cause for regret later when you are at the stage of life of receiving aid due to your old age.”
Finally, I say DO IT because it is the right thing to do!
Take it out for a spin and tell me if you agree.
And that’s my thought of the week on books, what’s yours? *
ALP
CREDITS
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