Quoting Srehtims:

Quote:
THX Rifter.

Yesterday, last night, I was watching some of the movies from the “World War II Collection, Vol. 2 - Heroes Fight for Freedom (36 Hours / Air Force / Command Decision / Hell to Eternity / The Hill / Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo).”
I thought about Hollywood and sports stars of that generation and greedy and whiney “me” generation of today’s stars. The likes of a Pat Tillman are few and far between.

I was in grade school during WWII. My father, his sister US Army nurse (retired) and my mother’s brother,were all in WWII. In fact almost every kid my age I knew had at least one or more close relative in WWII.

A bunch of my friends were setting around talking about the state of the world and where it’s heading when subject came up about the greatest generation. One of friends said if they were the greatest generation then we are the luckiest generation. The rights and freedom the greatest generation fought is slowly being eroded away and the people of today don’t have a clue, they’re to busy wanting.

We didn’t drive to school unless you on had school work permit. We all had summer jobs. If we want something, we worked for rit. We didn’t have cell phones or ipods. We didn’t have a car unless we bought and paid for it and the insurance. We didn’t have math or English for idiots in college. We didn’t get into college unless you could pass the tests. If things didn’t go right for us, we didn’t drive by shooting at people. Run in gangs or riot. We were expected to be polite and respect other people’s property. In school if you had a problem with somebody you were taken to the gym, you put on the gloves and had it out man to man. You know it didn’t kill us.

The greatest generation not only fought war but went through the depression.
They looked out for others and their children and if you did something wrong they saw to that you didn’t get away with it. I get so tired of people covering for their kids when they commit a crime. I was told if you get into trouble and go to jail, you stay there..

Most of people of the greatest generation never got to take a vacation until they were too old or sick to really enjoy it.

What that generation also did for mine:
We didn’t have war, hell I was in the military four years and never even had a gun. We had good jobs, were able to retire comfortable, own our home, put our children in college, etc. They made it easy for my generation. And each succeeding generation has made it easier and easier. Too easy.

The greatest generation made it pretty easy for me. I don’t think the generations that have followed haven't done a good a job preparing each of the succeeding generations. We’ve made it too easy.

My mother once told me that if you do something for somebody that they should do for themselves (not to be confused with helping some one), they don’t appreciate it they just think you’re s sucker. That, my friends, is the reason socialism doesn’t work. The hole just gets deeper and deeper as more people want more and more with out working for it. It’s like a pyramid scheme. You have to give up more and more of your rights and freedom.
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If you want your rights and freedom, you have to be willing to fight to keep them.

No problem.  I enjoyed reading the responses.  For me, those anniversary dates have a deep and special meaning.  I always spend them watching the appropriate movies as a way to pay homage to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country, and for all those who helped in some way to support them.  My dad just turned 83 in March, and has Alzheimer's.  He was an anti-tank gunner on a 75mm split-tail during the war, traveling all over France and the low countries, and into Germany in the last big push before the capture of Berlin.  We're losing these guys at the rate of over a 1,000 a day the last I heard, so I don't expect him to be around much longer.  Its hard to watch someone you love and respect slowly fade away.  I was planning to take his medals and put them in a presentation case to give to him, but he can't remember much about the war or anything beyond high school these days.  He truly was a hero though, with a Purple Heart, two Bronze Stars, and a Silver Star, and campaign medals for Europe and Pacific theaters, and for Japanese Occupation duty.  He would've been in the first wave of troops going ashore in Japan under Operation Olympic if the a-bomb hadn't ended the war.  I've always tried for years to get him to write down the details of his service, but he would never talk about the war beyond the odd funny story and travelogue type stuff - none of what really mattered - and now he can't even if he wanted to.  What a tremendous loss to history.

Damn, its getting a bit too sloppy around here.   

i've lot's of respect and i'm very thankfull to all these people for their sacrifice ... i also have a think to my family members dead in WWII (my grand grand father & mother with their daughter ...)

Here, here bb and this applies to our current military as well. Hooooooha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for your service and your sacrifice.


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