The Greatest Generation

Rating:
Summary: Mr.Brokaw concentrated too much on officers
Review: Mr. brokaw couldn't possibly imagine the conditions under which most young men were living when called upon to save their nation.Mr.Brokaw found mostly officers to interview,most of whom went into the service as officers,and later became politicians. Where are the uneducated,poverty stricken youths who went into the armed forces,fought and died for their country, and, those who survived,returned to their former lives little better off than before being drafted? The author never mentioned the fact that machinery is always in place to keep our rich youths out of the service,making their service in our armed forces strictly voluntary; and always as officers,most-repeat-,most of whom never heard a shot fired,the exception proving the rule

Rating:
Summary: A Generation of Whiners
Review: Sorry to say it, but this was (and is) a generation of brave individuals who now grumble relentlessly about how "kids today never had to work for anything, everything was just handed to them." Right -- and they had to walk 50 miles to school everyday through the snow. Listen: I'm a Boomer. My parents had nothing -- nothing! Everything I have, I've worked damned hard for! And I had the common sense to stand up and speak out against Vietnam. Ask the Greatest Generation how they spoke out against McCarthyism, racism, intolerance, bigotry and the like. This is a revisionist view of history -- the winners pounding themselves on their backs, and looking down on everyone else. Tom Brokaw should be ashamed of his lack of journalistic objectivity.

Rating:
Summary: I FEEL IT SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR ALL UNDER AGE OF 40
Review: IT SEEMS TO MANY OF US THAT AMERICA IS GOING DOWNHLL. OF COURSE THE YOUNG HAVE BEEN HEARING THAT FROM OLD FOLKS FOR A LONG TIME. HOWEVER, IF THOSE UNDER 40 WERE FORCED TO READ THIS BOOK ALONG WITH THIER CHILDREN, I FEEL ALL OF US WOULD BE BETTER OFF. IT SEEMS AS A NATION, WE HAVE LOST THE SENSE OF LOYALITY, HONOR, INTEGRETY, SHAME, AND WORK ETHIC THAT WAS SO VISABLE IN THIS GENERATION THAT SHOULD BE HONORED. WE WOULD ALL DO WELL TO EMULATE THEIR VALUES AND PAY HOMAGE TO THEIR MEMORY INSTEAD OF JUST SAYING THEIR TIME IS GONE. AS LONG AS THE FLAG WAVES, THEIR TIME IS NOT GONE AND WE SHOULD ALL BOW DOWN AND GIVE THANKS THAT THEY WERE HEAR TO HANDLE THE PROBLEMS AS THEY DID. GOD HELP US ALL IF THE SAME PROBLEMS WERE FOSTERED ON TODAYS GENERATION.

Rating:
Summary: Enhanced respect for extended family of this generation
Review: This book highlights, so well, the life of our family during wartime. Having lived on an army base during WWII, I have memories of black outs, rationing, etc., but this book highlights for me , additionally, the strength of my parents, my aunts and uncles during that wartorn time. Recommend additional reading of HUGHITT STREET, author, Packy Eckola,

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed!
Review: Americans reviewed EXTREMELY worthy--Just that there was no depth--more like a sound byte. And most of the stories came from American soldiers from the Midwest who were fighting in Europe. Hey,there were southerners, and there also was a PACIFIC War. Tom whom I adore and admire can do better than this!!

Rating:
Summary: Racists, Mysogenists, Homophobes , the greatest generation?
Review: This book is sooo one-sided ! Brokaw is just trying to cash in on that generation's need to pat itself on the back for a job NOT well done. This book should have also told of the people (most of them) who made this country a living HELL for Blacks,Gays,Immigrants, Jews, etc. Mr. Brokaw forgets that Blacks went war and died for this country at a time when this country thought of them as less than human, and in no way were they treated like humans. Yet they fought and died for an American dream they weren't even a part of. Think about that for a moment. I am appalled at Brokaw's one-sided view of the WWII Generation. These people were bigots, racists, mysogenists, homophobes, they were narrow-minded, and religious fanatics/zealots! If these people were the greatest generation, we can all just give up now ! He says in this book that they did not question anything, that it was a matter of loyalty to their country. Well to this I say, its because they were such a brainwashed, non-thinking generation, that they did whatever they were told just like a bunch of sheep being led to slaughter. They looked-down on individualism, and civil rights for ALL Americans. One reader stated that Brokaw is writing about a time when America was united. My response to that is, TOO BAD THEY WERE UNITED IN HATRED,and RELIGIOUS FANATICISM ! Thank God their time is up and the racism and bigotry that they cherished so is now dying. May NO generation mimick the behavior of this horrible generation.

Rating:
Summary: Thank you Tom
Review: The recent attention WWII has received, through new novels like "War of the Rats" OR movies like "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Thin Red Line" have made me grateful that those of us who answered the call in 1941 haven't been forgotten. I am not an admirer of Tom Brokaw, but I read "The Greatest Generation" with a growing sense of respect for the man. He has a political bias I can't abide but in lending his time and name to a book such as this he has won a grudging degree of respect from me. This is a good book, well worth reading, especially for those younger people who think the 1980's was a long time ago. If it weren't for the 500,000 Americans who died to preserve freedom in WWII we would all be in sorry shape indeed.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: Brokaw's book highlights a great generation of people. If you don't agree, don't read the book. If you think these people were the "worst generation", remember that they were the last to defend this country before the current trend of "draft dodgers" (example #1 - the president). I enjoyed reading their stories and I'm thankful that these people are our history. If you don't respect this generation and their sacrifices, you won't enjoy the book.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely the greatest!!
Review: I was only 10 at the time of Pearl Harbor but had a brother who served in the Navy - I have read a lot about WWII but I really appreciated the way Tom Brokaw pointed out the results of the depression having such an effect on these people also. I was born during the depression but grew up in the after-effects that my parents carried with them to the end of their lives. It was a very precarious time. Thank you Mr Brokaw for putting all of this in such a readable book.

Rating:
Summary: Run - don't walk - away from your favourite bookstore ...
Review: This was not the greatest generation. This was the last bigoted generation. Bigotry today exists in smaller and smaller pockets, hangovers from the generation Brokaw prostrates himself to. My older friend tells me that she likes working with younger men than her own generation because she gets treated like an equal instead of a subordinate. Says it all really - the greatest generation doesn't even like itself. Is Tom Brokaw out to make a buck with the old 'it were better in my time' malarkey, or is he stupid? Given that he is already very wealthy, and has never before struck me as an idiot, I'm going for the only other option - he wanted more limelight. By the way, the book was repetitive. If they were that great, why weren't there more examples to call on than the same schmaltz delivered time and again.