Rating: 
Summary: He nailed his main theme pretty well.
Review: Tom's book was a good read. Overall I would rate it as "ok". He nailed his main theme pretty well. The people who fought the war and suffered all of it's horrors came home afterwards and went quietly about their business without fanfare and with no complaining or demands for retributions. That was certainly true to a large extent. However, there actually was a good deal of fanfare and celebration when they arrived home. There was also a huge effort on the part of the government to provide medical assistance and educational opportunites, a point that Brokaw covers but not with the emphasis that it deserves. The G.I. Bill of Rights was probably the finest and one of the most far-reaching government benefits ever conceived. There were also considerable efforts in towns and communities throughout the country. Efforts on the part of private citizens, businesses, churches and other community organizations to welcome home the veterans and to help them get re-established. I know from my own experiences as a youngsterr of 15 that many good deeds were done by many good people. Indeed it was a great generation and those who returrned from the war were magnanimous in their victory. But Brokaw misses a great opportunity to properly credit the millions of ordinary men who were most instrumental in winning the victory and rebuilding their lives and their country in the aftermath. He prefers instead to cite those who became famous and wealthy, those who became well known politicians and those who suffered discrimination on top of their other trevails. Discrimination was a problem during the war but was not the practice of most people, as Brokaw's narrative seems to suggest. In fact the problem was addressed in many ways during the war. A look at today's military will show that the "greatest generation" did not ignore the problem but faced it head on. Today's military exemplifies non-discrimination; a point not mentioned by Brokaw. Brokaw's victims and other non-ordinary folks certainly did their part but by anyone's count, the war was fought and won by ordinary men doing extraordinary things. Of the forty people cited by Brokaw only eight are in this category. As a result this book gives a slanted and inaccurate picture of who did what to whom and for whom. I think of my brother-in-law Jigger and my Uncle Bill and others who I knew who fought in the war and experienced it's horrors and who returned to their homes their families and their work and who demanded nothing but freedom to do so. I expected Mr. Brokaw's book to filled with the stories of such people but there were only eight. The rest was whining about discrimination or extolling the virtues of the rich and famous who were privileged to serve with the ordinary (who really weren't so ordinary). I can't help concluding that Mr. Brokaw dropped the ball at the one-yard line. With two out bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Mr. Brokaw struck out. The truly great book about the generation of World War II is yet to written. Donald R. MacDonough
Rating: 
Summary: Paying Tribute to Brave Americans
Review: I recommend this excellent book of true stories from the memories of brave men and women and their families who lived thru the great depression and fought in the second world war. Tom Brokaw walked the beaches of Normandy with American veterans who had returned for the fortieth anniversary of D-Day. He was inspired to reach out and collect individual stories from those difficult years so we will never forget the horrors of that war, the sacrifices by our service men and women and their families, and the results that followed. Finally, a memorial to this generation has been dedicated in Washington D.C. on this, the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day. THE GREATEST GENERATION should occupy a place in our home library, among the works of other historians. You will recognize some of the people in this book, you will be amazed at the achievements and the courage of these ordinary people who survived a perilous time in American history, and you will reflect on your own memories of that time if you are "over sixty". The author acquaints us with some of his own family history and why he feels it important for us to be forever grateful to all those who defend our American freedom and democracy. I thoroughly enjoyed this well researched and well written book.
Rating: 
Summary: Preachy, dumbed-down stories with no spirit or innovation
Review: I really looked forward to this book, based on my respect for Tom Brokaw and what I had heard. Unfortunately, he makes his point with a sledgehammer, telling sapppy stories with the same theme over and over, spoon feeding you the point, in case you somehow missed it. Grandma and Grandpa were great, generous, self-sacrificing gods and goddesses, and here are a thousand treacly repetitive stories why. This book condescends to the reader, unfortunately, probably with all good intentions but annoying results. I wasn't able to finish this book, and that's rare for me.
Rating:
Summary: Still leaning left
Review: I've read and interviewed several WWII veterans none of them are the liberials that Brokaw tried to make them out as nor has any said to me they fought to further a welfare state. Good stories, great people but be real and stay out of left field
Rating:
Summary: Things I lerned from this book
Review: We had John Wayne movies every time we looked. Tom Brokaw went further. He actually talked and wrote about the soldiers who saved the United States from tyranny. My two Great Uncles served in WWII. Uncle Tom would always tell a story, but the stories had a comic ending. Uncle Tom never talked about the War. Tom Brokaw, although he could never see the full picture from the soldiers side, has several books about WWII, and he also learned what it was like . For instance, when the Enola Gay dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, he was talking to the pilot of the Enola Gay. One thing that was learned was those two bombs that hit Japan were extremely difficult for the pilots. Tom Brokaw has done exceptional work with all he has done since joining NBC, and finding the time to write books.
Rating: 
Summary: Extraordinary accomplishments from ordinary people
Review: "The Greatest Generation" is an inspirational collection of short histories about various individuals who served in various roles during World War II. Included is not only stories of soldiers, but also the wives and families left home, some who helped take up the slack in the workplace; the Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps; and famous people who served. Mr. Brokaw says as a group they generally held high standards of moral values and because of this strength they were able to pull together and defeat the greatest threat to freedom in modern times. Although usually reluctant to discuss their wartime experiences, there are many stories shared here of battlefield experiences, as well as what became of these people after they returned home and tried to make up for lost time.
My appreciation for what these men and women did increased. Reading their stories of what they experienced and the trials they faced was very motivational. The only part that I felt wasn't on par with the rest of the book was when it discussed the celebrities and some of the famous politicians (some of whom appeared to have done nothing noteworthy during the war). But other than that it was very inspirational to read about these "ordinary" people who did extraordinary things, both during and after the war. It helped me gain a greater appreciation for my grandparents and those of their generation.
Rating:
Summary: A moving tribute to a generation's accomplishments
Review: While there are a great number of books about World War II and the men who fought it, this book goes beyond the war itself, and describes the origins of the people profiled, as well as their accomplishments and lifes after the war. I had never really thought through the implications of growing up during the Depression and then mobilizing for the war effort, and how these experiences led to the changes the members of this generation brought about in our society. This book does just that. I developed a deeper appreciation for the ways the experiences of their youth led to the later accomplishments of that generation.
This book is a tremendously respectful tribute to the men and women who grew up during the Depression, and came of age during the second world war. Whether they were destined for greatness or fame, or were ordinary citizens, this book provides insights into these remarkable lives and shows the lasting effects of those early life experiences. I have often wondered how I would have reacted had I been faced with challenges such as those faced by Brokaw's "Greatest Generation." I am thankful that I have not been asked to make such sacrifices, but I also wonder if that lack of a "trial by fire" won't have a long term impact on the accompishments of my generation.
Rating:
Summary: "The Greatest Spending Generation?" by RexCurry.net
Review: Very interesting book. Another fascinating aspect of the book is that on D-day of 2004 Tom Brokaw, anchor and managing editor of the top-rated "NBC Nightly News," and Rex Curry, lawyer and libertarian commentator, were the first and only journalists honored for exposing the "National Socialist German Workers' Party" to the public in Google News' search engine on D-Day of 2004. On that date, June 6, 2004, and for 30 days thereafter Google News showed only Brokaw's and Curry's use of the full phrase in Google News archives. Google News selects from 4,500 news sources updated continuously.
On June 6, 2004 the google news search (a search of any use on any date of Google's 30 day news search frame that Google news maintains) for the full phrase revealed only six uses, five belonging to Curry and one belonging to Brokaw. Brokaw's use was posted as a book review at MSNBC and was not actually a "news" item. All of the other uses were by Curry reporting on widespread ignorance about the full phrase, about the Pledge of Allegiance, and leading to Curry's historic news-making story that the U.S. Pledge was the origin of the salute of the horrid National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazis).
This acheivement was pointed out to other news journalists nationwide, who were invited to join Brokaw and Curry as the only journalists to educate the public about the full phrase in the news media on D-Day. During that time news journalists could have taken third place, or made the top ten.
In comparison to the above, Google News indicated that the hackneyed shorthand "Nazi" had 9320 results from various news writers who all failed to ever mention the actual name of the monstrous Party.
The search above can be replicated on any date by comparing the Google search results for "Nazi" with the search results for the full phrase "National Socialist German Workers' Party." For example, a recent search on a random date gave 5,740 uses of "Nazi" and only 3 uses of the full phrase.
Here's the excerpt that did it for Brokaw: "In Germany, a former painter with a spellbinding oratorical style took office as chancellor and immediately set out to seize control of the political machinery of Germany with his National Socialist German Workers party, known informally as the Nazis. Adolf Hitler began his long march to infamy."
Rating:
Summary: Paying Tribute to Brave Americans
Review: I recommend this excellent book of true stories from the memories of brave men and women and their families who lived thru the great depression and fought in the second world war. Tom Brokaw walked the beaches of Normandy with American veterans who had returned for the fortieth anniversary of D-Day. He was inspired to reach out and collect individual stories from those difficult years so we will never forget the horrors of that war, the sacrifices by our service men and women and their families, and the results that followed. Finally, a memorial to this generation has been dedicated in Washington D.C. on this, the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day. THE GREATEST GENERATION should occupy a place in our home library, among the works of other historians. You will recognize some of the people in this book, you will be amazed at the achievements and the courage of these ordinary people who survived a perilous time in American history, and you will reflect on your own memories of that time if you are "over sixty". The author acquaints us with some of his own family history and why he feels it important for us to be forever grateful to all those who defend our American freedom and democracy. I thoroughly enjoyed this well researched and well written book.
Rating:
Summary: They saved the world...and built modern America......
Review: The term Greatest Generation might smack of journalistic hyperbole or nationalistic jingoism, but the more I read the works of Stephen E. Ambrose (D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II, Band of Brothers) or watch any of the documentaries about World War II -- especially on this 60th Anniversary of the D-Day landings and other landmark battles of history's largest clash of arms -- that will air from Memorial Day till June 6, the more I am inclined to agree with Tom Brokaw's use of that term to describe the men and women who came of age in the 1930s and '40s and created modern America. Brokaw, one of America's best television journalists and anchor of NBC's Nightly News, not only coined the phrase "the Greatest Generation" when he wrote this amazingly fascinating and inspiring collection of personality profiles of men and women, some famous (Bob Dole, Julia Child, George H.W. Bush), some not-so-famous but prominent (Norman Mineta, Daniel Inouye), and some neither prominent nor famous yet vitally essential (Leonard Lomell, Jeanette Gagne Norton) who either saw combat, contributed to the war effort, or endured the hardships of being separated from loved ones without succumbing to fear or giving in to selfishness or self-pity. In the same concise yet utterly convincing style of his network news writing, Brokaw draws the reader into his chronicles of 50 men and women whose experiences encompass a wide spectrum of the American World War II experience. He captures, for instance, humorist Art Buchwald's seemingly unlikely stint as a Marine in the South Pacific, at first (and almost disastrously) loading ordnance onto Marine Corsair fighter-bombers, then more wisely reassigned to work on the squadron's newsletter and drive trucks. In five pages, Brokaw wonderfully gets the essence of Buchwald's satiric-yet-gentle personality, while at the same time revealing that the least-likely-to-be-a-Marine was given a parade by then-outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Colin Powell. The Greatest Generation is full of vivid personality profiles like Buchwald's. Some, such as that of Len Lomell, highlight bravery in combat; others are like Jeanette Gagne Norton's, whose husband Camille Gagne was killed in Holland during Operation Market-Garden. The recollections Brokaw presents here are full of drama and laughter, of happiness, love, and sometimes shame, but there is no bitterness or self-pity. For these are the men and women that saved the world from tyranny...and made our country what it is today.
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