AFW, 555 for the parody, but with some reservations. While "The Greatest Generation" carries a lot of weight here in the US, it offends others that fought before the US even entered WW2. The Poles, French, Belgians, Brits, and Soviets all fought against the Nazis before 1942. Some were conquered quite easily by Blitzkrieg, but still fought valiantly, while Britain stood alone in 1940. Sure, it got Lend-Lease materials from the US, but it came down to the RN and RAF to protect the island against the KM and the LW. Germany's strength at sea was the U-boat menace, but Doenitz could never get the 300 U-boat presence he wanted in the N Atlantic to kill the convoys and starve Britain to death (as Churchill had noted). The LW, OTOH, had problems relating to bad choices of Goering and the RLM. The Bf 109 pilots had to cross the Channel and had 15 min of fighting time before having to turn back or face ditching in the N Atlantic. It had to protect the German bombers and still fight the Hurris and Spits. Then, it had to protect the Ju-87 Stukas too and even the bad Bf 110 which was supposed to back it up! The Fw-187 Falke was rejected for service as was Heinkel's He-100 record breaker. These fighters could have taken on the RAF easily, but the burden was beared by the Bf 109 alone and of course, Goering forbid Heinkel to build true 4-engine strategic bombers. So, Operation Sea Lion was postponed indefinately as Hitler turned to N Africa and the USSR, amassing the greatest land invasion in history for Barbarossa. But, again, the Army Groups were split-up and due to Mussolini's inability to handle Libya and the Balkans delayed the German invasion as they had to divert supplies to another theater- the MTO. The Germans reached the outskirts of Moscow by Dec 1941 but were forced back by a strong counter offensive due to divided groups, no strategic bomber to prevent industry transfer, and also was slowed by the 100s of thousands of Russian troops that surrendered in the advance. Germany simply did not have the bullets to just kill them outright, but had to move them to the rear for processing which slowed things down just as the mud did. America came in last in Dec 1941 and then Hitler blundered by declaring war on the US, leading to the "Germany First" policy!!! Germany then had to fight on 2 fronts against two industrial giants with massive amounts of troops and material resources. While the USN contributed highly to victory at sea, Britain (with the Poles and French) had broken Enigma through calculating machines and the first Allied computer Colossus unaware that Germany had invented the computer through Konrad Zuse in 1939 with the Z-1. The Germans kept changing the number of rotors and settings for Enigma, so several times the Allies had to re-break the codes. But it gave away the U-boat positions. The British also started the US atomic program with their program Tube Alloys in 1940 and 44 scientists sent to the US. Britain provided jet and radar information as well (highly secret at the time). And of course the Soviets fought the worst battles on their territory with severe losses- the most severe of the war with 30 million killed. The Germans lost N Africa, despite Rommel and the Afrika Korps, b/c Hitler never provided adequate supplies and numbers of divisions. In Russia, they lost Stalingrad b/c Hitler wouldn't allow the 6th Army to retreat and regroup or be resupplied properly. But then came Kursk and the Germans were doing well initially although outnumbered 2.5:1 in tanks. Stalin ordered them halted and so the Red tankers resorted to ramping! This slowed and then halted the Tiger advances. The fighting was savage. Add the various partisans of Europe and the Germans were futher drained resources. So did the Holocaust. Germany lacked the type of industry to fight total warfare and tried secret weapons reliance. Although this advanced science greatly, it was too little, too late and the Allies reaped the rewards. The USAAF together with the RAF bombed Germany mercilessly and yet Germany did not fold by Christmas 1944. Instead, they caused the "Battle of the Bulge" and ran out of gas and then were counter-attacked with force when the weather cleared. A risky gamble that did not pay off and then Hitler was in the bunker until his death, the Soviets by agreement reaching Berlin and taking it by May 3, 1945. Second Fuhrer Doenitz surrendered and May 8th was VE-Day. It took a group effort to defeat the Nazis and they lost due to superior numbers in Allied manpower and materials. The war was fought from Sept 1939- May 1945... not 1942-45.

I'll give you 5's for being most meaningful. i read the book by Tom Brokaw. He also mentions the pioneers of the women's movement and the reason it got started.

I think it's sort of understood that "Greatest Generation" means greatest generation in American history; not human history. Geez, no one would make that claim, least of all my parent's generation. They were a fairly humble group

Tom Brokaw wrote in his 1998 book The Greatest Generation, "it is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced. He argued that these MEN AND WOMEN fought not for fame and recognition, but because it was the "right thing to do."

AFW, no disrespect at all Sir, but that is a pretty arrogant thing to say given the generations of all times of all nations that fought and died for peace and to save mankind"- even from the Germans! Just the generation before fought the Kaiser and tried to establish a League of Nations b/c it was the "right thing to do!" And you cannot fault the Germans for their loyalty either as most were NOT members of the Nazi Party. The ideologies are far different but one could argue that they believed that they fought for what was perceived as "right" from their POV. That Greatest Generation also discriminated against minorities at home and their own Negro soldiers, and were anti-Semitic, restricting the immigration of Jews fleeing Nazi Germany pre-war and also knowing of the Holocaust sites and NOT bombing the rail lines or using SFs to liberate them. They also let Stalin take eastern Europe postwar per agreement and cheated Britain out of an atomic bomb even though Britain gave them Tube Alloys and 44 scientists in 1940 which was THEIR atomic program!!! And I could go on, sorry :(

What's arrogant...me, writing a parody?.....your comments don't make any sense, Rob....Tell Tom Brokaw he's arrogant...He coined the phrase...all I did was use his title as a theme for my parody.....So, write a letter to Tom Brokaw and complain...

No AFW, not you- Brokaw's statement about that generation. He might list the positive things they did, but of course there are negative things too. We have lots of ex-Soviets here in Sacramento, Ca. and they ask what that term means and get angry. Their generation faced the brunt of Nazi aggression and they lost 30 million winning the war from their side. They call WW2 The Great Patriotic War and won it in blood. The Germans butchered them and sought to exterminate them too as Htler hated Slavs almost as much as Jews. You see what I'm saying? US forces got into the war late and just cranked out war material for themselves and largely the Brits and some for the Soviets. All the intense fighting was East making D-Day through to Western Germany look like a leisurely stroll by comparison. And the USSR allowed women to serve as fighter and bomber pilots, snipers, tankers, and MPs. The West ignores this, taking the very stand of the Nazis postwar- "Better dead than Red" as originated from Goebbel's propaganda ministry. To many Russians the US and West are still capitalist, imperialist frenemies! Good parody and btw, I 555'd you earlier :)

Rob: AFW writes in his prologue, "'The Greatest Generation' is a term coined by journalist Tom Brokaw to describe the generation, WHO GREW UP IN THE UNITED STATES (caps mine) during the deprivation of the Great Depression, and then went on to fight in World War II, as well as those whose productivity within the war's home front made a decisive material contribution to the war effort." That should make it clear to any reader that what is meant is "the Greatest American Generation," and that is commonly understood. Do you have a problem with that being true?

Brokaw then expansively, and without evidence, writes, "it is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced." Yes, that is fatuous. If criteria are first defined, there have been the Greatest Russian, French, Dutch, English, etc., Generations. I would not include among those criteria the number of citizens killed by aggression; we should then need a book on the Greatest Tutsi Generation. Neither would I excuse belief in the Nazi ideology and loyalty to a criminal state a simple matter of POV. The next thing we'll see is you plumping for a Greatest German Generation.

Forged in the smithy of the Great Depression, young Americans fought side by side with their allies in two wars on opposite sides of the world. How many Germans fought alongside the Japanese on Okinawa? How many days before the war in the Pacific was over did the USSR join the battle?
You may try to disqualify Americans from having a Greatest Generation because of segregated forces and the internment of Japanese-American citizens. Welcome to the 1940s and the age-old claims of national security. By the way, the sons and daughters of the Russian Greatest regularly beat up Black African students at the University of Moscow in the 60s and 70s. And the Greatest Russian Generation's entry into Berlin was marked by an orgy of rape, leaving one Russian soldier to weep guiltily, "I am pig."

No, Rob, your attempt to downplay American greatness is another shoddy attempt to promote the alleged primacy of your countrymen.

@PG, no need to lecture me b/c I grew up with that GG that never mentions the Depression and even the PTO. They (esp Vets of WW2) pride themeselves as having fought the Nazis as their claim to eternal fame. So what? They did not do it alone and Germany was fighting on 3 fronts: ETO West, ETO East, and the MTO. THEY had to bail out the Italians in N Africa and the Balkans and then had to fight in Italy against those that switched sides in 1943. Germany at its height had an empire second only to the Roman Empire and certainly had the best overall technology and men with the greatest awards. No US soldier rates the German soldiers kill ratio of 8:1 nor Waffen SS of 12:1. No US flier stands anywhere near the German Experten and their scores of 100s, 200s, 300s- Hartmann at 352 kills greatest of all time. The Mustang as good as it was can't beat the Bf 109s scores and aces made (the Bf 109K-4 superior to it in performance and lethality in armament). And they introduced almost every component of modern battle, Blitzkrieg becoming Air-Land Battle and Combat 2000. Now, the next Gen works on Elektronische Krieg (fully integrated electronic warfare in real time). Save your "we beat the Nazis" so we were greatest nonsense. The USSR did all the real fighting in the east and Britain stood alone in 1940 and fended off the LW when they turned from military targets to civilian. Churchill worried about the U-boat menace as Dowding worried of FC's demise through attrition. Germany held the Continent and Britain had no way to get it back by itself. And if not from Britain as a staging area for D-Day the US could have never made it to the French beaches from the USM directly. The US was a material producer, the "Arsenal of Democracy" although some would argue that it was really "The Arsenal of Capitalism" the official religion of this nation. And you have no clue about German history and what being a true German is about. Their goal is to ultimately subjugate the entire world by force and the coming German Antichrist will do what the Kaiser and Fuhrer failed to do, plunging the world into the last great World War in which it will take Jesus Christ to destroy them at Armageddon. The GG were also just in their 20s and practiced just as much immorality as any generation from that time, many US corporations violating the trading with the Enemy Act. Companies like Ford, Alcoa, National Steel, Chase, DuPont, IBM, ITT, and a long list; indeed, the first German Amerika Bomber's (the Me-264) target list was provided by US companies through shared information. And in the last year of the war these companies and even the military conspired not to bomb select industries in Germany that had ties in the US, like giant I.G. Farben. You can bet that a lot of the stolen Reichs assets ended-up covertly transferred to the US. So, you still think that is great as a matter of character? The GG were just as flawed as any other. They were no Supermen. Germany had to be defeated by a group of nations and others like partisans that took 6 years in WW2 and Germany also consumed 10 years of the 20th century in war and destruction. I give credit where due for that effort but to say they alone did it is an outright lie and I will not support that. Germany also went through the Depression and the corrupt and weak Allied instituted Weimar Republic and when the Communists were fighting in the streets, where was this great US Generation to help? Nowhere. Hitler and the SA put them down and restored Germany to its greatness within 5 measley years and then waged war by 1939. What did the US do... sit it out until attacked at PH in Dec 1941. Bragging rights don't seem so glorious in this light, eh? And they were so morally outraged over German persecution that they discriminated against their own Japanese and Negro citizens and kept Jews out of the US from immingrating before and after WW2. What moral fiber! Save your speech PG. Just 5 years after VE-DAY and VJ-Day that generation was back in Korea and stalemated. The term "Greatest Generation" also led to the "USA Number One" nonsense that was crushed by 9/11 and now 2 losing wars later in Iraq and Afghanistan finds itself the reluctant Superpower which is not feared by the terrorists, the Chinese, and Russians. America is reduced to debtor nation that will fall from within.