ANNIVERSARY – AT 10:58 A.M. ET:  This is the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the invasion of northern France by the Allied nations. 

I don't think Americans fully understand the contribution, and sacrifice, of the World War II generation.  No, not all of it was voluntary.  Americans did what they had to do, some with enthusiasm, some with reluctance, but at least they did it.  Prior to World War II that generation – which Tom Brokaw calls the Greatest Generation – fought its way through the Depression.  Many of the men and women who went to war after Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941 had already had lives of desperation.  Now they were called upon to risk, and, in many cases, give up those lives. 

After the war they built a remarkable nation, and yet kept it militarily strong, allowing us to win the Cold War without a new world war.  And, contrary to the ranting of some members of their children's generation, which was not quite great, they were not indifferent to the flaws in American society.  We forget that it was the Congressional votes of the Greatest Generation that passed the civil rights laws of the early 60s, which corrected historic wrongs.

Finally, for a generation of limited education, the Greatest Generation had impressive taste in popular culture.  They danced to the music of George Gershwin and Cole Porter, went to movies like "Casablanca" and "Gone With the Wind," helped create the original golden age of television.

In the 1960s the pathetically ignorant campus rebels advised their pals not to trust anyone over 30.  We now realize it was that generation over 30 that had saved the world, saved this country, and made it possible for those kids to enjoy the freedoms they so happily abused.

There are very few of the Greatest Generation left.  I calculated that the youngest World War II veterans are about 86.  It is impossible to think of the country without them.  They cannot be replaced.

June 6, 2014