He's old enough now that you can start to see the man emerging. Eight short years and he'll be of an age to storm beaches like those of Normandy or Iwa Jima. A lot has been said about the "G.I. Generation" and I won't deny it. But being a parent has taught me a side of the story under-reported in the history we've received.
When the news hit, a nation of parents held their breath until it hurt, hugged, wept, and then went back to work while they waited. What else was their to do?
Those were the children of the first great European war and that is why they tried to keep America out of the Second. They knew what they were sending their children in to and would have avoided it if that had been possible.
I wish I could have known them better. They were heroes in their own right. And if you think those G.I.s were the "Greatest Generation," best ask who it was that raised them with the stuff necessary to accomplish what they did.
