The Greatest Generation

THE GREATEST GENERATION by JOHN M. ARRIBAS Many Have Called Them the Greatest Generation They Had Struggled and Survived, an Ugly Depression It Was an Era of Hard Times and Simple Diversions Like Bank Night, Singalongs and Picnic Excursions Band Concerts under the Gazebo, in the City Park Unemployment at Twenty Five Percent: Dismal and Dark Skilled Men Riding the Rails, Seeking Any Employment Being with Friends and Family Was the Best of Enjoyment Then Suddenly Jolted by an Unprovoked Attack Every American Rallied, as One, to Counterattack That Monday Morning Young Men Still in Their Teens Enlisted in the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines They Had No Taste or Training in the Art (Disease) of War Sunday at Pearl Harbor, Gave Them a Goal, Settle the Score Young Men Were Prepared to Sacrifice Their Lives In Order to Make Sure That, Our Freewill Survives They Were Raw Recruits from Every Part of the Land United in One Theme to Preserve Freedom, Make a Stand Many First Generation Born Americans, Free of Serfdom Whose Immigrant Parents Knew the Value of Freedom An Attack That Roused Patriots from Every State From Villages, Towns and Cities in the Forty Eight They Banded Together to Defeat Diabolical Forces They Died in Far off Places Before They Could Vote Death Fields Named Tarawa, Anzio, Monte Cassino Bastogne, Bataan, Omaha Beach, Okinawa and Iwo A Diabolical and Fanatic Enemy in the Pacific A Sinister and Sophisticated Foe in the Atlantic Marauding Wolf Packs, Sinking Thousands of Tons Fanatical Charges, Causing Bone Chilling Fears Assaulting an Island Against Dug in Forces Casualty Lists Told of the Mounting Losses Generation(2) Some Were Young Men from the Lower East Side Others from Florida, Idaho, Texas and Oceanside Stick Ballers from the Bronx and Queens They Came from Cornfields, Ranches, City Streets, Mines, Factories, Dairies with One Goal to Complete A Unified Force to Rid the World of Tyrannical Regimes Many Were Killed in Places Not Knowing its Name Called Midway, the Coral Sea, Peleliu, Kwajalein The Beheading of Pilots from Doolittle’s Raid All Atrocities Committed Were Sure to Be Repaid Corregidor and Bataan Were Reasons for Uniting To Defeat the Tyrannies That They Were Are Fighting On the Other Side of the World, Battles Ensued At El Alamein, Benghazi, Palermo , St. Lo, Salerno Ardennes, Caen, Utah Beach, Ramagen, Omaha Just to Name a Few Where Fellow Americans Paid For Freedom with Their Lives with Their Future And Their Sanity All for the Sake of Freedom Much Praise Can Be Heaped on the Fighting Men, but It Was the Home Front That Held Everything Together Men and Women Gave up Their Famed Careers to Join and Entertain the Troops. Service Men Were Invited by Strangers to Share a Meal. Victory Gardens Sprung up So Vegetables Would Go to the War Effort. Service Men Were Invited to Many Events. Civilians Came Home From Work, Rested a Bit: and Went to a Defense Plant for Four Hours or More. Children Knit Patches for Use as Blankets. Everything Was Rationed Yet They Managed to Share Autos, Gas and Essentials with Each Other. Service Men a Long Way from Home Were Made To Feel Welcome Where Ever They Were. Men to Old To Serve Volunteered for Any Duty That Was Essential To the War Effort. Women Did the Work of Men. The Entire Nation Was Focused on One Thing “Victory” When a Nation Comes Together in a Common Cause The Strength of Purpose Erases Most Flaws Despite Multiple Cultures, Origins and Nationality They Became the Greatest in the Spirit of Unity Yes in Deed. The Greatest Generation .