Speaking of history

I have been reading a lot lately, which I'm glad about. One of the better ones I've read lately is this book - The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber. Unbelievable story of a guy in post-communist Hungary who takes up bank robbing to supplement his non-existent hockey player salary.

But that's not what I wanted to talk about. I've been interested in WWII a lot lately, and I came across a few books in the library that piqued my interest. I ended up reading this book, Duty, and Tom Brokaw's Greatest Generation back to back. I haven't finished the latter, but I've read enough to have formulated an opinion.

I know Brokaw's book has been hailed as the greatest thing since sliced bread. And I think the parts of the book where the subjects actually talk are wonderful. But, having read both, I would absolutely recommend Duty above Greatest Generation. I admit I've been conditioned over the last few years to think the MSM is evil, but I do think I gave Brokaw a shot. But his editorial additions to the book (his intro & in each chapter) make me think he was just ticking off his checklist of things to hit. Duty (written by Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene) is a much better book, and provides much more insight into the mind of that generation than Brokaw's ever could.

Part of that is the difference between focusing on one or two people vs. three pages each on a few dozen. But I think the rest of it is Brokaw's vision of what that generation was about rather than what they actually were. He starts in his intro about how critical these people were in the women's movement, in civil rights, Vietnam, etc. I don't know how true any of that is. I for one think that's a stretch - much of that generation were probably disturbed by most of those changes, though not enough to protest the changes in an obvious way. What I think is really going on is Brokaw thinks these are the critical events of the twentieth century; this is arguably the greatest generation in American history; ergo, this generation's work was to enact the greatest events of that century.

Greene to my mind really captures what made the WWII generation unique. A combination of personal responsibility, resourcefulness (based a lot on the effects of the Depression), and most importantly a deep sense of the greatness of the United States of America. Half of Greene's book is about Brig. General Paul Tibbets, the man who flew the Enola Gay to Hiroshima. Tibbets view of his actions there are as honest, honorable, and straightforward as I believe most of the WWII generation to be. It was a job that needed to be done to save lives and the right thing for the US. Tibbets was the best man to do the job. The job got done.

I feel like Brokaw would have gone on (perhaps he does - I haven't finished the book yet) about the advent of the nuclear age, the destruction man wreaks on man, wringing his hands the whole time. If I had to capture the spirit of the WWII generation (based only on reading, since I've never really known anyone who fought then), I think Greene got it right. No grand sweep of history, just the story of a father and his son, and the story of men doing what they need to do to preserve the freedom and lives of their countrymen.