The Greatest Generation

THE GREATEST GENERATION ?

A Speech by Greg Morgan

Presented to the Desert Wind Toastmasters club, 10/14/2004

Tom Brokaw called them The Greatest Generation … those who grew up during the Depression, won World War II, and built the modern America. That’s quite a claim. A claim that they were greater than the generation that fought the Revolutionary War, than the generation that fought the Civil War, the generations that fought the Spanish-American War, World War I, Korea, Vietnam, the first Gulf War, and the current war on terror. Also that they were greater than those generations which built decades of peace and prosperity. Were they truly The Greatest Generation? Let me introduce one man from that generation, and let each of you decide for yourselves.

This man was raised in swamp-east Missouri, on a farm, by his grandparents because his mother died when he was barely more than born. The area was poor before the Depression, and the Depression started before he was ten. When he was eight, he was given a .22 rifle and a box of shells. It was his job to bring home game for the family table. If he brought in 45 animals from each 50 shot box, he got enough money to buy another box of shells. If not, he had to earn the difference. He became a good shot – or else. As a teen, he earned money by clearing canal banks, to drain those swamps, in the heat and humidity of the midwest. He once visited a friend at dinner time, and found on the table one pot of beans, mustard, and a pan of corn bread. That was far less than he normally had, but most people in the county lived on such fare. He grew up tough, strong in body and in mind.

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, he signed up for the Navy. As basic training ended, people came around asking for volunteers, for “the toughest and most dangerous job in the Navy”. This tough man was quick to volunteer. The training was for the Underwater Demolition Teams, and that training was tough. Toward the end, the trainers would continue the daily physical training until someone was exhausted enough to drop out. After a friend was the one to drop out, this man decided enough was enough, and challenged the trainer. They ran and did push ups and pull ups until the trainer dropped out. That ended that practice - at least in his training class.

In one operation, the team did their mission well. On the way out, one of his friends got such bad cramps that he could not reach the pick up point on time. This man pushed his friend out, even though he knew that the boat would only make one pass to pick up the team. More important, the underwater blast from the mine they had set caught them before they got out of the harbor. The blast injured his back so badly that he had trouble getting his friend the rest of the way to the pick up point. His body protected his friend from the blast. Fortunately, the boat skipper violated orders and came around a second time (endangering the boat and the crew), and picked them up. He spent six weeks in the hospital while his friend enjoyed liberty.

Trained by the Navy as a truck driver, after the war he drove trucks cross country for a living. One dark night, he came around a curve in Utah, where he met a truck. Not a problem, until he saw the lights of a jeep coming around the truck. He could not stop in time, and with a cliff dropping off on his side, he decided that the jeep driver had just killed himself – and then he saw the children in the back seat. He thought, “I just fought a war to save those kids lives …” and he turned the wheel to go off the road. The rear trailer broke off, and he tried to stop the tractor. Then the natural gas tank he had been hauling bounced – did you know they could bounce? – and he had to avoid it while missing the rocks. He also had to accelerate and then brake to get away from it. After five bounces, he got away from the tanker, and something kept it from exploding. He had risked his life for those children, and somehow they all lived.

At a truck stop, he met the baker of the best lemon meringue pies in the Southeast. They were married, and they had 13 children. Though the first died, the rest were raised to be hard working, though maybe not as tough as their father. He provided well for them, with enough food and clothing at all times, and usually far better than what he ate as a child. He taught them all to be law-abiding, peaceable, and good citizens and good parents to their own generation.

Was this the greatest generation? And was this man typical of that generation? As you have probably guessed, I am proud to call this man my father, and I am rather (perhaps very) biased. But, this generation has my vote: This was The Greatest Generation.