Big boots to fill

LARRY ANDERSON
Larry Anderson

I have been thinking lately about why we are where we are in this country.

I think I have at least part of the answer.

Here ’tis, and free.

The Greatest Generation is virtually gone. Its loss has left a social and political vacuum that subsequent generations have been unable to fill.

That isn’t necessarily the fault of those of us still around, but it doesn’t mean we are void of blame either.

It is hard to fill boots so big; on the other hand, maybe we haven’t tried hard enough. We will find out in either case.

The Greatest Generation’s birth approximates post-World War I with maturity occurring during the 1930’s and 1940’s. Their growth corresponds with two of the most significant events in American history: the Great Depression, an economic disaster that made the downturn of 2008 look mild by comparison, and World War II, an unequaled force of destruction.

Millions of young people were shaped by these events.

First, by the tribulations of unemployment (25 percent at its peak), foreclosures, and the death of business and farm, and, second, by the horrific violence of total war that enveloped a nation and its youth (16 million) in the struggle against fascism.

Both events, one followed immediately by the other and encompassing a decade and a half, instilled the character that defined a nation.

In the modern world — until recently when time has nearly completed its toll — these men and women led with clarity and confidence, with strength and purpose.

The Greatest Generation may have been honed by economic crisis and tested by combat, but they were more than that. They were builders, models for work and construction. They could take a little and produce a lot and lived their lives believing they could do anything, and did.

They built modern America, these women and men, with a steadiness of purpose and the recognition of opportunity. They understood and believed in the principles of freedom because they had defeated its greatest challenges. They knew adversity and took it on with optimism.

Those few left have little influence now on how things are shaped, but I am certain they leave knowing they did well.

There may have been failure on their part, too. It could be they loved us too much, gave us too much, protected us too well, we children of the Greatest Generation, and its grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

It seems to me Americans aren’t their way any more. Oh, we work still for the kids, but there is not that connection to the land, to its remarkable history, to the sacrifice that they experienced in this nation that is the world‘s last best hope.

Americans today seem aloof at times, disconnected, indifferent to the chips that occur to our freedom.

We have allowed the cynicism of self-service to creep in.

We dramatize the insignificant and often fail to see what is really important: charity, work, growth, family, and nation.

Thanks to my parents and their generation, I haven’t had the hardships they had. I have always had work, a comfortable place to live, and the certainty of a future.

I didn’t have to fight very hard for what I have; they fought for every bit but didn’t complain when they came up short in that way life has.

That was who they were.

Our last political connections to the Greatest Generation were Ronald Reagan, that cheerful optimist with his unblemished faith in a country he helped build and a system he helped protect, and George H. W. Bush, that extraordinary spirit who survived at sea and now confidently confronts the certainty of his future. He knows his contribution was considerable.

He smiles so much because he is happy.

What a fine man.

These people are nearly gone, and that is sad.

We remain, we aging baby boomers, offspring of the Greatest Generation and protectors of all that we were given.

We must impress now upon the minds of those emerging how precious their gift was to us.

If we fall short, we not only fail those younger but those we should honor every day of our lives.

Larry W. Anderson’s novel, I, Eugenius, is available at Maryville Daily Forum.