Posted on 03/07/2013 5:44:14 AM PST by Kaslin
One thing nearly everybody agrees upon is that the "sequester" is a silly sideshow to the real challenge facing America: unsustainable spending on entitlements. Ironies abound. Democrats, with large support from young people, tend to believe that we must build on the legacy bequeathed to us by the New Deal and the Great Society. Republicans, who marshaled considerable support from older voters in their so-far losing battle against Obamacare, argue that we need to start fresh.
Perhaps it's time for both sides to consider an underappreciated fact of American life: The system we are trying to perpetuate was created for the explicit benefit of the so-called greatest generation, the most coddled and cared for cohort in American history.
I don't mean to belittle or demean the heroic efforts and sacrifices of those who served in World War II. But the idea that a whole generation deserves credit for what only some did is little more than an attempt to buy glory on the cheap. One of the egalitarian precepts that all Americans are supposed to subscribe to is the idea that one citizen isn't more worthy than another, simply by accident of birth. If you stormed the beaches of Normandy, you are due praise and honor. If you were simply born the same year as those who stormed the beaches, you're no more deserving of praise than someone born of any other generation.
Moreover, government was bending to the needs of the greatest generation -- for good and ill -- long before they did anything great. Historians William Strauss and Neil Howe made this argument in their famous 1991 opus "Generations." Before Tom Brokaw dubbed them the "greatest generation," Howe and Strauss called them the "GI Generation."
"The initials GI can stand for two things -- 'general issue' and 'government issue' -- and this generation's life cycle has stood squarely for both," they wrote. "The GI life cycle has shown an extraordinary association with the growth of modern government activity, much of it directed toward whatever phase of life they occupied."
When GIs were children, the White House held its first Conference on Children, and Congress created the first U.S. Children's Bureau and passed the first federal child labor law. They benefited from government-run schools in large numbers, and after the war from the aptly named GI Bill. And when the first wave of GIs approached old age, Howe and Strauss noted, the White House held its first Conference on Aging. Congress created the National Institute on Aging and passed the first federal age discrimination law.
"The entire modern growth in government spending has coincided with the duration of their adult life cycle," the authors noted.
Also, the GI Generation was deferential to authority long before anyone was asked to fight the Nazis. It was the most "uniformed generation" in U.S. history, the historians wrote. Nearly all the scouting organizations -- Boy Scouts (1910), Girl Scouts (1912), 4-H Clubs (1914) -- were launched to accommodate the GI.
Despite nostalgia for the New Deal, people forget how militaristic it was. President Franklin D. Roosevelt conceived of the New Deal as a "moral equivalent of war" effort and promised to use the tactics of World War I to fight the Depression. Nearly all the New Deal agencies were modeled on the war agencies of the Wilson administration. The Civilian Conservation Corps turned 3 million men into a paramilitary "tree army."
The National Recovery Administration, run by former general Hugh "Iron Pants" Johnson, aimed to organize the economy along the lines of war mobilization. On Sept. 13, 1933, he organized the largest parade New York had ever seen. Tens of thousands of workers marched in military fashion celebrating the mascot of the NRA, the "Blue Eagle." Similar militaristic pageants were held across the country.
FDR explained the purpose of the Blue Eagle in a fireside chat: "In war, in the gloom of night attack," he crooned, "soldiers wear a bright badge on their shoulders to be sure that comrades do not fire on comrades. On that principle, those who cooperate in this program must know each other at a glance. That is why we have provided a badge of honor for this purpose."
I have neither the space nor the inclination to pronounce on what was good or bad about all this. But as Washington grapples with the legacy costs of the "greatest generation" -- including the unsustainable burden of paying the retirement bills for the GIs' supremely entitled children, the Baby Boomers, perhaps it is at least worth recognizing that the government and the culture designed to benefit one generation has come at the cost of those that come after it.
“A point of trivia, you may not know that a National Guard, Airborne Ranger Unit served with distinction in Vietnam.”
You got me on that one. What unit was it?
“Company D (Rangers) 151st Infantry went to Vietnam to perform reconnaissance and intelligence gathering missions. Once again, the 151st distinguished itself in battle achieving an impressive combat record. On May 13, 1968, 12,234 Army National Guardsmen in 20 units from 17 states were mobilized for service during the Vietnam War. Eight units deployed to Vietnam and over 7,000 Army Guardsmen served in the war zone. Company D (Ranger), 151st Infantry, Indiana Army National Guard arrived in Vietnam in December 1968. As part of the II Field Force, the Indiana Rangers were assigned reconnaissance and intelligence gathering missions. Operating deep in enemy territory, Ranger patrols engaged enemy units while conducting raids, ambushes and surveillance missions. “Delta Company” achieved an impressive combat record during its tour in Vietnam; unit members were awarded 510 medals for valor and service.”
“On 20 November 1969, Co D (Ranger), 151st Infantry (Airborne) ‘Stood Down’. Mission accomplished, job well done!
The operations were turned over to Company D (Ranger), 75th Infantry, just as smoothly as they had been turned over from Company F, 51st Infantry (LRP) on 26 December 1968. What is so significant about this change of designation is that Company D (Ranger), 151st Infantry (Airborne) was a National Guard unit from Indiana.”
“Six members of the unit made the supreme sacrifice on Ranger missions. They, and lots of other members were decorated for Valor and Duty. In all, 19 Silver Stars, 175 Bronze Stars, 86 Army Commendation Medals, 120 Air Medals, 110 Purple hearts, 19 Indiana Distinguished Service Crosses, and 204 Indiana Commendation Medals were awarded.”
Yep, I found it
http://www.ranger151.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26
I’ve been thinking about your 10% KIA number. I’m guessing that good portion of the 10% was made up of junior officers as most of these guys had reserve commisions and not regular Army commissions. Can’t speak to the marines or Air Force but they probably had a similar setup. Being that you were in the Marines maybe you ccan answer that question? There just weren’t enough Guard and Reserve guys that served over there, especially in combat units to achieve such a high KIA rate.
I showed that almost 5900 Reservists and Guard were killed, that sounds like a lot of Reservists to me, it is more than 10% of the total losses, as far as who they were attached to when they died I don’t know.
I was Army, not Marine.
Some people think modernity similar to today suddenly appeared in America after WWII and that boomers were born into a world of door to door carpeting and microwave ovens, hot tubs and Jimi Hendrix, Ford Mustangs and central heating, college dorms and computer games.
In 1960, 4 years before the last year of the boomer births, (boomer Sarah Palin was born in 1964), here is how close to the old days many Americans still lived.
1960 life in America (not 1940, or even 1950):
17 percent of 1960 homes had no interior bathroom.
In 1960, 12.8 percent didn’t have hot water.
7.1 percent of homes in 1960 had no interior running water of any kind.
40.8 percent of households owned automatic washing machines
17.1 percent of households owned dryers.
Air conditioners were only found in 12 percent of homes in 1960, while 92 percent of 2009 homes are air-equipped.
The average 1960 home had only two bedrooms.
My brother, who is a bit jaded, said the WWII generation sold the family farm, squandered the money, and allowed TV to raise the baby boomer generation (the only generation more entitled and spoiled than themselves), collected government benefits all along the way, got a reverse mortgage on any property they owned - and made sure to leave NOTHING to their own family, and nothing but debt and the burden of an overarching all powerful federal government to their posterity.
” that the greatest generation leaders were not doing anything constructive in Vietnam or trying to win,”
Lyndon Johnson and his administration were a generation older than the greatest generation. The soldiers of WWII were mid level officers, they were not the politicians setting policy during Vietnam.
“There was no one making any explanations or coherent defense of our strategy or goals there,”
It’s what happens when politicians blunder their way into a war and then let mission creep take over.
1955-60, President Eisenhower warned against sending American combat troops into an an Asian land war and sent only materiel and advisors.
1960-63 President Kennedy ramped up our military presence to 16,000 advisors. But he found South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem difficult and Kennedy managed to get Diem assassinated on November 2, 1963. Twenty days later President Kennedy himself was assassinated and a leaderless Vietnam became Lyndon Johnson’s problem.
1963-68 President Johnson committed American combat troops to Vietnam, ignoring wiser heads. He also ignored the uniformed military and let civilians like Robert McNamara and Clark Clifford run the war from the White House.
Not wanting to endanger the funding for his Great Society welfare state Johnson employed a half-assed defensive strategy that allowed the Communist North to set the tempo of the war. The title of Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp’s 1986 book said it all: ‘Strategy for Defeat: Vietnam in Retrospect’. Admiral Grant commanded the air war over North Vietnam from 1964-68 and no one was in a better position to see how bad the LBJ strategy was.
Nixon had the opportunity to change all that when he won the Presidency in 1968. But he waited 4 years to implement Operation Linebacker, the B-52 campaign, and he never advocated the invasion of North Vietnam and the destruction of its government.
I grew up outside Washington DC in the 50s and 60s. Air conditioning was for movie theaters and restaurants and not average homes. July and August meant the temperature and humidity both sitting in the 90s. Not as rough as Houston, but bad enough.
“A lot of people don’t realize how primitive life was for many boomers of the 1940s, and 1950s, and even the 1960s, many people were still waiting for indoor plumbing in 1960.”
If you wandered over the Blue Ridge you could certainly find situations like that. Probably still can in some of the mountain hollows.
“the 1965 Immigration Act, JFK was the end of us”
Truer words were never spoken. You have to have a few grey hairs to remember what America was like.
The "greatest generation" doesn't really match up with any single generation, it is really a vague and undefined creation of the left that they find useful, Silver Star awarded Lyndon Johnson was a sailor during WWII as were the other Vietnam Presidents, Kennedy and Nixon and Ford, all Navy WWII vets.
Here is a list of the leaders of the Vietnam War, Presidents and civilians (political), and the military, ALL OF THEM were WWII vets except for Schlesinger.
United States of America Political:
Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 to 1961.
John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States from 1961 until his death in 1963.
Lyndon B. Johnson was the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969.
Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States from 1969 until he resigned in 1974.
Gerald Ford was the 38th President of the United States from 1974 to 1977.
Robert McNamara was the 8th Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968.
Clark Clifford was the 9th Secretary of Defense, serving under President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1968 to 1969.
Melvin R. Laird was the 10th Secretary of Defense, serving under President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973.
James R. Schlesinger was the 12th Secretary of Defense, serving under President Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford from 1973 to 1975.
Henry Kissinger was the 8th National Security Advisor and the 56th Secretary of State, serving under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford from 1969 to 1977.
Military:
Earle Wheeler was a United States Army General who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1964 to 1970.
Thomas Hinman Moorer was a U.S. admiral who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1970 to 1974.
William Westmoreland was an American General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968.
Creighton Abrams was an American General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972.
Frederick C. Weyand was a U.S. Army General who was the last commander of American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1972 to 1973.
Elmo Zumwalt was an American naval officer and commander of American naval forces in Vietnam.
William W. Momyer was commander of the U.S. Air Force Tactical Air Command and the commander of the 7th Air Force.
John S. McCain, Jr. was an American admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Command.
Eisenhower was not a president during the Vietnam war, which JFK started, President Eisenhower merely had advisers there just like we do in many dangerous places without engaging in a war.
“we trusted out government, who sold us a lie.”
It is unfortunate that the Greatest Generation is not better at math. Any small amount of curiosity or investigation would have revealed to this wealthy and sophisticated group that the gravy train can not chug along forever. Instead, as fiercely as some of its members fought the Japanese at Iwo Jima, the Greatest Generation still combats any attempt to raise the retirement age or reform budget-busting Medicare.
AFTER the moochers, bums, deadbeats, and parasites who comprise the Democrat party's voter base have been cut off, THEN talk to me about cutting "entitlements" for people who, for their entire working lives, paid their own freight as well as the freight for the moochers, bums, deadbeats, and parasites.
Until then, STFU.
They are the most republican voting age group, and the republicans are the ones pushing for change.
The young are the most supportive of democrats.
IMHO, your post #54 says it all.
We should be focusing on solutions only.
But what is the article about? Yes, the Federal Government grew greatly when they were young people. Go back a generation before that to find the people who voted for FDR and the New Deal.
But it is a moot point now. The New Deal did some damage, but the real damage was done under LBJ and his so called 'Great Society' in the 60s and then under Nixon, Ford and Carter who continued funding that toxic blend in the 70s.
It really had little to do with budgetary or fiscal matters then. Yes, we could afford to waste resources then just to be politically correct.
But the result of that political and social insanity was the wasting of several generations of people and creating several generations of permanent 'underclass' Americans who really have little hope and even less incentive to change their positions.
We are in a box created they will say with the "best of intentions" but those intentions also happened to serve the interests and careers of the politicians back then.
We all hate Bean Counters, but there are times when the Bean Counters should be listened to.
I was a child during WW2...turned 6 just before it ended.
This article made me mad. If he had lived during that time, I think he would have realized it was a war that everybody contributed to in some way...even if it was "only" giving up a dad for a few years or forever. Dads were scarce as were alot of things. I don't remember how it worked but things were rationed and required stamps...coffee and sugar were rationed I remember.
I remember victory gardens, candy that came in paper tanks, rocks were our jacks, we collected newspapers in our wagons and took it to the neighborhood fire station everyweek, kids had little military uniforms. There were air raids that were scary to kids and the worst thing we could call somebody was "Hitler."
Of course I didn't make a big contribution but for those of us who experienced the war, every man, woman, and child was involved in some way because the country was involved.
Soon after the war ended, I remember my mother being excited because rubber balls were being sold in downtown Houston and we went to get me one. I didn't have a clue what a rubber ball was, had never seen one, and they were made out of tire rubber and barely bounced. Didn't matter because we didn't know the differnce...and certainly didn't feel deprived.
I don't know why he's in a snit over the "greatest generation" now because there aren't many left anyway! It was the grandchildren of the GG that never grew up and left home!
Sure, just as soon as you admit how much Townhall pays you for reposting their garbage articles.
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