I always used to enjoy talking to WW1 vets, when I traveled around. Lots of interesting stories. Also remember chatting with an old gent who was a soldier who went after Pancho Villa under General Pershing. I’d often ask such folks of that generation (not just vets) things like the first time they saw an airplane in flight, which was something that always seemed to leave quite an impression. Or, their first encounter with radio.
Lot of grit in those old folks. Ditto the ones that went through the Depression and fought WW2. Always fascinating to talk to. I’d always make a beeline to some “old-timer” just for the conversation. Not much point in it anymore, though. Not with the generational shift of “old-timers” now being grotty old hippies awash in insufferable self-importance, and self-congratulatory tales involving sex, drugs and rock-n-roll. Ugh. I really miss having those pre-baby boom generations around. They were more of a reflection of the America I admired and was in awe of.
My parents are boomers and neither are grotty hippies. This forum is full of boomers who are rock solid conservatives. Is it possible you’re overgeneralizing?