Um, actually it does refer to the generation that grew up in the Great Depresssion and fought in WWII, at least according to Tom Brockaw who coined the phrase.
Yes absolutely, but they were not the generation right before the Boomers. You can do some research on it, the Silents are the generation that was born during the Great Depression and WWII and fought in Korea and Vietnam (early). They immediately precede the Boomers.
I probably should have been more clear—the GG were not the generation right before Boomers, that was the part I was quibbling about in the original post.