CHAPTER 1

THE "BUILDERS"—THE G.I. GENERATION

When Myrtle came for her monthly spiritual direction session, she wasvisibly agitated. Her director, a Sister of Mercy named Margaret, made her a cupof chamomile tea, and held her hand until a quiet descended on the room. "What'shappening, Myrtle?" she said, with a reassuring smile.

"My granddaughter Jackie is saying she's ... not getting married in the Church,"Myrtle began haltingly. "She says she wants to get married outside, in a park,and her priest won't do it. And her fiancé isn't Catholic!"

"I can understand why you're disappointed. A wedding in church is so beautiful.But it's not that unusual these days for a couple to want to do somethingdifferent."

"But it's not right!" Myrtle looked up at her, with real grief in her eyes."What will happen to her?"

"To your granddaughter? What do you mean?"

"If her marriage isn't blessed, how will it survive? How can she start offsomething so important by offending God? How will they make it without God'shelp?"

MYRTLE'S GENERATION IS one firmly grounded in tradition, in conformity to acollective ideal, and to authority which one questions at one's peril. Far frombeing backwards or limiting, this formula has worked magic for them—ouroldest generation has undoubtedly also been our most potent, influential, andeffective. Their courage is unmatched in any living generation, their sacrificesunrivaled, their achievements unsurpassed. Tom Brokaw called them "the GreatestGeneration," and few dare challenge this. And little wonder. Anyone whoever has challenged this confident, can-do generation has wound up onthe losing side of the scuffle. In their prime, none dared opposethem—before them tyrants fell, fascism failed, and communism crumbled.Just who are these sure-footed scrappers, and how did they get that way?

Birth Years and Place in the Cycle

Born between 1901 and 1924, the first wave of this generation grew up in theshadow of the Great War, and the entire generation gave their all during theSecond World War. They are the most uniformed generation in American history,and for this reason, sociologists refer to them as the G.I. Generation. "G.I."stands for "general issue" or "government issue," as in "G.I. Joe." They begantheir uniformed careers early, as the first boy scouts, campfire girls, and girlscouts. Later, during the Great Depression, many of them wore the green of theCivilian Conservation Corps. And as they entered full adulthood, fully one halfof them enlisted in the military—a greater percentage than any generationin history. As G.I. Carol, from Green Springs, Ohio, told me, "We've been at warwith somebody practically my whole life."

Raised by Idealists (the Missionary generation, born 1860–1882) andReactives (the Lost Generation, born 1883–1900), G.I.s were the next Civicgeneration in the four-fold cycle that Strauss and Howe outlined in theirbook Generations. They were told by their missionary parents that theywere special, that they could be great. This might have simply been wishfulthinking on the part of idealistic parents had world events not conspiredagainst them, thrusting tragedy and poverty onto their unready shoulders. Yetfar from shaking these confident youngsters, these events gave the G.I.s anopportunity to step up and prove their greatness.

And step up they did. They also went the extra mile. Civic generations arebuilders, and the G.I.s did not disappoint on this score. For in spite ofapparently insuperable obstacles, through sacrifice and hard work, they builtthe infrastructure of our modern society with their own calloused hands,including roads, freeways, buildings, banks, churches, and service organizationsof all kinds. Everything we have come to think of as "America" today began withthem.

Formative Events

Growing up during the transitional period between the horse-and-buggy and themodern world, our oldest living generation learned to both adapt well to changeand to revere tradition and stability. Immigrants from all over the world werelearning that they could cherish their ethnic heritage and at the same time takepride in an emerging "American" identity.

Katherine, originally from Greeley, Colorado, recalls her childhood this way:"World War One had just finished. My dad didn't fight—he had myopia. Hehad a lot to do, trying to support our family. Automobiles came in. When I wasyoung, we just had a horse and buggy. Then my father bought a Model T. We weresurrounded by immigrants—we had a Slavic family on one side, and Scots onthe other.... Because of WWI, Germans were in disgrace in this country. Theyweren't part of the Kaiser, they were good people. They had trouble graduating."Marian, originally from Chicago, Illinois, remembers, "What was hard for me wasthat my parents were from Poland, so they never spoke English. I did not speakEnglish until I went to school. I was taught by Polish Catholic nuns."

The boom following the First World War provided G.I.s with a brief flirtationwith frivolity. But "the roaring twenties" was quickly and permanently squelchedby the grim reality of the Great Depression. Louis, from Mississippi told me, "Iwas shaped by the Great Depression," but as harsh as it was for their parents,most people I talked to looked back on this part of their early life withfondness. Ellie, from Wilmington, Illinois, said, "I remember we went throughthe Depression, but my mother was clever enough to find things. So, we alwayshad enough to eat. We didn't realize that we were poor. I do remember my fatherbeing without work, and writing letters to try to find work." Similarly,Katherine said, "We had poverty, but my mother made the best of it. We moved toCalifornia at the height of the Depression—went 6,000 miles. We had awonderful time!" Mildred, from Louisville, KY, also remembers this time ashappy. "My father was a Methodist minister, and he didn't make much money. Wenever had much money, so I didn't know there was a Depression."

Yet, despite their cherished memories of this time, it definitely left its markon them. As Tom Brokaw noted, "They were mature beyond their years, tempered bywhat they had been through...."

By the time the Second World War hit, their resourcefulness and resilience werewell in place, and they were ready for another challenge. The nation pulledtogether, sacrificed together, and worked together toward the single goal ofdefeating fascism and preserving freedom. Most G.I. men went into the militaryto serve overseas, and many G.I. women went to work at home, pulling on thegloves the men had left behind and keeping the factories and industries going.Nancy, from Peekskill, New York, recalls, "When World War II came along I...