The greatest generation?

Is it fair for anyone to make a negative judgment about a “best selling book” they have not read thoroughly? Some may think that’s wrong, but I’ve done it and think the assessment has some merit. It began when I read the tile, “The Greatest Generation,” and continued as I scan-read parts and pieces, plus reviews and summaries.

Retired NBC anchorman, author and Montana ranch owner Tom Brokaw wrote the book, and it was published to great acclaim across the nation. It earned lots of money, and Brokaw received several awards, including an honorary doctorate degree from my beloved alma mater, the University of Montana.

That was presented at U.M.’s Spring Commencement, where he spoke last May 14. He was cited along with Bernard Osher for their growing foundation which supports a network of learning institutions for “older adults.” (It is good and it is brave . . . to teach “older adults.”)

The book is accurate and spellbinding, while detailing the “roaring” generation born before the Great Depression, survived through it, fought World War II from scratch, then not only rebuilt this nation but most of the postwar world. It truly was a magnificent generation, and there are not enough adjectives to define the way they did it. Most are now gone. Tail-enders of the generation, like this writer, are well into their 80s.

No amount of deep reading of published and unpublished accounts of American history from those frightening “Revolutionary Times” of the late 1700s can let us truly fathom how deeply devoted to freedom and how courageous that generation was.

We also must consider the middle 1800s, when our country was so bitterly divided by the Civil War. We fought each other at a cost of the most massive personal and financial losses in our history. The United States grievously damaged but remained “One Nation Under God.”

Leaving courageous past generations out of the big picture, my concern over Brokaw’s choice of “The Greatest Generation” comes from a subtle inference of prejudice against our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and more to come. Is prejudgment fair?

None of us know what challenges may come for future generations, or how they will answer them. As a lifelong student of history, I sincerely believe the world is getting better and its people wiser, but such improvements take a very long time and, it’s not going to be all sunshine and roses. There are always unexpected bumps on untraveled roads.

Tom Brokaw wrote a great book. No argument there. As an incurable optimist, I would have preferred he called it, “The Greatest Generation ... So Far.”

After finishing the above, I sat over an hour trying to write something humorous about the University of Montana losing in football at North Dakota, but I’m still too upset. The last time that happened was 1952. U of M was three points ahead in the fourth quarter when someone fired a pistol. Griz thought the game was over and ran off the field. Six plays later, Dakota scored.

G. George Ostrom is a national award-winning Hungry Horse News columnist. He lives in Kalispell.