from what history I can remember I would say that we were pretty poor economically just before WW2, We had come through WWI and the great depression, which I think had a lot to do with our hesitation in entering the war. Then came Pearl Harbor and our patriotisim was off the charts and people made a lot of sacrifices for the war effort. I just heard some history on the TV today, gas was rationed at 3 gal per week per family. Imagine that. I remember my mom talking about victory gardens, no body had any money but they made it through helping each other, everybody collected rubber tires, all the metal they could get their hands on, women went to work in ship factories, and even flew the newly manufactured airplanes across the Atlantic to the war theatre, yep, I'd say that generation was much better at pulling together, we seem to be more and more divided with each passing day.
Hell, we're bitching about a depression at 5.1% unemployment. It was about 25% during the Great Depression. There were so many people volunteering for WWII that they made volunteering impossible. In 1942 they stopped volunteers and initiated the draft. Trust me on this, I got into a heated debate with a Green Beret who was an Admin of USMILNET, by the name of Greenhat, when I told him my grandfather had volunteered when the war kicked off. Come to find out, my grandfather enlisted in 1940. In 1942 you could not volunteer. They were too overwhelmed.
Yes, that generation is, and apparently always will be, the greatest generation. We're a generation of spoiled brats.
