Pre-Boomer Musings

As you probably know, 2010 is the year when all pre-boomers (those born between 1930 and 1945) will all be 65 or older.  This year also marks the 65th anniversary of World War II.  So pre-boomers will either remember something about the war or will have been during the siege.  The men who fought the great fight, and those who supported them at home, are gone or are leaving us every day.  It is important to remember them at this time, because there will never be another generation like the Greatest Generation.

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Think what they endured.  Imagine growing up during the Great Depression and then without warning being plunged into war.  Many of these men were just getting of high school, settling into the first job or just getting married.  They hadn’t had time to have much fun other than the enjoyment of the simple things in life.  Maybe that’s what made them so special.  It didn’t take much to make them happy and they were grateful for what they had.

The depression built character.  Proud people were humbled.  Rich people became poor.  Poor people got poorer and had to take whatever work they could wherever it was in order to survive.  Yet survive they did whether it was pulling the family into a beat up old car and relocating, doing the most menial labor or leaving with the barest of necessities and eating modest meals, folks somehow got through that dreadful decade.

Then Pearl Harbor was hit on that mournful Sunday of December 7, 1941.  Immediately following the attack, the United States declared war on Japan.  A matter of days later, Germany declared war on us and plunged America into war in two theaters, the Pacific and Europe. By the time peace was declared in 1945, more than 16 million Americans had served in the Armed Services, 73 % overseas.  Of these, 416,000 died for their country and another 617 thousand were wounded.

 With so many men away, women took their places in defense plants.  The concept of “Rosie the Riveter” took hold when by 1943 over 2 million women were working as part of the war effort.  Studies showed they could do 8 out of the 10 jobs formerly handled by men, which many see as being instrumental in the woman’s movement to come later.  However, this generation of women were satisfied with the role of homemaker and mother after the war ended.

When the men returned, most were anxious to take advantage of the freedoms they were fighting for.  The country was hungry for prosperity after 15 years of sacrifice and disruption.  War industries switched back to producing consumer goods.  Service benefits were used to go to school, start businesses, and buy cars, homes plus much more. 

It was a time of optimism.  And this generation earned it.  But there contributions did not stop.  They continued to serve the nation with their post-war efforts while teaching the pre-boomers and spawning the baby boomers.  For all they have done we are thankful.  Let us honor them by giving back to the generations that follow what they gave so freely to us.  Lest we forget, this is our responsibility.  Find out more at http://www.NewSeniors.com      

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