It was a ceremony of honor, remembrance, and renewal played out in countless other cemeteries across the land by members of a generation that gave so much and asked so little in return.
After talking to so many of them and reflecting on what they have meant in my own life, I now know that it is in those small ceremonies and quiet moments that this generation is appropriately honored. No fanfare is required. They’ve had their parades. They’ve heard the speeches. They know what they have accomplished, and they are proud. They will have their World War II memorial and their place in the ledgers of history, but no block of marble or elaborate edifice can equal their lives of sacrifice and achievement, duty and honor, as monuments to their time.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TOM BROKAW, a native of South Dakota, graduated from the University of South Dakota with a degree in political science. He began his journalism career in Omaha and Atlanta before joining NBC News in 1966. Brokaw was the White House correspondent for NBC News during Watergate, and from 1976 to 1981 he anchored Today on NBC. He has been the sole anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw since 1983. Brokaw has won every major award in broadcast journalism, including two Duponts, a Peabody Award, and several Emmys. He lives in New York and Montana.
Copyright © 1998 by Tom Brokaw
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York.
RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Brokaw, Tom.
The greatest generation / Tom Brokaw.
p. cm.
1. World War, 1939–1945—Personal narratives, American. I. Title.
D811.A2B746 1998
940.54'8173—dc21 98-44267
Random House website address: www.atrandom.com
FIRST EDITION
Title page photo: UPI/Corbis-Bettmann
eISBN: 978-0-375-50462-4
v3.0_r1
Tom Brokaw Page 33
