Issue date: Jan 3, 1999

STRAIGHT TALK
By Jeffrey Zaslow (Zaslow is an advice columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times.)

In this article:
Advice bits
Write to Tom Brokaw for advice

Tom Brokaw:
Get out the tape recorder, says the NBC anchor, and listen to "the greatest generation ever." In a new book and Jan. 15 TV special, he salutes the heroes of WWII.

f you were born in the second half of this century, you owe your freedom, your prosperity and perhaps your life to the selfless teens and twentysomethings who fought in World War II. Their courage, followed by their sense of vision in the postwar years, changed the world. NBC's Tom Brokaw calls them "the greatest generation that ever lived."

Brokaw, 58, admits his claim is purposely "provocative." But in his new book The Greatest Generation, he argues that these men and women overshadow even the Founding Fathers and Abraham Lincoln's generation.

Brokaw has been building to this conclusion all his life. As a toddler during World War II, he lived on the Army base in South Dakota where his dad was stationed, watching the young adults who survived the misery of the Depression gear up to fight Germany and Japan. Adversity led to a great maturity. "They were 21 years old, and life wasn't about whether they'd get dates for the weekend. It was about whether they'd get shot."

After the war, this generation built our highway system, developed a polio vaccine, stared down communism and sent men to the moon. But "through modesty and pain," Brokaw says, most chose not to talk about the struggles of their youth. Now they're senior citizens dying at the rate of 100 a day, and Brokaw believes that to understand America, we have to hear from them.

Many are still uncomfortable telling their stories to their kids, he says. "So get a tape recorder and get the grandchildren involved." Talking with young loved ones can help memories flow.

"They stepped up and saved the world. Younger people will be astonished. They'll look at their grandparents in a different way."

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BROKAW'S SENSE OF HISTORY

Greatness skips a beat:
"A great generation makes it easier for the next generation. You are the beneficiaries of their dedication, sacrifices and all they've achieved."

The 20th century: Good or evil? Good.
"Political freedom was expanded. ... Good people defeated evil people."

The biggest story of the next century: "Will the world be divided even more sharply between the haves and have-nots?"

America has come back:
"It wasn't long ago America was down on itself. Japan had stolen the lead. Then people like Bill Gates invented a new world of technology."

Why boomers are spoiled:
"Coming out of the Depression, [the World War II generation] had no expectations. I asked my mom what her dreams were when she got married. She said, 'To make it through the next day.' A lot of vets say, 'We were so determined to make up for what we didn't have, we spoiled our children.' "

ASK BROKAW FOR ADVICE

Tom Brokaw will write or call a reader who seeks advice. By Jan. 10, write to "Straight Talk," P.O. Box 3455, Chicago, Ill. 60654 (fax: 312-661-0375; e-mail: talk@usaweekend.com).