The Greatest Generation?

Tom Brokaw called the generation who lived through the depression and fought World War II "the greatest generation."

I wish he hadn't.

They accomplished amazing things, but they weren't the greatest.

The greatest generation were their leaders. Born in the 19th Century, inspired by the Civil War Generation but determined to do better, forged on the anvil of World War I. Admirals Leahy, Nimitz, King, Halsey, Kimmel (who might have been great); Generals Vandegrift (USMC), Marshall, Eisenhower, Bradley, MacArthur,Hap Arnold, Doolittle. This was the generation who completed the design of the profession of arms that was set in motion by the likes of Mahan.

Equally important were the civilian leaders who matured in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, influenced by America's move out into the world after the Civil War. They found it perfectly natural that America should be involved in China, Russia, Europe, and Latin America. They were schooled for it and accustomed to it. Men like Roosevelt, Hull, Knox, Stimson and others.

But wars rightfully belong not to those who plan them and lead them, the strategists, but to the GI's. The grunts. The sailors, soldiers and young officers who led them into battle, often with little idea of the aim of their effort beyond the next hill, the next ship or plane encountered, or the target in their periscope.

They are the ones who have to make it work.

Both groups are essential, but the generals and admirals can plan in perpetuity. If the soldiers and sailors can't make it happen, it won't.

My look at World War II has concentrated on the naval war in the Pacific. Surface warships are what I know best. But I am also fascinated by the inter service cooperation throughout the war. Cooperation between Navy and Marine Corps is not surprising. Marines have been proud to call themselves "soldiers of the sea," and they belong to the Department of the Navy.

But we forget how closely the Navy and Army cooperated during the war. Not only in the Doolittle raid. The Army was involved in Guadalcanal. The services worked together to invade Normandy. Army aircraft flew from Navy aircraft carriers from as early as May, 1941 to the end of the war. Army aviators used the Norden bombsight, designed by and for the Navy. The Navy flew B-24's and other planes designed for the Army. In the Southwest Pacific, Army pilots attacked ships with Navy torpedoes fitted to their B-26's. The Navy evacuated MacArthur from Corregidor.

This was cooperation, not competition.  OK, there might have been a bit of friendly competition. Like the Army-Navy game. But when there was a job to do, they did it together.

Sailors know some things civilians don't grasp. They know they are all in this together. If a ship sinks, everyone goes down with it. Even if one survives, he has lost shipmates, his home, and the ship itself, which is more than just a floating steel box. It is, for as long as sailors are aboard, the center of their lives and the core of the most intense experience they will ever have. A shared experience.

Each sailor depends on his shipmates for his very survival. If the electrician's mate doesn't keep up the batteries in the battle lanterns, men won't be able to find their way when battle damage destroys the electrical distribution system and the lights go out.

If the Water King (usually a first class petty officer) lets boiler water chemistry get out of tolerance, a boiler tube might fail, killing shipmates operating the boiler. It could slow the ship and bring it under attack. If the radar operator isn't vigilant, an enemy ship or plane might attack without warning.

It isn't about rugged individualism. It is about working together.

And none of it is for profit.