Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for July 13, 2024

I truly despise the term "Greatest Generation*. They didn’t enter that war out of idealism; the United States responded to an attack. We’d been watching for decades what was happening. And those “greatest generation” soldiers? They perpetuated racism in the United States.

Was this strip released before or after the Spielberg film SAVING PRIVATE RYAN?

""I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate." Roy Batty – Bladerunner

my ww2, korea, and viet nam veteran usmc father would reply, whenever i asked for a war story “no. someday you’ll understand.” after 2 tours in viet nam, i did. in his 70s, i finally got him to join the Legion, and he also got his 32nd degree. he survived pearl harbor and guadalcanal, retiring in 1961. america’s greatest generation.

Glamorizing any generation is a mistake.

My grandfather was stationed at Anzio; I loved listening to his stories..

My dad was in the Pacific during that war. He didn’t often volunteer information about his experiences, but he would talk about it if asked.

Did he make it back?

That’s a nice smile on Mark’s face in the last panel.

Wait a minute, isn’t this straight out of “Twelve O’Clock High”?

Seems like they never forget their war memories, try as they might

My uncle (a closeted gay man in 1944 by the way) was a naval medic at the battle of Guadalcanal. My father said his brother could never talk about it. It was way too traumatic a memory to discuss. I guess he saw far too many mangled bodies and dead young Americans to take it well. He knew there was no glory in war. Only its horrors.

If it makes you feel any better, I despise both the Greatest Generation and the Boomers, for reasons too extensive to exhaustively list here. Let’s just go with entitled, selfish, and racist as an abbreviated list.

And if you remember, our Armed Forces were segregated—and that was while we were fighting Germany and Italy who were imprisoning and murdering the Jewish populations. Japanese Americans were interned. To the best of my knowledge, no German immigrants or their progeny were interned. There are some historians who claim that the attack on Pearl Harbor was allowed by the U. S. to pull us into the war and that American financiers aided Hitler. Ford Company build parts for their tanks. It’s all just terribly sad.

I was quartermaster of my local VFW post for 8 years. Contrary to popular belief, no one wants to tell their war stories, not even to other people who were there.

Or does Mark think his dad’s on his last legs and is hoping to be remembered in his will?

“War? WHOOPIEE!!”

The Little Spy—GULLIVER’S TRAVELS—1939