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The Greatest Generation
By Scott Harrup | December 2, 2009
Tom Brokaw’s 1998 best-seller, The Greatest Generation, looked back to the generation of Americans who came through World War II victoriously. The past few weeks I’ve been reading E.B. Sledge’s With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa (1980, Presidio Press), a first-person narrative of two WWII Pacific battlefields. Sledge’s title and several passages in his book voice his conviction that the “greatest generation” was comprised of those officers and enlisted men who had come through World War I and were passing on their expertise and words of encouragement to the young Marines with whom Sledge fought.
Brokaw and Sledge, though identifying different generations, share an awareness of a vital truth. The elders in our society deserve respect and have much to offer. It’s a biblical principle. “Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:32). “Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life” (Proverbs 16:31).
You can learn much from an older relative or friend, if you’ll take the time to receive their wisdom. And the Proverbs passage alludes to another fact. Those senior ladies and gentlemen who have lived faithfully for God have the most to offer.
Sometimes I wonder how much wisdom and experience are locked up in hospitals, retirement complexes and assisted living homes across our country. I believe a lot of our nation’s problems could be addressed far more effectively if my generation and my children’s would more readily accept the counsel of their elders.
Topics: Books and Films, History, Bible |
December 6th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Scott,
I’d like to add one more Proverb that I think is apropos.
Prov. 23.10, “Do not remove an ancient boundary stone, or enter the field of the fatherless.”
It’s the first part of the Proverb that is pertinent to your article. WWII and the accomplishments of “The Greatest Generation,” is indeed something to be remembered.
Thanks for remembering this ancient boundary that was hard fought and won by our fathers.
Blessings,
CH (CPT) Paul Lynn
2-505 PIR, 3BCT, 82D ABN DIV