The Greatest Generation

This week marked the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. When I think of Pearl Harbor, I think of my great-great aunt Sue.  During her last visit with our family, she told us the story of how she and some of her friends were detained in California after the bombing of Pearl Harbor because they were Japanese-Americans. They were college aged kids that had no idea what was going on. She told us of the encampments that the government set up to detain Japanese-Americans out of fear after the bombing. She then went on to tell us how she became an interpreter for the military.  She went on to work for the same government that detained her out of fears because of her parent's ancestry!    Actually, she was working the night the surrender from Japan came through the line.  When she was telling her story, I really could not believe she would serve her country after the way they treated her and so many others.  What a great example of the Greatest Generation.
The Greatest Generation served.  They served their families, their neighbors, their communities and their country.  They helped each other through difficult times.  They stood for their beliefs and values.  They also knew the meaning of work and were willing to give of their time to help their neighbors. Today, it seems to be much easier to write a check rather than give of our time that is flying by faster than we can keep up with.
Often I hear people say, "times were simpler then.". To that I say, maybe we could learn from the "old times". Simplicity seems to be unacceptable by some standards today.  Families are on the go so much that sitting down for dinner together becomes a rarity, let alone noticing opportunities to lend a helping hand to others.  I believe one reason that the Greatest Generation was so great is that they got what it meant to think of more than themselves....a lesson to learn from history.