Originally Posted by
jonnyd49
Not only did 1.4 million serve during WWII, but (according to a quick wikipedia search) 416,000 American service members were killed. In Vietnam, 58,000 service members were killed. In the current War on Terror, right around 7,000 service members have been killed.
Despite the extremely small percentage of troops killed in the current war, current generations have no idea what sacrifice means. Most have no idea what kind of sacrifice was made in generations past.
I'm only 31 years old, but I firmly believe that our Greatest Generation was the one which fought and won in World War II. I don't mean just the soldiers, but also all those in the US who made sacrifices, bought war bonds, went to work in America's industries, and provided what our service members needed. Reading about and talking to WWII veterans amazes me at how tough those guys were.