I don't know if it was the Greatest Generation. I've put a lot of thought into it. I've interviewed hundreds of Second World War veterans in my work and read considerably of how they performed compared to those of Axis countries.
I've convinced myself there was something special of those who served on our side of the Atlantic because they're the only ones I knew face-to-face, and it's probably accurate to say the same for all of the other countries, too.
Two points: they saw their duty and did it in a different way because they served at a different time from ours, with different values, different training, a different sense of commitment and accountability.
Secondly, in all those pictures of those serving in zones of combat, by their gun turrets, aircraft, sandbagged positions, not knowing they would be alive or dead from one day to the next, did you notice they were always smiling?
