I believe that it takes much more courage to be a Pacifist than some would think.
I would like to add my step-grandfather (the only one I had) to this list of fine people.
He was in the Army in the South Pacific and in the Marines in the Korean War. When he was not fighting a war or teaching young Marines how to hold a rifle, he was planting amazing gardens and cooking..he went on to become a very successful chef.

With my dad gone only one and a half years, these days when we remember those who sacrificed for us are particularly poignant. Last night I went through some of Daddy's things - letters, photographs, essays and appreciate once again the incredible man and his long service to our country. He had an amazing band of compatriots on his military journey. I salute them all.

My uncle was a pacifist who served as a medic during WWII. Somehow I never realized he was a coward.

I must say that I don't like to us the term greatest generation, as I think it ignores the prior generations that also served with distinction. I think the WWII generation stands out today because the generations that followed it have been very different; we no longer feel much of an obligation to serve our country, and somehow haven't learned the strengths of the people in that generation.

I'm glad they have their memorial now. I hadn't realized until recently that there wasn't one, as I had believed the Iwo Jima flag raising figure was the WWII memorial.

cb: the difference is that while your uncle may have been a pacifist he still did his duty with honor.

War is never noble.

What does noble have to do with it?Tyrants must be put down for the good of the people who can't defend themselves.You make it seem as if man is inherently good and wars are started for fun.I bet if a gang was terrorizing your neighborhood even you pacifists would be screaming for someone to come to your rescue guns blazing.

Anonymous, I know this is beyond the point of the post but I am sure my father was not the only person who missed the correct time. If the memorial had been built in lets say Omaha with the dedication starting at 1:00, the media (CNN and C-SPAN) would still have announced it as starting at 2:00. Case in point. Back when that religious group set fire to their complex in Waco TX at exactly 12 noon the media announced that it started at 1:00. And they accounced it while reporting live in Waco! The east coast based media is just a bit self-centric.

"Pacifists will find all kinds of justifications to convince themselves they aren't cowards." My father was a pacifist all his life. That doesn't make a coward out of him. He fought an overwhelming enemy: Stalin's Red Army (10 Russians against 1 Finn), and full five years in the front line.

After the war he became even more pacifist than before, and joined a pacifist organization and became an active member.

"There never was a good war or a bad peace"

Benjamin Franklin - Sept. 11, 1783

Peace, Robyn

When I think of the "Greatest Generation," it's true that those who fought in WWII come first to mind, but I quickly remember that it applies to my parents, Martin and Edith, both now long gone, neither of whom served on foreign soil nor risked their lives in battle, but who also epitomized what was great about that generation.

They were the people who passed the GI Bill, which is, to my way of thinking, responsible for so much of our way of living today, with so many of us able to own our own homes, so many of us who believe that education is within our reach and can change the world.

My parents were part of the generation that supported the Marshall plan. Try to imagine how much less safe the world would be today had they opposed it?

My parents truly understood and lived the words of the poet John Donne:

No man is an island, entire of itself
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main
if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls
it tolls for thee.

Being a Canadian, it took me a minute to figure out what you meant by "today". I am focussed on June 6th and the 60th anniversary of the D day invasion.
My husband and two teenagers and I are planning a trip to Europe in August and will visit Normandy and the new Juno Beach Centre just built, and to pay homage at my Uncle's Grave who is buried in the Canadian/Commonwealth War Cemetery in Calais. He landed with the Queen's Own Rifles and survived till Sept. 1944 when he was injured and died of his wounds. He was my Dads youngest brother and was 24 years old. My dad was injured and lost a limb in Ortona, Italy however survived till he was 80 although no one from my family has been to visit my uncles grave. My father in law was in the RCAF and flew missions in Burma. I am remembering them all today and every day and the world they left for us.

I'm with Ben franklin.

While we all honor the things that fathers, uncles, grandfathers, and brothers have done, let us not forget the ladies!!! The women in the French Resistance who faced peril every day, the brave women pilots in the UK who delivered fighter planes in all kinds of weather and even under enemy fire, and the thousands of other women who served in vital ways. My mother worked in military hospitals, dealing with patients who suffered from severe psychological trauma. She wasn't on the front lines, but coping with violent, stressed out patients was no picnic either...more than one soldier tried to cause her bodily harm, hurling tables at her, etc.

Actually, one of the folks @ the flag raising on Iwo was a USN Medic serving with the US Marines - those guys, some pacifists, were REALLY brave!
M
fmr LCDR,MC,USNR
(dad was a CAPT USAAC in War II)

My grandfather met my Italian grandmother during the war. They married in 1946 and moved to the Boston to raise 9 children, one of whom is my mom.

Too bad Grandpa (sergeant, US Army) is not here to see the Memorial finally come into fruition. My grandma is, and I know she was watching with pride. Somehow I think he was there in spirit, watching along with her in his favorite chair!

Btilke; I am so glad you brought up the women involved in the War. My one Aunt was a WAC nurse and my other Aunt was a WAC driver in the UK. Yes, all those wonderful people including farmers and women factory workers and the valiant people all united on the "homefront" were all part and parcel of the greatest generation. My husband and I have disagreements about whether they were the greatest, I say yes, and he says not really IHHO.

And don't forget the women on the homefront, like "Rosie,the Rivertor."
The women who took over all the male jobs and had to shorn their locks.

SCARLETT:From the safety of my home I can tell you that in 1974 I was prepared to enter the draft and if called do my duty in Vietnam,I was a senior in high school.The war and draft ended so I was not called.I can assure you I would have done my duty,IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY!!!

... the members of the greatest generation under arms deserved a great memorial. I salute all who served.

... is it now time for a memorial for citizens who selected CO status, to remind us of the rights we have to voice our opinions and bare our conscience.

<i>The war and draft ended so I was not called</i>

Ever think of enlisting?

Enlisting to fight where?PLEASE!