Summary of Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 I went to Normandy, France, to film an NBC documentary on the fortieth anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Europe that marked the beginning of the end of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. I was unprepared for how this experience would affect me emotionally.

#2 The American veterans who landed on the beaches of Normandy in 1944 were all around me as I was growing up. I had never appreciated what they had been through and what they had accomplished.

#3 The World War II generation was a group of men who were transformed by their experiences, but they did not volunteer their stories. I had to ask questions or stay back a step or two as they walked the beaches, quietly exchanging memories.

#4 The 1984 trip to Normandy was the first time Merli and Garton had met each other, and they shared memories of the chaos and death all around them. They were both extremely determined to survive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669381747

IRB Media

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Insights on Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I went to Normandy, France, to film an NBC documentary on the fortieth anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Europe that marked the beginning of the end of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. I was unprepared for how this experience would affect me emotionally.

#2

The American veterans who landed on the beaches of Normandy in 1944 were all around me as I was growing up. I had never appreciated what they had been through and what they had accomplished.

#3

The World War II generation was a group of men who were transformed by their experiences, but they did not volunteer their stories. I had to ask questions or stay back a step or two as they walked the beaches, quietly exchanging memories.

#4

The 1984 trip to Normandy was the first time Merli and Garton had met each other, and they shared memories of the chaos and death all around them. They were both extremely determined to survive.

#5

The war stories that are shared at gatherings are almost always about someone else. They rarely reflect on the bravery of the storyteller.

#6

After the Republican Revolution of 1995, which saw the Baby Boomers take control of the House, they were determined to deconstruct many of the policies put in place by Democrats during their long congressional rule.

#7

I was inspired by the men and women of World War II, and I wanted to spread the word about their remarkable lives. I was also inspired by the work of my friend Stephen Ambrose, the historian who had written an account of the invasion called D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II.

#8

The Greatest Generation was the first to live in the modern world, and they were not ashamed to say just that. They loved life and their country, and they were not ashamed to say just that.

#9

The greatest generation is the one that fought in World War II. They were the ones who created the standards of greatness that the people in this book represent.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The year I was born, 1940, was the fulcrum of America in the twentieth century. It was a critical time in the shaping of this nation and the world, and the American people understood the magnitude of the challenge.

#2

By the time he was ten, the young American had a promising start that was quickly shattered by the Great Depression. The fault lines were already active, as the stock market was struggling