When I see the American flag, my thoughts turn to my parents, both of whom grew up in the Great Depression and also served in World War II.

My father served in the Navy on an aircraft carrier in the South Pacific, he was trained as a radioman and a tail gunner. My mother was an occupational therapist with the Army, working with wounded soldiers in an Army hospital in Battle Creek Michigan. My parents didn’t talk much about their experiences in the war, gratefully each left accounts of their service in their personal histories. Theirs was a legacy of faith, service, and love of country.

One of my mom’s desires was to have the American flag draped over her casket at her funeral. Because she had sold her home after my dad died, and lived with her sister for the last years of her life, her personal history and memorabilia were not in one central location, we were not able to find her service record. When we corresponded with the Veterans Administration in the weeks leading up to mom’s death, we discovered that the service records of thousands who served in the Army , at the end of World War II, (my mom’s included) had been destroyed in a fire, and there was no archive of records to access.

Eventually a photo copy of mom’s original military service record was found, with her funeral plan file at the mortuary, and we were able to honor her wishes. (this has been a cautionary tale for me in my attempts to organize my personal, and family documents)

In a post found at Family Search, The Greatest Generation: Birth Years, Characteristics, and History, written by Alison Ensign, there is great information about the “Greatest Generation”. Here are a few of their character traits that she outlines in this blog article.

• Personal Responsibility: The harsh reality of the Great Depression forced many to a higher standard of personal responsibility, even as children.
• Humility: The Great Depression fostered modesty and humility in many of those who lived through scarcity.
• Work Ethic: Hard work enabled survival during both the depression and the war. Many jobs at the time were physically demanding, with long hours.
• Frugality: Saving every penny and every scrap helped families survive through times of shortage. “Use it up, fix it up, make it do, or do without” was a motto of their time.
• Commitment: One job or one marriage often lasted an entire lifetime.
• Integrity: People valued honesty and trustworthiness, values fostered by the need to rely on one another.
• Self-Sacrifice: Millions sacrificed to defend their country or support the war effort from home.

Gratefully I was able to witness these character traits first hand as I grew up in a home with my wonderful parents. There are very few members of this “greatest generation” who are still alive and can share their stories. Do you have living family members, relatives, or friends who grew up during the great depression and the World War II years? If you have living members in your family, listen to and record their stories, or find their stories and learn about them from their lives of service and sacrifice. I hope all of us will be inspired to instill the character traits of this “greatest generation” in our own lives. –Elaine Hardman