Editing Greatest Generation (section)

===United States===

====Adolescence====
{{Main|Belle Époque|Progressive Era|World War I|Great Depression in the United States}}
[[File:Buckler family 1914.jpg|thumb|right|Buckler family, 1914]]
[[File:Group portrait of young girls on Christmas card, Queensland, 1910-1920 (5279596344).jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of Australian girls, circa between 1910 and 1920]]

US members of this generation came of age as early as 1919 and as late as 1945, were children, or were born during the [[Progressive Era]], [[First World War|World War I]], and the [[Roaring Twenties]]; a time of economic prosperity with distinctive cultural transformations. Additionally, many of those alive from 1918 through 1920 experienced the deadly [[Spanish flu]] pandemic; and, incredibly, a few rare individuals, such as Anna Del Priore, managed to survive infection from both the Spanish flu and the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] approximately 100 years later.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wright |first=Erica |date=October 23, 2020 |title=This 108-year-old woman survived two pandemics: The 1918 Spanish flu and Covid-19 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/23/this-108-year-old-woman-survived-two-pandemics-the-1918-spanish-flu-and-covid-19.html |access-date=2024-03-20 |website=CNBC |language=en}}</ref> They also experienced much of their youth with rapid [[technological innovation]] (e.g., radio, telephone, [[automobile]]) amidst growing levels of worldwide [[income inequality]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eml.berkeley.edu//~saez/saez-UStopincomes-2012.pdf |title=Striking it Richer |website=eml.berkeley.edu |access-date=2018-04-30 |archive-date=2022-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209110827/https://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/saez-UStopincomes-2012.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/12/05/u-s-income-inequality-on-rise-for-decades-is-now-highest-since-1928/|title=U.S. income inequality, on rise for decades, is now highest since 1928|date=December 5, 2013|access-date=April 30, 2018|archive-date=February 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216234307/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/12/05/u-s-income-inequality-on-rise-for-decades-is-now-highest-since-1928/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/07/5-facts-about-economic-inequality/|title=5 facts about economic inequality|date=January 7, 2014|access-date=April 30, 2018|archive-date=April 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180430182327/http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/07/5-facts-about-economic-inequality/|url-status=live}}</ref> and a soaring economy.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Life and death during the Great Depression|first1=José A. Tapia|last1=Granados|first2=Ana V. Diez|last2=Roux|date=October 13, 2009|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=106|issue=41|pages=17290–17295|doi=10.1073/pnas.0904491106|pmid=19805076|pmc=2765209|bibcode=2009PNAS..10617290T|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shmoop.com/1920s/economy.html|title=Economy in The 1920s|website=www.shmoop.com|access-date=2018-04-30|archive-date=2018-04-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180430182835/https://www.shmoop.com/1920s/economy.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>George H. Soule, Prosperity Decade: From War to Depression: 1917–1929 (1947)</ref> After the [[Stock Market Crash of 1929|Stock Market crashed]], when many had matured in the 1930s, this generation experienced profound economic and social turmoil.

Despite the hardships, historians note that the literature, arts, music, and cinema of the period flourished. This generation experienced what is commonly referred to as the "[[Golden Age of Hollywood]]". A number of popular film genres, including [[gangster films]], [[musical films]], [[comedy films]], and [[monster films]] attracted mass audiences. The Great Depression also greatly influenced literature and witnessed the advent of comic books, which were popular with members of this generation with such characters as [[Doc Savage]], [[the Shadow]], [[Superman]] and [[Batman]]. Next to [[jazz]], [[blues]], [[gospel music]], and [[folk music]]; [[swing jazz]] became immensely popular with members of this generation. The term "Swing Generation" has also been used to describe the cohort due to the popularity of the era's music.<ref>{{cite web |title=Timeline: American Generations since 20th Century |url=https://projects.scpr.org/timelines/american-generations-timeline/ |website=projects.scpr.org |publisher=Southern California Public Radio |access-date=January 6, 2021 |archive-date=February 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202002947/https://projects.scpr.org/timelines/american-generations-timeline/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The popularity of the radio also became a major influence in the lives of this generation, as millions tuned in to listen to President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s "[[fireside chats]]" and absorbed the news in a way like never before.<ref>{{cite web |title=Culture in the Thirties |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/culture-in-the-thirties/ |website=courses.lumenlearning.com |publisher=Lumen Learning |access-date=January 6, 2021 |archive-date=November 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129123416/https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/culture-in-the-thirties/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Great Depression and World War II====
{{Main|Military history of the United States during World War II}}
[[File:Into the Jaws of Death 23-0455M edit.jpg|thumb|left|American G.I.s land on [[Omaha Beach]] on June 6, 1944]]
[[File:WomanFactory1940s.jpg|thumb|left|A woman working in a military aircraft factory in [[Fort Worth, Texas]], in 1942. Millions of American women found [[Rosie the Riveter|work in the defense industry]] during the war.]]

Over 16 million Americans served in World War II, the majority being members of this generation. 38.8% were volunteers, 61.2% were draftees, the average length of their service was 33 months, and total approximate casualties were 671,278 ([[Killed in Action|killed]] and [[Wounded in Action|wounded]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=Research Starters: US Military by the Numbers |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-us-military-numbers |website=nationalww2museum.org |access-date=January 6, 2021 |archive-date=May 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530153856/https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-us-military-numbers |url-status=live }}</ref> American journalist Tom Brokaw and others extol this generation for supporting and fighting World War II.

====Post-war====
{{Main|Demobilization of United States Armed Forces after World War II|Post–World War II economic expansion}}

Following the war, this generation produced children at an unprecedented level. Over 76 million [[Baby Boomers|babies]] were born between 1946 and 1964.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pollard |first1=Kelvin |title=Just How Many Baby Boomers Are There? |url=https://www.prb.org/justhowmanybabyboomersarethere/#:~:text=There%20were%20actually%20a%20total,leaving%20some%2065.2%20million%20survivors. |website=prb.org |access-date=January 4, 2021 |date=April 16, 2014 |archive-date=January 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108064716/https://www.prb.org/justhowmanybabyboomersarethere/#:~:text=There%20were%20actually%20a%20total,leaving%20some%2065.2%20million%20survivors. |url-status=live }}</ref> Subsidized by the [[G.I. Bill]], this generation moved their families into the [[suburbs]] and largely promoted a more conservative mindset as the country faced the challenge of the [[Cold War]], as some were again called to service in the [[Korean War]] alongside the [[Silent Generation]]. The first member of their generation to be elected US president, [[John F. Kennedy]], began a [[Space Race]] against the [[Soviet Union]], and his successor, [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], further promoted a controversial "[[Great Society]]" policy. Research professor of sociology [[Glen Elder (sociologist)|Glen Holl Elder, Jr.]], a prominent figure in the development of [[Life course approach|life course theory]], wrote ''Children of the Great Depression'' (1974), "the first longitudinal study of a Great Depression cohort." Elder followed 167 individuals born in California between 1920 and 1921 and "traced the impact of Depression and wartime experiences from the early years to middle age. Most of these 'children of the Great Depression' fared unusually well in their adult years".<ref>{{cite web |title=About Glen H. Elder, Jr. |url=http://elder.web.unc.edu/about/ |publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |access-date=March 25, 2019 |archive-date=June 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619193328/http://elder.web.unc.edu/about/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Lives in Changing Times |url=http://elder.web.unc.edu/books/ |publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |access-date=March 25, 2019 |archive-date=March 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325024319/http://elder.web.unc.edu/books/ |url-status=live }}</ref> They came out of the hardships of the Great Depression "with an ability to know how to survive and make do and solve problems."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zernike |first1=Kate |title=Generation OMG |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20090313friday.html |access-date=March 25, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=March 13, 2009 |archive-date=March 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325024317/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20090313friday.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Relationship to later generations====
This generation faced turmoil with their older [[Baby boomers|baby boomer]] children upon their maturing in the 1960s in the form of the [[Vietnam War]], [[civil rights movement]], [[Watergate scandal]], and a [[Counterculture of the 1960s|generational culture clash]].<ref>{{cite web |title=GI Generation |url=https://www.lifecourse.com/about/method/def/gi-gen.html |website=lifecourse.com |publisher=LifeCourse Associates |access-date=January 4, 2021 |archive-date=January 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107113336/https://www.lifecourse.com/about/method/def/gi-gen.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Attitudes shaped during World War II clashed with those of the Vietnam era as many struggled to understand the general distrust of the government by the younger generations, while some supported [[anti-war]] protests. The same applied to a lesser extent in the 1950s between the [[Interbellum Generation]] and their [[Silent Generation]] children.<ref>{{cite web |title=The World War II Generation and Vietnam |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/two-days-in-october-world-war-ii-generation-and-vietnam/ |website=PBS.org |access-date=January 4, 2021 |archive-date=January 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108123538/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/two-days-in-october-world-war-ii-generation-and-vietnam/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Later years and legacy====
[[File:Ruth Harden WWII memorial dedication ceremony Delaware.jpg|thumb|right|US Navy veteran Ruth Harden sings as "[[Anchors Aweigh]]" is played during the dedication ceremony of the World War II memorial at [[Delaware Legislative Hall|Legislative Hall]] in Dover, Delaware, November 9, 2013.]]

According to a 2004 study done by [[AARP]], "There are 26 million people aged 77 or older in the United States. These people are largely conservative on economic (59%) and social (49%) issues, and about one-third of
them say they have become more conservative on economic, social, foreign policy, moral, and legal issues as they have aged. Over 9 in 10 (91%) of this age group are registered to vote and 90% voted in the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000 presidential election]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Love |first1=Jeffrey |title=Political Behavior and Values Across the Generations |url=https://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/general/politics_values.pdf |website=aarp.org |publisher=[[AARP]] |access-date=January 4, 2021 |page=3 |date=July 2004 |archive-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020065317/https://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/general/politics_values.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The last member of this generation to be elected president was [[George H. W. Bush]] (1989–1993), and the last surviving president from this generation was [[Jimmy Carter]] (1977–1981). In its latter years, this generation was introduced to continued technological advancements such as mobile phones and the Internet.

As of 2024 some 66,000 (under 1%) of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II remain alive.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/wwii-veteran-statistics | title=WWII Veteran Statistics }}</ref> Living members of this generation are either in their late 90s or are [[centenarians]].

The lives of this generation are a common element of popular culture in the western world,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kenny |first1=Glenn |title=World War II According To Hollywood's Greatest Generation |url=https://decider.com/2016/05/30/best-world-war-ii-movies/ |website=decider.com |publisher=[[New York Post]] |access-date=September 16, 2021 |date=May 30, 2016 |archive-date=September 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916193813/https://decider.com/2016/05/30/best-world-war-ii-movies/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and media related to this generation's experiences continues to be produced.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ringel-Cater |first1=Eleanor |title=The Movie Biz: The Greatest Generation's war |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/07/28/the-movie-biz-the-greatest-generations-war.html |website=bizjournals.com |publisher=[[Atlanta Business Chronicle]] |access-date=September 16, 2021 |date=July 28, 2017 |archive-date=December 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217010507/https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/07/28/the-movie-biz-the-greatest-generations-war.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The romanticizing of this generation has faced criticism by some.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Palaima |first1=Thomas |title=Consider War Stories Without Romanticizing Them |url=https://lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu/2018/11/consider-war-stories-without-romanticizing-them/ |website=lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu |publisher=[[The University of Texas at Austin]] |access-date=January 6, 2021 |archive-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124004645/https://lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu/2018/11/consider-war-stories-without-romanticizing-them/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Klinkenberg |first1=Kevin |title=Dangerous Nostalgia: Why Romanticizing the 1950s and 1960s Won't Get Us Anywhere |url=https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/9/3/dangerous-nostalgia-why-romanticizing-the-1950s-and-1960s-wont-get-us-anywhere |website=strongtowns.org |access-date=January 6, 2021 |date=September 4, 2019 |archive-date=November 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106153150/https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/9/3/dangerous-nostalgia-why-romanticizing-the-1950s-and-1960s-wont-get-us-anywhere |url-status=live }}</ref> However, some also praise the traits and actions of this generation and cite their sacrifices as a lesson for current generations.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hanson |first1=Victor |title=What Millennials Can Learn From the Greatest Generation |url=https://www.newsweek.com/what-millennials-can-learn-greatest-generation-766296 |access-date=January 6, 2021 |agency=[[Newsweek]] |date=January 1, 2018 |archive-date=January 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116010006/https://www.newsweek.com/what-millennials-can-learn-greatest-generation-766296 |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], living members of this generation have been impacted by the pandemic, such as Major Lee Wooten, who was treated in hospital for covid and recovered just before his 104th birthday in 2020; he died aged 105.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jackson |first1=Amanda |title=A 104-year-old World War II veteran from Alabama has survived Covid-19 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/06/us/104-year-old-veteran-covid-trnd/index.html |access-date=January 8, 2021 |agency=[[CNN]] |date=December 6, 2020 |archive-date=December 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208101926/https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/06/us/104-year-old-veteran-covid-trnd/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Major Wooten Obituary – Huntsville, AL |url=https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/huntsville-al/major-wooten-10949183 |access-date=2024-03-20 |website=Dignity Memorial |language=en-us}}</ref>