"Generation X at War"

A nice op-ed by Bryan G. Stewart in today's Orlando Sentinel:

.... We have often been told that we are a slack-jawed generation -- MTV-watching, hedonistic buffoons of navel-gazing fame. Untucked shirts, poor table manners and sloth were supposed to be our hallmarks. Clearly, it was said of us, we were incapable of sustaining America's greatness, let alone able to defend it with honor. Slouching toward Gomorrah was to be the story of Generation X.

But that is not what I see, nor is that who most of us are. You may see this, too, if you look hard enough. The recent images flashed across your television screen from the Far East and Middle East stand as an electronic record of this assertion.

As the war progresses in Afghanistan and Iraq, I have seen the acts of my chronological peers, and they are not acts of self-indulgence. They are acts of bravery, determination and sacrifice. Witness the sailor and the soldier in Iraq. Observe the FBI agent who arrests terrorists in Tampa or Buffalo, and the NSA cryptologist who deciphers al-Qaeda codes. Watch the CIA operative on horseback in Afghanistan or the Marine inside Saddam Hussein's palace. I am exceedingly proud of my generation.

But you don't have to travel abroad to see these acts. On Sept. 11, 2001, I saw the firefighters and police officers of my generation go into the World Trade Center, the members of our armed forces putting out fires at the Pentagon, and I heard Todd Beamer say "Let's roll" on United Airlines Flight 93 over the fields of southwestern Pennsylvania.

Rather than see American flags being burned or ROTC cadets being spit upon at our universities, in my generation you're more likely to find rallies for America than you will war protesters....

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sat. 04/26/03 06:42:42 PM
Categorized as Social/Cultural.