The Greatest Generation?

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Tom Brokaw wrote The Greatest Generation about the generation preceding mine; the generation that fought World War II and stomped The Nazis (eventually). We saw a great show of unity briefly, in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks, but in World War II the entire country solidified to go to war. Republican and Democrat, rich and poor, black, yellow, red, white, men and women, college educated and high school dropouts all signed up to fight The Axis. That includes my parents, a city girl and a farm boy. Above, in the pictures on the left and the right. . .is my father, Corporal John Brummet. He was discharged from the army shortly before the war. After Pearl Harbor, he then enlisted in the Navy, and served in the South Pacific.

In the middle, in the Marine uniform, is Betty Brummet, my mom. During the war, she worked for a time as a riveter at Boeing; she was Rosie The Riveter. She later enlisted in the Marines, following the footsteps of her father, William Jennings Bryan Jones. He served in World War I, and when we entered World War II, he enlisted again even though he was in his mid-40's. The Seattle 'paper published pictures of my mother and grandfather together in uniform. That picture caused my mom's mom (divorced from WJB Jones) to disown her. They later reconciled. More or less. From my family, at least, everyone came home in one piece.
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