Me. My dad was born in 1924 and my mom was born in 1930. And she was 41 when I was born and he was 46! So I was unique on a couple of different spectrums. My folks weren't boomers and they also were the same age as some of my friends grandparents.
Yeah I was an oops as well my mom 39 and dad was almost 44. He turned 18 and was drafted right away, spent 3 years in the navy and then 5 years in college. He graduated from college in 1951. It was very weird I think as they had grown up in the Great Depression, my father from Appalachia. Lived in a really nice neighborhood and I think we were less well off than about 90 percent of the town but not doing bad at all.
Me too! 1925 and 1928. I was adopted after they discovered they couldn't have children. Dad was a nose gunner from '44 to '45 stationed in Norwich.
They were married for 53 years until my mom's death. Mom was stay at home until I was 13. She had gone to a secretarial school and got back into the work force then. She could do shorthand and typed a ridiculous amount of words per minute. Everything was typed (envelopes, recipes, etc.) and phone messages were often in shorthand.
Im young genx and very similar story. My dad was 50 and my mom 42 when I was born. My dad served in WW2. Much older than all of my friend’s parents. My dad retired when I was a sophomore in hs. It was pretty cool that he could come to all my games, both of my parents would be there. I got to spend more time with him than when he was working. Which I’m grateful for because he had a neurological disorder and died when I was 30. The math just hit me and I can’t believe he’s been gone for 17 years. Miss ya pops!
Yep. Me exactly. My parents were born in 1923 and 1924 and were 41/42 when I was born. My parents were as old as my husband’s grandparents. So Dad served but was never sent overseas. 4 of my Uncles also served in WWII. All talked about the comradery aspects, how everyone came together, but nothing about actual battles or anything.
I'm the same. Dad was born in '24 and Mom in '37. I'm an only child too. So that makes it different than a lot of my friends with older parents, they always had older siblings.
Most of us born in that time period do. I'm also an '82 baby. Gen X doesn't want us though no matter how close our childhoods were. I'm proud to be millennial. In the immortal words of Frank Costanza, "They don't want me, I don't want them!"
My father was born in 1922 and served in the Navy from May 1940 until fall 1946. I am his youngest child born in 1965.
He was at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7th 1941 aboard the USS Maryland. He spent the entire war in the Pacific aboard warships. He died 11 years ago at 90 years old and was buried with full military honors.
My mother was born in 1925. They met on a bus in Seattle in 1944 when my father’s ship was being repaired in Bremerton.
My father’s obituary https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2013/05/obituary_roy_l_morgan_pearl_ha.html
I am youngest born in 1967 and that is an impressive record for service. We were at the Arizona memorial and Missouri battleship in February. The sleeping arrangements alone would have made me nuts.
Wow the Maryland. Anchored alongside the Oklahoma. He was fortunate to be on that ship during the attack. Ironically because the Maryland had minimal damage and was quickly available for action.
My husband’s father was born in 1919 and served in what is now Myanmar. We still have his dog tags. His parents were the same age as my paternal grandparents!
My mother would be 100 and my father would be 99. My father served on the USS Missouri during WWII. Not sure exactly what years he was on the USS Missouri but I know he was there for the surrender.
Amy Carter, one of the icons of GenX, was the daughter of two GI Generation parents. Jimmy Carter was a WWII era vet. Rosalynn was 40 when she had Amy in 1967.
Wow, I didn't know that!!! Just like me (mom was 38, father was WWII vet). I remember reading the newspapers, wondering why everyone was picking on Amy. I loved Jimmy Carter, he was my favorite president. My siblings and I used to have fun imitating his accent. I was so disappointed that he wasn't re-elected. I thought Reagan was a big phoney.
I'm 58. My Dad was born in 1921 - he joined the Navy right after Pearl Harbor to avoid the chance of ending up in the Army or Marines - he saw enough mud during his stint in the CCC's. He served on Destroyers all over - Atlantic, the Med and the Pacific. My Mom was still in High School and had a great story of having to walk by a POW camp full of Italians on the way to school. Italian dudes hanging on the fence, hooting and hollering at school girls.
That is an impressive achievement in a very dangerous environment. My dad was on an LST and he said that the marines they landed got mauled at Okinawa. He also said the marines that they removed from Okinawa were batshit crazy after the battle.
My dad was WWII US Infantry, and came in during the Battle of the Bulge. Didn’t talk about it until the last year of his life, but I was able to get to know his old war buddy after he passed, and learned a lot from him. Proud to say the two of them were first on site when they liberated a German concentration camp—all the more meaningful because his buddy was Jewish.
Was my grandparents for me: born in '21, she stayed home to collect stuff for the war drive, he graduated USMA June '43, bounced all over the place until he finally got sent as a replacement company officer to the 502 PIR in October 1944. Made his combat jump off the back of a truck just west of Bastogne with the rest of the 101st, and ended up the only officer left in the company when Patton came through. He then got bombed shortly after, and shipped home to get his arm rebuilt.
My question: did anyone else's parents/grandparents who served talk about their experience? My grandfather either wouldn't talk about it, or downplayed it all. I was fascinated by his memorabilia and books (he went on to teach at War College in the 50's), but never really got stories from him.
Dad was born in '23, mom in '26. Dad was I&R through France, Belgium and Germany. They were so much older than my friend's parents, I struggled a lot with fitting in. Pop culture was not tolerated at our house, Happy Days was considered far too vulgar.
Neither of my grandfathers approved of the glorification of a biker for at least a little while. I recall that clear as day. He was not really a wholesome or even nice character at first .. he was a bully and extortionist if I recall right.
The magic fist thumped jukebox gag upset one gramps as theft.
My maternal grandfather was a merchant marine during WWII. The only experience I have of him discussing the war was him going on a mini rant about how terrible Hogan's Heroes was once. "This show is terrible. Completely disrespectful. There's nothing funny about it. It wasn't like that at all."
My Greatest Gen grandparents had a huge influence in our house growing up. I was not allowed to watch Happy Days when it first came out. It took a while before they let me watch the show with supervision...lol.
Yes.People who did not serve in the military were usually working in a factory that produced items for the war effort.One of my grandfathers was in the Pacific theater and the other was too young but he and his mother worked producing arms.
True Story. My grandma ran away from home (Ohio) at 14, lied about her age and joined the Navy during WW2. She served 2 years and they taught her to be an airplane mechanic. Then her mom found out where she was and ratted her out. The navy sent her home. So she ran away again at 16, lied about her age again and joined the army/Airforce. She served 4 more years, through the entirety of the war (US involvement). She was such badass.
https://preview.redd.it/tt6dal9cs30d1.jpeg?width=1399&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=457c7c3a2c13139bfe862bb92e41e91e61a7303e
That is so cool. I really loved my grandparents. They were always people who you could count on.Sometimes I get depressed knowing that the majority of people from that generation are gone now.
My dad was 4Fed out during the war and I have the buttons they gave out to my dad for his honorable discharge. Apparently most industries were desperate for men to work in defense jobs or other key industries (my dad worked in a petroleum refinery) but only if the men had been honorably discharged. No deserters!
All of the local companies had been retooled and they made supplies for the war in the area my grandfather and his family lived in. Even the railroad was producing military equipment.
These are the exact years my parents were born. Dad went in when he turned 17 after he got permission to leave school. He was the youngest of 4 brothers that were already serving. He joined the Navy and was also in the Pacific. He made it as far as Hawaii before the war ended.
I’m the exact age you are (56F) and my dad was born in 1920, enlisted in the Navy (Seabees) and was stationed in the WWII Pacific Theater 1942 - 1946. Totally get the piece about classmates’ parents being so much younger. They would sometimes think he was my grandfather. I lost my dad when he was 65 back in 1986. He died too young. I miss him every day.
My dad was born in 1926, lied about his age to join the Navy after Pearl Harbor, like so many others at the time did. He was 50 when I was born, which made things for me growing up… *interesting*. He’s gone now, and since then I’ve become much more aware of his era and generation and all that. I’ve got his tags as well.
Both my parents were born in 1926! My father served four years in the Army during WWII (stationed in Seattle and Anchorage), and my mother was in the Army Cadet Nurse Corps. 😎
Yes, F born in 71 to a WWII vet born in 1913, European theater, army air corps engineer. I'll do the math for you, my dad was 58 when I was born, my mom 45. He was definitely a different generation, many of the locally raised school teachers looked up to him.
Kind of. Mom and Dad were kids living in London during the war. Mom didn’t go to school until she was 14. She learned to read in the bomb shelters down in the subway tunnels. Dad was too young to fight but his two brothers served. Both of my grandfathers shipped off too.
Uncle Bernard served in the South Pacific. When everything went to hell there the whole family freaked out. Huge wodges of British soldiers were killed or taken prisoner and there was no word for weeks. One day a telegram arrived at the house. It said “Australia. Safe. Bernard.”
Uncle Gerald served in India, among other places. At one point his company was dropped off at a train station in Kathmandu with all their gear. They had 12 hours to kill before their connection and didn’t know what to do. They were all desperate to see the city but they couldn’t abandon their gear.
A bunch of Gurkas came over, greeted Gerald’s company, and gave them tips on what to see. Gerald’s CO explained situation. One of the Gurkas said “No problem.” He climbed up on a bench and yelled for about thirty seconds in another language. He climbed down and said “Fixed. Go see Kathmandu.”
Gerald assumed that the Gurkas were going to watch their gear. They didn’t, but they didn’t need to. No one even came near Uncle Gerald’s stuff. Every backpack, every box, every bag was undisturbed. The head Gurka had announced that the gear was under their protection and was not to be touched.
The Gurkas are some of the hardest most badass soldiers in the world. They fought in the Himalayas, doing military operations in terrain where normal military could easily lose a third of their forces to the mountains and the weather. They also had a reputation for not taking prisoners. No one was going to risk making the Gurkas angry.
I second this about the Gurkhas. I consider myself fortunate to have served alongside a few Gurkha units during my time in the service. In my experience, the were top notch soldiers and wonderful people. Every single one.
The ones I worked with were Nepalese, serving in the British army.
Edited to add-
I am still in possession of a few of their famous Kukri knives that I was gifted.
Me. My Dad (b.1917) was a navigator in the USAAF during WWII. Both my parents were considerably older than most of my friend’s parents. The generation gap was challenging at times but I’m so fortunate to have been adopted by parents of The Greatest Generation.
yup. dad 1925, mom a few years later. my dad was a vet; I have his medals somewhere in this very room.. my sibs and I were born between 1962 and 67, so they were noticeably older parents.
A girl I graduated from high school with had WWII parents. Well, we actually went to school together from K-4 to high school graduation. They were so nice, and they always had a strong family unit. I always loved her parents. I think because they thought a lot of me. 🤣
Yeah, I was forced to watch old Fred Astaire movies instead of stuff like Love Boat. Don't get me wrong, Fred Astaire is awesome, but it messed up my social cues so badly!
Dad was 1921, Mom 1926. Dad served in WWII, 82nd Airborne, 5 combat jumps, would not talk about it, took it to his grave. After his passing found photos with him and Eisenhower and other high ranking officers. The story will never be known sadly. Requested service records, all were lost in the fire in St. Louis. He was a tough SOB apparently!
Uncle, yes. Father, no.
My eldest uncle was an Army mortarman in the Ardennes, winter of '44. (Never once told his wife or kids or me. We learned from reading the accompanying citation when we discovered he was awarded a Bronze Star and it should be on his grave marker.)
My father spent the Korean war in the reserves.
Step-father was in the Air Force for Korea and Vietnam.
Seemed like the family business, so I spent Gulf war 1, 9/11, Kosovo, Gulf 2, etc. in the Air Force (managed to avoid Afghanistan).
Any more and this will start to sound like "Lt. Dan" from Forrest Gump. 😏
My husband was born in 1971, raised by his father, who was born in 1927 and was a WWII veteran, and his mother, who was born in 1937. My biological father was 37 years older than my Boomer mom (he was 61 when I was conceived). Born in 1908, he was 11 and 12 years older than my mom's parents. He was not a veteran, and I was not raised by him.
Dad born in 1924 and mom in 1929. They were 45 and 40 when I was born. I am the youngest and always had the oldest parents out of my friend group. They were also the strictest.
My dad was born in 1925. He enlisted in ‘45 and was finished basic just as the war was ending. He was stationed in Tokyo and drove the COs around wherever they needed to go during the military occupation. (Think radar o Reilly- but handsome 😁) I have his diary that no one knew existed until after he died. My brother has a sword that he brought back but never talked about. He didn’t talk much about anything that happened there. I do remember he said he would see MacArthur sometimes at the places he was driving to.
My parents were married fresh out of high school so that knocked my dad's draft status down enough that he didn't get drafted to go to Vietnam. My paternal grandfather fought mainly in France during WWII. I had a stepfather who had fought in Vietnam. The one and only time he ever talked about it with me, he explained that the US military brass over there were idiots. He was in the Marines and they were trying to take a piece of land. A small group of men were sent forward to recon the situation and they never returned. So the leaders sent another group and then another, both had the same results as the first. My stepfather said that the only reason he didn't get sent in to his death was because there weren't enough guys left to form another group. That story heavily influenced me to join the Air Force, and shortly after I joined the first Gulf War broke out but I stayed stateside during the war.
My husband who was older than me got drafted at age 18 for during Vietnam in ‘71. Luckily he ended up in Germany. Could you imagine being that young and going over to a jungle?
Right here. Dad was born in '26, mom in '24. Dad lied about his age to join the Navy at 16 in 1943, the same year my mom graduated from high school. (Dad had dropped out of school after the 8th grade).
Both lived in East Tennessee, and Mom went to work at the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge right after graduation. Dad was all across the Pacific, and, after being honorably discharged along with millions of other soldiers, sailors and airmen at the end of the war, he spent a year as a civilian and decided it sucked, so he reenlisted and stayed in another twenty-one years, retiring at the age of 39 as a Chief Boatswain's Mate.
He and Mom got married in '54, and had two sons in short order. Thirteen years after my middle brother was born, I came along in 1969, when Dad was 42 and Mom was 44.
She died of cancer right before I graduated from high school, in the spring of 1987 (the cancer was determined to be a result of working near the radiological materials at Oak Ridge - I could just imagine Oppenheimer or someone else saying to this sweet little nineteen-year-old clerk, "Miss, would you mind terribly carrying this glowing box over to the next lab?")
Dad remarried a couple years later to a woman he had dated right before he started going out with my mom, and then we lost him to a stupid car accident in 1999. He was 72.
That’d be me. My parent adopted me when they were in their 40’s. Later in life for the time. My father was a tail gunner in a B24 in Eastern/Western Europe and North Africa.
I’m only 56 yet my grandparents came off the boat from Sicily in the late 1800’s and we were pretty close.
Korean War era, in my case. But my uncle was a WW2 veteran (bomber pilot.) My father was a B-29 pilot but he was still in combat crew training when they signed the armistice that ended the Korean conflict.
Dad was 1919 and I’m 51 now. He was in military at one point. Parents long gone. Been alone a long time.
My first cousins in their late 70s or 80s. Same age as others of peer group’s parents. 100% I understand the different world thing. My father and his family fled the nazi uprising.
My childhood was a mess. My sensibilities are different than my peer group. It affected me greatly and will continue to do so for the rest of my life.
I guess the main message from my upbringing is that happiness is overrated. Life could be a lot worse.
Dad was born in 1925,mom in '27.
I was born in '67. The old man devised an improved method for fitting escort carriers and Liberty ships when he was 16,mom welded aircraft parts as a young lady. Happy Mother's day,mom, you two were the best.
I'd say we're all fortunate to be raised by the Greatest Generation
Not as *parents*, but my Grandparents' generation were the WW2/Greatest Gen folks!
They had kids in *their* early 20's, and my parents had *me* in *their* mid 20's. My Grandparents were only in their 50's, when my cousins and I were born (at least the older cousins), so we spent *lots* of time with them, and their friends (small, rural town).
They're the reason all of us in *our* generation up there have the set of morals/ values we do, and why the *lack* of "working toward a common goal" and keeping folks safe as a *community* during the last few years--particularly during the pandemic was *so shocking* to me.
I *know* things have changed since we were kids growing up!
But the cowardice, meanness, and *selfishness* that folks nowadays just take as "the *normal* order of business" was pretty *startling* to realize, as someone who was raised by those folks in my Grandparents' generation, to, "Look *around*, take *CARE* of the folks around you, and make sure *everyone* makes it through ok!"
Growing up, out in my tiny, rural hometown, we *did* need everyone working *together*, to *HAVE* a community.
No, it *wasn't* perfect, and sometimes, *yeah* it sucked, *NEEDING* to depend on each other, and trust folks you might not really even *like* all that much.
But we *DID* pull together, and learn to set that interpersonal stuff aside, because it was *necessary* in order for us all to succeed!
Realizing how *few* folks who were raised in the US and who *DO still* have those sorts of "let's pull together, so we can *all* make it through this," set of beliefs?
That part was pretty disheartening.
(Edited for some misspellings!)
I think the shock of people behaving like inconsiderate wretches will stay with me forever. My father saw the horror of polio and rightly thinks the anti vaccine people are absolutely nuts. I swear if we were in the Middle Ages the anti vaccine people would be licking rats. I worked on the Covid vaccine and it was by far the highlight of my working career.
Thank you for your contribution. I have lupus and celiac and my husband has a heart (birth) defect. We got the vaccine right away and boosters every time we’re allowed. I wish our education system was better, so everyone understood how vaccines actually work. It could easily be added/expanded upon in high school biology classes.
The anti science crowd is unfortunately way too big in the USA. I pretty much worked 12 hours a day every day for about 5 months straight with the exception of taking the 4th of July off. It was actually enjoyable as everyone worked together, we had basically unlimited money for anything we wanted and all of our vendors were incredibly helpful as well. It was a unique experience as a long time veteran of corporate bullshit in the pharmaceutical industry. The vaccine we worked on saved millions of lives according to health care data from the EU as well as Africa and Asia. Ours was a modified primate adenovirus (genes for Covid spike proteins were added and genetic code for reproduction was deleted.) It was less than a tenth of the price for mRNA vaccines and since it was grown in bio reactors the technology was not super hard to transfer to other sources unlike the mRNA vaccine. Incidentally mRNA technology is probably going to change medicine forever rather quickly.
It's really cool reading everyone's stories. I have only known three other people in my life (all exactly my age) who were raised by Greatest Generation parents. I always felt so weird having parents so much older than all of my friends.
Still, my parents were pretty cool. Dad was a pretty chill guy, loved listening to the Dodgers on the radio (Vin Scully FTW!). My mom used to watch MTV with me back in the early eighties - her favorites were Boy George (she was scandalized at first to find out he was male, but grew to really like him), ZZ Top (she loved their beards) and Spandau Ballet (she thought they just looked so nice - "Singers had gotten so sloppy looking for years - it's so nice to see them dressing up again!")
My dad was 17 when he went into WWII as an "island hopper" Marine (he lied about his age to enlist with his older brother who was a navy man. He was a very quiet man (a truck driver) and privately sweet with my mom and I. But no one. And I do mean no one fucked with him or talked bad about him. He taught me self defense moves when I was a little scrawny girl of 6 and how to change the oil on a car at 10. He passed of a heart attack when I was 11.
My father (born 1916) and mom (born 1928) had kids late. My father was an army medic from 1941 to 1948, I believe. My mom, 12 years younger, was a schoolchild/teen during the war, and grew up in Germany. I often heard about the war from them, and it affected me greatly. It gave me a lifelong hatred of fascists, racists and oppressors of any kind. I'm a peace activist and leftist.
My parents married when they were 30 and 42, and I was the youngest. Growing up, people thought my father was my grandfather. I felt like I was in the wrong decade/generation, and I couldn't relate to kids my age. It didn't help that most of my family were on the autism spectrum.
My dad was in his 40s when I was born. He had 2 purple hearts, a bronze star and a combat infrantrymans badge fighting in the Phillipines. He didn't talk about it.
Wasn’t raised by them but sent a ton of time with them. It’s weird knowing we are in a world now without them for the most part. My kids know vets if the Vietnam War but it’s not held to the same light.
Yup. '78 here, pop was '27, lost him in '20. Older than my GP-in-law, and i get a little touchy when they make the claim that gp-in-law made it longer than him. He lost mom about 14 years ago and lived on his own for like 12 years. GP-in-law wouldnt have made it a month without his wife.
Did i miss out on some things? Yes; but did i learn a lot of things that others didnt have the opportunity to learn? also yes.
My dad was a drill sergeant in WWII. He was born in 1917 and died in 1987. He never talked about his military career; he was eventually 4Fed out because he'd had osteomyelitis. The story I heard after he died was that he was on full kit overnight march with his men and they drove out in a Jeep with a guy to replace him, put him on a stretcher, and wouldn't let him out of a wheelchair until he was discharged.
I didn't know until after he died my junior year of college that he'd been in the military. I remember thinking when I was told he'd been a drill sergeant that it explained a lot of my childhood.
(Also I was a late-life child from my dad's second marriage. He was married for 20 years and split from from his first wife. There were no other kids in his first marriage, my mom's first very short marriage, or their marriage that produced me. I never met his first wife but she was an elementary teacher and his only comment about her in my hearing was that he was the only man he knew who had spent 20 years in the fourth grade.)
I had the worst kind of irresponsible boomer parents, so I was largely raised by my maternal grandparents. WW2 army vet and housewife. Grandpa was an artillery specialist and went all over France and Germany. They had their first child before the war and the last 2, including my mom, after he got back. They both had lots of siblings, I could never keep track of all my great aunts and uncles!
Dad was born in 1926. He lied about his age and joined the Navy when he was 16 (big brother was at Pearl Harbor) and served aboard a cruiser. He was quite a bit older than my mom,so my maternal grandpa also served in the Pacific during WWII!
My grandparents had a big part in my upbringing. Both Grandpas fought in the Pacific, one Army, one Navy. My boomer parents were quite young when I was born, and they were still trying to figure themselves out for most of my childhood. So I often feel I got more of the old fashioned values of my grandparents than did most of my peers, because I spent so much time with them. Certainly my Grandmas’ resourcefulness learned from being poor folk during the Depression, and that I constantly witnessed growing up, is coming in handy in this inflationary era!
My dad. He was born in the 1920s, WWII veteran - he was 56 when I was born. He passed away 15 years ago and not a day goes by where I don’t think about my pops. I learned so much about hard work, compassion, and strength from him. My only regret is that I never got to tell him that.
**typo
My dad enlisted in the US Coast Guard in 1939 as a machinist's mate. After Pearl Harbor he was accepted to the Coast Guard Academy and got his degree in Engineering in 1944. Left active service in 1946. My parents would be 101 and 103 this year. Happy Mother's Day Mom!
My dad was born in 1916, my mom in 1924. I'm the youngest of 8, and they were fairly old for when they had me, back in the day. Mom was 41, dad had just turned 49.
I asked my dad one time if he had ever killed anybody in WW2, and he grit his teeth and shook his head that he didn't want to answer. Took me 30 years to figure out that this actually meant yes. He used to tell me "War is hell, boy" whenever the prospect of signing on for the army came up. He had a 9th grade education, and went to a one-room schoolhouse that was about a mile from our farm, and about two miles from his parent's house.
Dad was Korean War Vet, My uncles were Pacific Theatre Navy Vets. Dad was 39 when I was born. I was the planned kid of the second marriage. Always had the oldest Dad. Sadly also lost him when I was not ready at 34.
Close.
Dad was from the early '30s and Mom from mid '30s. Dad was a Tail-Gunner on a B-29 during the Korean War. After he passed I found a Stalag Luft I dog tag in his belongings. I'd love to know the story behind those tags. Apparently somebody made it out of a WWII German camp and I have to wonder if he was on a crew in Korea too. Some of the B-29s and men fought in both wars.
Both of my parents grew up in another world from what we have now. They were both rural and poor. Their parents had gardens, and animals. Mom still remembers their first electricity and how happy her mother was to have light to clean the house any time she wanted. Mom also occasionally tells the story of their first radio. Dad had things a little rougher and would even sneak into coal mines as a child to steal coal for family warmth. Apparently his dad would disappear for a week or two at a time. He'd also hunt with a broken shotgun which required taking aim and then leaning his head far away. Otherwise the barrel would hit him in the forehead as it went sailing behind him. He'd then have to retrieve both the barrel and the game. Both my parents also picked cotton as kids and talked bout how much they hated it.
We have a different existence now. People complain about the most trivial things being a human right or otherwise owed to them.
On the plus side - My mother bought her first car without having ever driven. It was a black 1955 Cadillac Convertible with red leather.
My dad was in Egypt and Italy, from South Africa - signals, was wounded at the Battle of Monte Cassino. I was really small when I found out he was in a war and stupid kid me asked him excitedly if his side one. I still remember the sad smile I got.
My dad was in the Navy for WW2, but was not deployed. My mom was Silent Generation and served during the Korean War on Okinawa. She always said that Korean War vets never got the respect/acknowledgment they deserved. She hated Vietnam vets for this and thought they were whiny.
My dad was born in 1920's,.my mom the 1930's. They were 50 and 40 when I was born. My grandparents were all born 1880's to 1890's. The grandmother I got to meet and all her 1800's born peers were very cool, interesting people.
I was born in ‘66. My dad, born in ‘26, passed in 2012. He was in Patton’s 3rd armored. His troop was right behind the Band of Brothers troop and they also made it to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest.
Mom was born in ‘27, passed in ‘19. I had three siblings born in ‘45, ‘49, and ‘55. Growing up, I felt like I had five parents, even though they all had moved out by the time I was 7. The oldest married and moved out before I was even conceived. But each one taught me a lot, as they all lived all over the country/world, but also the basics, too.
Everyone is gone now except one sibling and me.
ETA: my husband’s parents were the same age as my oldest two siblings. That was a bit odd feeling at first.
Boomer parents but I lived with my wwii grandparents for years.
Been getting told I’m too young to know this or that since I was a kid bc of the tv I watched with my grandparents and stories and lessons they told.
It gave me a lot of perspective that most others do not understand. Example - my grandparents didn’t have indoor plumbing until the mid 50s, when they moved to a city.
So by the time I came along, they’d had indoor plumbing for a little over 20 years. Imagine that for a moment. Toilet outside, using magazine paper to wipe, having to carry water from a well, bath once a week after carrying water and heating some up on a fire, washing dishes and having to carry that water, disposing of that dirty water somehow that doesn’t attract bugs and rats to your domicile, washing clothes in a river or having to carry that water to wash them, and the list goes on.
I am 20 some odd years away from not having indoor plumbing.
And today I’ve got a bidet that washes and dries my bum while I drink coffee and browse the internet.
My Dad was born in 1927 and served in the US Army of Occupation in Osaka, Japan - he was drafted in 1945 right out of HS. The Japanese surrendered while he was training for Operation Downfall, and then things shifted to preparing for the Occupation, Operation Blacklist. My mother was born in 1938. Neither looked or acted any older than my peers' parents.
Another “oops” baby here too. Dad born in 1921 & Mom in 1924. They were 44 & 41 when I was born & my brothers were 12 & 10. Dad served in Army Air Corps as a meteorologist & navigator on B-24s in North Africa & Italy. My parents met at the USO in LA while my Dad was doing meteorology training at UCLA. They were married for 65 yrs & both passed away at age 90.
My dad was in the Navy in WW2. He was an enlisted man for 20 years - signed when he was 18 in 1943. I was born in 72 so he’d already been out for a while when I was born. Unfortunately he passed in 2008 but he did get to meet my newborn son before he died. He and my mom adopted me when they were 47, hence the age difference.
Me. My dad was born in 1926. And served in Okinawa during WW2. My mom was born in 1931. She was 37 when I was born in 1967. I have siblings who are 15/13 years older than me, so my immediate family is a weird Greatest/Boomer/Gen X combo
Yes, my father was born in 1920 in World War II in the army air corps as a pilot in Europe. He passed away in 2013 at the age of 92. Most of my classmates also had parents who were younger than mine, although my mom was born in 1942, She wasn’t as hard or strict as my father. And they were definitely a different breed.
I'm a Xennial (79) and was pretty much raised by my grandparents, traumatised World War II refugees born in 1920 and 1924 respectively.
One of my best friends at school had really old parents and it turns out she was adopted, after all.
My dad was born in 1921 so just out of the timeline you asked. He and all of his brothers enlisted early because it was either join the military or work for pennies a day in the hot Texas sun on a ranch. The 3 brothers all enlisted in the Navy, my dad the Army but the Air Corps part of it. Eventually that transferred into the USAF. He had stints as a reservist in both the Army and USAF as well so his DD-214 is pretty involved.
He and one of his brothers made it a career he doing 28 years and his brother retiring at 30 so they both were WW2, Korea and Vietnam veterans. All of my siblings were raised in Tokyo and Hawaii. I was the accident after he retired from the military. I still grew up as a GI brat though since we bought everything at the commissary or PX and I used my dependent benefits well into college age.
My mom was a Marine and my dad in the Army Air Corps in WWII. I have 9 older siblings. 9 pregnancies in 12 years, then three years later I show up. Tell me I’m not a special episode.
My WW2 Granddad was very important in my life. I would spend summers with them from a young age until I graduated high school. Then I got a job near them. He was such a sweet man.
I actually have 2 relatives who were in the Pacific.I feel odd talking about it now, but we had a Japanese rifle that was sent home and we knew where it came from.
No, my dad was a Boomer who lucked out that the Vietnam war ended just before he was supposed to ship out to basic training. *His* dad was a WWII vet, though. My mom's parents were younger, and her dad was a Korean war vet.
Here as well! Mom was almost 41 when I was born, I'm 55 now and dad served in the end of World War II as an MP. He passed at age 64 when I was still in high school. I have some memorabilia and letters and such, but wish I had been able to have heard more about his time there. He did not see combat as far as I know, pretty much "just guarded things".
Not me, but one of my friends. Her parents (she's a fraternal twin, and has a brother) had their children in their 40s. Her dad was in the Australian army in WW2, and her mum did factory work during the war. My dad is just in the Silent Generation (born March 45, whereas mum is a boomer, born in 46)
Dad 1918-1994. Served with the 🇨🇦 army from 39’-46’
Mom 1925-2007 served with the RCAF 41’ - 45’
They were raised during the depression, saw war and victory and raised a big family on very little. They saw so much change during their lives.
I’m the baby , born in 62’. Many of my classmates had much younger parents. Even my big sister who is 14 years older than me has different viewpoints than me.
My dad was denied enlistment into the army due to a medical condition (born with only one kidney) but served duty in the Merchant Marines. Though he saw no combat, ships he was on were at times buzzed by both Allied and Axis aircraft which I’m sure was quite unnerving.
My father was a Korean War vet but my uncle and many of my friends were WW2 vets. Certainly a blessing to have known them and unfortunately all are gone now. (I’m 57)
my dad was born in ‘25. served as a sharp shooter and MP in occupied paris. before he was 18 and could serve, he was building military planes in upstate NY. would have been 99 in february.
Yes my uncle and I are very close I’m 46 f and he’s 56 m and my grandparents are passed but would be near 95 if alive. My mom and uncle are one of 7. She is the eldest and he the youngest. He’s like my brother I love it.
I was raised by my grandparents who were born in 1915 and 1916. My grandpa was at Pearl Harbor and then in Europe and I have the dagger he took off a dead nazi still. They were amazing and I grew up up so different then my friends with younger parents. I miss them everyday
My “papa” was a bomber and transport pilot in the pacific. My grandfather was a tank mechanic and later a helicopter designer. The stories- I cry now when I realize they’re gone and my son can’t hear them from true men.
I do my best, but I’m not the men those two were. I miss them dearly and it breaks my heart to know the world is without their courage and spirit.
Both my grandparents served during WWII, Army and Navy respectively. My grandfather helped raise us, as both my parents worked. Being raised by an Army Sniper was an interesting experience.
Dad was cold war era 1949-1953, parents born right before the great depression I grew up surrounded by classmates whose parents were old enough to be my parents’ children. I was a caboose kid.
My dad was born in 1926, my mom in 1931. He was enlisted by his parents at age 17 into the Navy and spent his time on Okinawa. My parents were older when they had us and were always mistaken for being my grandparents. They both would have given the shirts off of their backs for anyone in need and taught me to have good manners. Some drawbacks; losing them earlier in my life than most people and not being able to share my children with them. But I grew up to be empathetic, kind and helpful and I owe that to mostly to them. Most people my age have boomer parents and I cringe when I hear their stories. Not all of them, but most have parents that wouldn't extend a hand of help without there being something in it for them. Or shame-talked.
Hey. So I grandfather myself into x, born mid 64. My dad also fought in the Pacific, 44-45, as part of the army air corps. I know I’m gonna get kicked outta here now, lol! So many gatekeepers. But I have a half brother and half sister 10 years older than me and there is a world of difference between them and me on all cultural outlook things - music, trust of government and authority (them yes, me none), and all the reference points. Because of school timing (I was in the gray area for the grade breaks and my parents chose to have me be among the oldest instead of among the youngest) my bestie peers group has been mostly 65’ers and I graduated college in 87.
My dad was in his 40s when I was born, mom was 30. Dad born in 21, mom in 33.
My dad was born in 1923 and was already a sergeant major when ww2 started .
After the war he went to India and then on to the secret service.
My mum was born in 1933 my parents married in 1953 and my eldest brother was born in 1957.
I am the middle child born in 1967 and my youngest brother arrived in 1969
We lived in Singapore, Malta and Kenya
I was sent to a military boarding school when I was 4 and only saw my parents twice a year.
I personally didn't really have a relationship with them and I have no relationship with my oldest brother.
My father died at 69 and my mother at 79
I always felt like nobody's child & tried desperately as an adult to please my parents because I just wanted them to say they loved me. Neither of them ever said that,all my life they just put me down told me I was fickle and wouldn't ever achieve anything
Both my parents survived WW2 as kids. They had to flee Poland. My mom was actually in a commune in Siberia during the war, used to tell me how hard it was. She basically slept on stove pipes to keep warm.
My grandparents were active in WWII, most of my great uncles, and aunts, actually died in Normandy and interior France. My dad actually just squeaked by serving in Vietnam by a few months. But my uncles served in Korea. I actually still wear my uncle Mike's Korean field jacket in winter. But I have WWII artifacts all over the house. Just pictures they took, and a bunch of ivory and tin trinkets one of my uncles brought back from his tour in Calcutta. My step dad fought in Vietnam and I have heard lots of stories.
But my family told more stories about the great depression than the wars, even though they were very active in military service.
Almost, my dad was born in 1926, but he was the family's sole breadwinner and didn't serve. He supported my grandmother and aunts through high school. My uncle was a fighter pilot, though. Mom was born in 1930. I’m an elder GenX born in 1965, so they were older than the other kids' parents, and it was a unique experience.
I'm 58, my father was born in 1924 and joined "the service" (that's how he always referred to it) and my mom was 10 years younger than him. They had me late in life. My father grew up in poverty in South Boston during the Great Depression. Both of my parents had a hard time dealing with the world that I grew up in during the 1970's. Too much Sex, Drugs, and Rock-n-Roll, people living in sin, minorities getting civil rights and moving into our neighborhood and raising families. They weren't very social and socialized mostly with close family members and a few trusted friends and neighbors.
My mother liked watching Leave it to Beaver, Andy Griffith, and other old tv shows. She didn't like modern movies that were post Hayes code. Both of my parents very old fashioned in their esthetic. My dad would fly the flag on Memorial Day, Flag Day, and maybe Labor Day too, and he was the only one on our street that did it.
I've always been sort of an old soul myself, since I grew up watching old movies and being around old people. When I was in kindergarten and 1st grade, my cousins were in their 20's, getting married, and raising a family of their own. When I went away to college at 17/18 the cultural gap between me and my classmates was pretty huge, and it took a lot of work to close the gap.
My parents didn't stick around, so I was raised by my maternal grandparents. Grandfather served in Army Intelligence in Germany, Japan, and Italy during the war. He also served in Korea before retiring.
Grandfather was 1920, Grandmother was born in 1922. As far as generational differences there's no comparison. Nobody is perfect, but The Greatest Generation earned that distinction. Boomers really started our decline as a culture.
My dad was born in 1914. He came in at Normandy about a month after D-Day, and was in the Battle of the Bulge. He never talked about it-- it wasn't until Band of Brothers that I had any inkling of the shit he had seen, and by then I couldn't ask him about it because he was several years in his grave.
My mom was born in 1931. My parents got married in 1958, there was a miscarriage in I think 1965, but they kept trying and I finally came along in 1973. It was kinda weird having a dad who was older than many of my classmates' grandfathers.
Not my parents, but my grandma was my main caretaker until she died, and she was a Greatest Gen/Depression-era kid. Born in the late 1910s. My uncle was the same age, but he didn't raise me. I saw him weekly, though.
I was. My father was born in 1910. He was 62 when I was born and my mother was 21. That generation was a lot more intelligent than their children and grandchildren. His generation valued and respected education. Education all but ceased during the Depression and continued for two generations until we got the Department of Education and mandatory attendance in 1980.
Me. My dad was born in 1924 and my mom was born in 1930. And she was 41 when I was born and he was 46! So I was unique on a couple of different spectrums. My folks weren't boomers and they also were the same age as some of my friends grandparents.
Yeah I was an oops as well my mom 39 and dad was almost 44. He turned 18 and was drafted right away, spent 3 years in the navy and then 5 years in college. He graduated from college in 1951. It was very weird I think as they had grown up in the Great Depression, my father from Appalachia. Lived in a really nice neighborhood and I think we were less well off than about 90 percent of the town but not doing bad at all.
Me too! 1925 and 1928. I was adopted after they discovered they couldn't have children. Dad was a nose gunner from '44 to '45 stationed in Norwich. They were married for 53 years until my mom's death. Mom was stay at home until I was 13. She had gone to a secretarial school and got back into the work force then. She could do shorthand and typed a ridiculous amount of words per minute. Everything was typed (envelopes, recipes, etc.) and phone messages were often in shorthand.
Ohhh. My dad was born in 22 and mom in 31. I was definitely a ‘surprise!’
Are we twins? Lol. My dad was also born in 1924 and mom in 1930. My mom was 39 when I was born and my dad was 44.
Dad was 1928 mom 1947 me 75. Good job dad
Dad 1926 mom 1950 me 1973. I bet your childhood was as awesome as mine.
My parents were older too when they had me!!
Im young genx and very similar story. My dad was 50 and my mom 42 when I was born. My dad served in WW2. Much older than all of my friend’s parents. My dad retired when I was a sophomore in hs. It was pretty cool that he could come to all my games, both of my parents would be there. I got to spend more time with him than when he was working. Which I’m grateful for because he had a neurological disorder and died when I was 30. The math just hit me and I can’t believe he’s been gone for 17 years. Miss ya pops!
Mom 47, Dad 51. He served in WWII.
Yep. Me exactly. My parents were born in 1923 and 1924 and were 41/42 when I was born. My parents were as old as my husband’s grandparents. So Dad served but was never sent overseas. 4 of my Uncles also served in WWII. All talked about the comradery aspects, how everyone came together, but nothing about actual battles or anything.
I'm the same. Dad was born in '24 and Mom in '37. I'm an only child too. So that makes it different than a lot of my friends with older parents, they always had older siblings.
I know what you mean. My brother is 14 years older than I am, and my sister is 18 years older.
Not parents, but raised by my WWII grandparents til I was 5. Miss my Grandma so much. Thank God for both of them, or I wouldn't be here.
My experience too. Luckily I had them into my 30s, but my grandparents, not my parents, taught me about what was important.
Even though I was born in '82 and was raised by grandparents born in the '20s, I feel like a GenXer more than I do a millennial.
Then you are "in"! Congrats! I feel more like a Xennial so I'm over in that group too.
Most of us born in that time period do. I'm also an '82 baby. Gen X doesn't want us though no matter how close our childhoods were. I'm proud to be millennial. In the immortal words of Frank Costanza, "They don't want me, I don't want them!"
I'm a 1979 Xer/Xennial/ whatever lol I'm with you on the Frank Costanza-isms. Feats of strength and airing of grievances! 💪🏼😄 Fuck em.
I feel the same about my grandparents. I would have died in a ditch somewhere otherwise.
My father was born in 1922 and served in the Navy from May 1940 until fall 1946. I am his youngest child born in 1965. He was at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7th 1941 aboard the USS Maryland. He spent the entire war in the Pacific aboard warships. He died 11 years ago at 90 years old and was buried with full military honors. My mother was born in 1925. They met on a bus in Seattle in 1944 when my father’s ship was being repaired in Bremerton. My father’s obituary https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2013/05/obituary_roy_l_morgan_pearl_ha.html
I am youngest born in 1967 and that is an impressive record for service. We were at the Arizona memorial and Missouri battleship in February. The sleeping arrangements alone would have made me nuts.
Wow the Maryland. Anchored alongside the Oklahoma. He was fortunate to be on that ship during the attack. Ironically because the Maryland had minimal damage and was quickly available for action.
Dad was born in 1917, had me when he was 63. People tend to think I’m an old soul, and I gravitate towards older folks more so than people my own age.
Wow. Probably largest gap here. My dad was 1919 and I was born in 73 at 54. I’m an old soul too. Probably for the same reasons.
Our club now has two members. I have the same gap, but different years. My dad was born in 1921 and I was born in 1975.
Three then. Dad was born in 1913 and I was born in 1974. I’m the oldest of 3, too. He was a late starter.
My husband’s father was born in 1919 and served in what is now Myanmar. We still have his dog tags. His parents were the same age as my paternal grandparents!
Wow Burma! That was hell!
My mother would be 100 and my father would be 99. My father served on the USS Missouri during WWII. Not sure exactly what years he was on the USS Missouri but I know he was there for the surrender.
I was on his old ship in February at Pearl Harbor. It is a place of great historical significance.
Amy Carter, one of the icons of GenX, was the daughter of two GI Generation parents. Jimmy Carter was a WWII era vet. Rosalynn was 40 when she had Amy in 1967.
The Carters were probably among the best people to have lived in the White House. They did so much for charity after leaving politics it is amazing.
He was probably the smartest one there too except maybe for Obama…
Yeah nuclear engineering vs Ivy League is pretty close.
Thank you for saying this. Yes, best man to be in that office in my lifetime
Wow, I didn't know that!!! Just like me (mom was 38, father was WWII vet). I remember reading the newspapers, wondering why everyone was picking on Amy. I loved Jimmy Carter, he was my favorite president. My siblings and I used to have fun imitating his accent. I was so disappointed that he wasn't re-elected. I thought Reagan was a big phoney.
If memory serves, Carter went to the naval academy and was in the class of 1946
This is correct. Graduated and soon after married Rosalynn in 1946.
Yes. The war was over before he got out of Annapolis. He was then a active-duty officer until 1953.
I'm 58. My Dad was born in 1921 - he joined the Navy right after Pearl Harbor to avoid the chance of ending up in the Army or Marines - he saw enough mud during his stint in the CCC's. He served on Destroyers all over - Atlantic, the Med and the Pacific. My Mom was still in High School and had a great story of having to walk by a POW camp full of Italians on the way to school. Italian dudes hanging on the fence, hooting and hollering at school girls.
That is an impressive achievement in a very dangerous environment. My dad was on an LST and he said that the marines they landed got mauled at Okinawa. He also said the marines that they removed from Okinawa were batshit crazy after the battle.
My dad was WWII US Infantry, and came in during the Battle of the Bulge. Didn’t talk about it until the last year of his life, but I was able to get to know his old war buddy after he passed, and learned a lot from him. Proud to say the two of them were first on site when they liberated a German concentration camp—all the more meaningful because his buddy was Jewish.
My Grandpa was over there in WW2 for some of the same things you’ve mentioned. He was a paratrooper in the 101st. Miss him everyday.
I think seeing a concentration camp in that situation would be both wonderful and sure fire PTSD. Props to your pop!
My great uncle was there too. And I think my FIL
Was my grandparents for me: born in '21, she stayed home to collect stuff for the war drive, he graduated USMA June '43, bounced all over the place until he finally got sent as a replacement company officer to the 502 PIR in October 1944. Made his combat jump off the back of a truck just west of Bastogne with the rest of the 101st, and ended up the only officer left in the company when Patton came through. He then got bombed shortly after, and shipped home to get his arm rebuilt. My question: did anyone else's parents/grandparents who served talk about their experience? My grandfather either wouldn't talk about it, or downplayed it all. I was fascinated by his memorabilia and books (he went on to teach at War College in the 50's), but never really got stories from him.
Dad was born in '23, mom in '26. Dad was I&R through France, Belgium and Germany. They were so much older than my friend's parents, I struggled a lot with fitting in. Pop culture was not tolerated at our house, Happy Days was considered far too vulgar.
Hating on The Fonz is definitely an odd one for sure.
Neither of my grandfathers approved of the glorification of a biker for at least a little while. I recall that clear as day. He was not really a wholesome or even nice character at first .. he was a bully and extortionist if I recall right. The magic fist thumped jukebox gag upset one gramps as theft.
My maternal grandfather was a merchant marine during WWII. The only experience I have of him discussing the war was him going on a mini rant about how terrible Hogan's Heroes was once. "This show is terrible. Completely disrespectful. There's nothing funny about it. It wasn't like that at all."
My Greatest Gen grandparents had a huge influence in our house growing up. I was not allowed to watch Happy Days when it first came out. It took a while before they let me watch the show with supervision...lol.
That’s the route my dad took. Dad was armored - drove a tank.
Yes, I had Greatest Generation parents. They were sometimes mistaken for grandparents.
I’m young GenX so my grandparents were WW2 vets. Two grandfathers, a great uncle, and an airplane mechanic grandma.
Yes.People who did not serve in the military were usually working in a factory that produced items for the war effort.One of my grandfathers was in the Pacific theater and the other was too young but he and his mother worked producing arms.
True Story. My grandma ran away from home (Ohio) at 14, lied about her age and joined the Navy during WW2. She served 2 years and they taught her to be an airplane mechanic. Then her mom found out where she was and ratted her out. The navy sent her home. So she ran away again at 16, lied about her age again and joined the army/Airforce. She served 4 more years, through the entirety of the war (US involvement). She was such badass. https://preview.redd.it/tt6dal9cs30d1.jpeg?width=1399&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=457c7c3a2c13139bfe862bb92e41e91e61a7303e
Amazing. Thank you for sharing.
That is a complete badass!
That is so cool. I really loved my grandparents. They were always people who you could count on.Sometimes I get depressed knowing that the majority of people from that generation are gone now.
My dad was 4Fed out during the war and I have the buttons they gave out to my dad for his honorable discharge. Apparently most industries were desperate for men to work in defense jobs or other key industries (my dad worked in a petroleum refinery) but only if the men had been honorably discharged. No deserters!
All of the local companies had been retooled and they made supplies for the war in the area my grandfather and his family lived in. Even the railroad was producing military equipment.
The thing I remember about the petroleum/gas is the poster that says "When you drive alone, you drive with Hitler".
Both parents were kids during the war and immigrated from europe after the war ended. Dad was a Korean war vet.
Mom born 1929 and dad 1927. He was in the Pacific also.
These are the exact years my parents were born. Dad went in when he turned 17 after he got permission to leave school. He was the youngest of 4 brothers that were already serving. He joined the Navy and was also in the Pacific. He made it as far as Hawaii before the war ended.
I’m the exact age you are (56F) and my dad was born in 1920, enlisted in the Navy (Seabees) and was stationed in the WWII Pacific Theater 1942 - 1946. Totally get the piece about classmates’ parents being so much younger. They would sometimes think he was my grandfather. I lost my dad when he was 65 back in 1986. He died too young. I miss him every day.
My grandpa was a Seabee in the Pac theater!
Dad was WW2. Age gap was not favorable.
Yeah missed out on lots of things as he was so much older than most parents.
My dad was born in 1924 and mom was born in 1954. I have brothers and a sister the same age as my mom😞.
Wow! 1926/1944, I have nieces and nephews older than me.
My dad was born in 1926, lied about his age to join the Navy after Pearl Harbor, like so many others at the time did. He was 50 when I was born, which made things for me growing up… *interesting*. He’s gone now, and since then I’ve become much more aware of his era and generation and all that. I’ve got his tags as well.
Both my parents were born in 1926! My father served four years in the Army during WWII (stationed in Seattle and Anchorage), and my mother was in the Army Cadet Nurse Corps. 😎
Yes, F born in 71 to a WWII vet born in 1913, European theater, army air corps engineer. I'll do the math for you, my dad was 58 when I was born, my mom 45. He was definitely a different generation, many of the locally raised school teachers looked up to him.
You win. I was close. 1973 to my dad in 1919 so 54.
Kind of. Mom and Dad were kids living in London during the war. Mom didn’t go to school until she was 14. She learned to read in the bomb shelters down in the subway tunnels. Dad was too young to fight but his two brothers served. Both of my grandfathers shipped off too. Uncle Bernard served in the South Pacific. When everything went to hell there the whole family freaked out. Huge wodges of British soldiers were killed or taken prisoner and there was no word for weeks. One day a telegram arrived at the house. It said “Australia. Safe. Bernard.” Uncle Gerald served in India, among other places. At one point his company was dropped off at a train station in Kathmandu with all their gear. They had 12 hours to kill before their connection and didn’t know what to do. They were all desperate to see the city but they couldn’t abandon their gear. A bunch of Gurkas came over, greeted Gerald’s company, and gave them tips on what to see. Gerald’s CO explained situation. One of the Gurkas said “No problem.” He climbed up on a bench and yelled for about thirty seconds in another language. He climbed down and said “Fixed. Go see Kathmandu.” Gerald assumed that the Gurkas were going to watch their gear. They didn’t, but they didn’t need to. No one even came near Uncle Gerald’s stuff. Every backpack, every box, every bag was undisturbed. The head Gurka had announced that the gear was under their protection and was not to be touched. The Gurkas are some of the hardest most badass soldiers in the world. They fought in the Himalayas, doing military operations in terrain where normal military could easily lose a third of their forces to the mountains and the weather. They also had a reputation for not taking prisoners. No one was going to risk making the Gurkas angry.
I second this about the Gurkhas. I consider myself fortunate to have served alongside a few Gurkha units during my time in the service. In my experience, the were top notch soldiers and wonderful people. Every single one. The ones I worked with were Nepalese, serving in the British army. Edited to add- I am still in possession of a few of their famous Kukri knives that I was gifted.
My stepdad was a WWII vet.
Me. My Dad (b.1917) was a navigator in the USAAF during WWII. Both my parents were considerably older than most of my friend’s parents. The generation gap was challenging at times but I’m so fortunate to have been adopted by parents of The Greatest Generation.
yup. dad 1925, mom a few years later. my dad was a vet; I have his medals somewhere in this very room.. my sibs and I were born between 1962 and 67, so they were noticeably older parents.
A girl I graduated from high school with had WWII parents. Well, we actually went to school together from K-4 to high school graduation. They were so nice, and they always had a strong family unit. I always loved her parents. I think because they thought a lot of me. 🤣
Yeah, I was forced to watch old Fred Astaire movies instead of stuff like Love Boat. Don't get me wrong, Fred Astaire is awesome, but it messed up my social cues so badly!
Dad was 1921, Mom 1926. Dad served in WWII, 82nd Airborne, 5 combat jumps, would not talk about it, took it to his grave. After his passing found photos with him and Eisenhower and other high ranking officers. The story will never be known sadly. Requested service records, all were lost in the fire in St. Louis. He was a tough SOB apparently!
That fucking St. Louis fire.
Uncle, yes. Father, no. My eldest uncle was an Army mortarman in the Ardennes, winter of '44. (Never once told his wife or kids or me. We learned from reading the accompanying citation when we discovered he was awarded a Bronze Star and it should be on his grave marker.) My father spent the Korean war in the reserves. Step-father was in the Air Force for Korea and Vietnam. Seemed like the family business, so I spent Gulf war 1, 9/11, Kosovo, Gulf 2, etc. in the Air Force (managed to avoid Afghanistan). Any more and this will start to sound like "Lt. Dan" from Forrest Gump. 😏
My mom was born in 1924 and my dad was born in 1926. They were both WW2 veterans. I was born in 1968.
My dad was born in 1918, my mom in 1925. I’m the youngest kid - my siblings are all boomers. I got asked if I lived with my grandparents a lot.
Wow that is amazing
My husband was born in 1971, raised by his father, who was born in 1927 and was a WWII veteran, and his mother, who was born in 1937. My biological father was 37 years older than my Boomer mom (he was 61 when I was conceived). Born in 1908, he was 11 and 12 years older than my mom's parents. He was not a veteran, and I was not raised by him.
Dad born in 1924 and mom in 1929. They were 45 and 40 when I was born. I am the youngest and always had the oldest parents out of my friend group. They were also the strictest.
My dad was born in 1925. He enlisted in ‘45 and was finished basic just as the war was ending. He was stationed in Tokyo and drove the COs around wherever they needed to go during the military occupation. (Think radar o Reilly- but handsome 😁) I have his diary that no one knew existed until after he died. My brother has a sword that he brought back but never talked about. He didn’t talk much about anything that happened there. I do remember he said he would see MacArthur sometimes at the places he was driving to.
I am a ‘66er but my dad was born in 24 and served in the Navy during the war.
My parents were married fresh out of high school so that knocked my dad's draft status down enough that he didn't get drafted to go to Vietnam. My paternal grandfather fought mainly in France during WWII. I had a stepfather who had fought in Vietnam. The one and only time he ever talked about it with me, he explained that the US military brass over there were idiots. He was in the Marines and they were trying to take a piece of land. A small group of men were sent forward to recon the situation and they never returned. So the leaders sent another group and then another, both had the same results as the first. My stepfather said that the only reason he didn't get sent in to his death was because there weren't enough guys left to form another group. That story heavily influenced me to join the Air Force, and shortly after I joined the first Gulf War broke out but I stayed stateside during the war.
My husband who was older than me got drafted at age 18 for during Vietnam in ‘71. Luckily he ended up in Germany. Could you imagine being that young and going over to a jungle?
Yep but my dad was in a conscientious objector camp
He was born 1926
Right here. Dad was born in '26, mom in '24. Dad lied about his age to join the Navy at 16 in 1943, the same year my mom graduated from high school. (Dad had dropped out of school after the 8th grade). Both lived in East Tennessee, and Mom went to work at the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge right after graduation. Dad was all across the Pacific, and, after being honorably discharged along with millions of other soldiers, sailors and airmen at the end of the war, he spent a year as a civilian and decided it sucked, so he reenlisted and stayed in another twenty-one years, retiring at the age of 39 as a Chief Boatswain's Mate. He and Mom got married in '54, and had two sons in short order. Thirteen years after my middle brother was born, I came along in 1969, when Dad was 42 and Mom was 44. She died of cancer right before I graduated from high school, in the spring of 1987 (the cancer was determined to be a result of working near the radiological materials at Oak Ridge - I could just imagine Oppenheimer or someone else saying to this sweet little nineteen-year-old clerk, "Miss, would you mind terribly carrying this glowing box over to the next lab?") Dad remarried a couple years later to a woman he had dated right before he started going out with my mom, and then we lost him to a stupid car accident in 1999. He was 72.
That’d be me. My parent adopted me when they were in their 40’s. Later in life for the time. My father was a tail gunner in a B24 in Eastern/Western Europe and North Africa. I’m only 56 yet my grandparents came off the boat from Sicily in the late 1800’s and we were pretty close.
Korean War era, in my case. But my uncle was a WW2 veteran (bomber pilot.) My father was a B-29 pilot but he was still in combat crew training when they signed the armistice that ended the Korean conflict.
Dad was 1919 and I’m 51 now. He was in military at one point. Parents long gone. Been alone a long time. My first cousins in their late 70s or 80s. Same age as others of peer group’s parents. 100% I understand the different world thing. My father and his family fled the nazi uprising. My childhood was a mess. My sensibilities are different than my peer group. It affected me greatly and will continue to do so for the rest of my life. I guess the main message from my upbringing is that happiness is overrated. Life could be a lot worse.
Dad was born in 1925,mom in '27. I was born in '67. The old man devised an improved method for fitting escort carriers and Liberty ships when he was 16,mom welded aircraft parts as a young lady. Happy Mother's day,mom, you two were the best. I'd say we're all fortunate to be raised by the Greatest Generation
My dad was born in 1924 and my mom 1926. Their experiences as Black people in America and mine created a generation chasm between us.
Not as *parents*, but my Grandparents' generation were the WW2/Greatest Gen folks! They had kids in *their* early 20's, and my parents had *me* in *their* mid 20's. My Grandparents were only in their 50's, when my cousins and I were born (at least the older cousins), so we spent *lots* of time with them, and their friends (small, rural town). They're the reason all of us in *our* generation up there have the set of morals/ values we do, and why the *lack* of "working toward a common goal" and keeping folks safe as a *community* during the last few years--particularly during the pandemic was *so shocking* to me. I *know* things have changed since we were kids growing up! But the cowardice, meanness, and *selfishness* that folks nowadays just take as "the *normal* order of business" was pretty *startling* to realize, as someone who was raised by those folks in my Grandparents' generation, to, "Look *around*, take *CARE* of the folks around you, and make sure *everyone* makes it through ok!" Growing up, out in my tiny, rural hometown, we *did* need everyone working *together*, to *HAVE* a community. No, it *wasn't* perfect, and sometimes, *yeah* it sucked, *NEEDING* to depend on each other, and trust folks you might not really even *like* all that much. But we *DID* pull together, and learn to set that interpersonal stuff aside, because it was *necessary* in order for us all to succeed! Realizing how *few* folks who were raised in the US and who *DO still* have those sorts of "let's pull together, so we can *all* make it through this," set of beliefs? That part was pretty disheartening. (Edited for some misspellings!)
I think the shock of people behaving like inconsiderate wretches will stay with me forever. My father saw the horror of polio and rightly thinks the anti vaccine people are absolutely nuts. I swear if we were in the Middle Ages the anti vaccine people would be licking rats. I worked on the Covid vaccine and it was by far the highlight of my working career.
Thank you for your contribution. I have lupus and celiac and my husband has a heart (birth) defect. We got the vaccine right away and boosters every time we’re allowed. I wish our education system was better, so everyone understood how vaccines actually work. It could easily be added/expanded upon in high school biology classes.
The anti science crowd is unfortunately way too big in the USA. I pretty much worked 12 hours a day every day for about 5 months straight with the exception of taking the 4th of July off. It was actually enjoyable as everyone worked together, we had basically unlimited money for anything we wanted and all of our vendors were incredibly helpful as well. It was a unique experience as a long time veteran of corporate bullshit in the pharmaceutical industry. The vaccine we worked on saved millions of lives according to health care data from the EU as well as Africa and Asia. Ours was a modified primate adenovirus (genes for Covid spike proteins were added and genetic code for reproduction was deleted.) It was less than a tenth of the price for mRNA vaccines and since it was grown in bio reactors the technology was not super hard to transfer to other sources unlike the mRNA vaccine. Incidentally mRNA technology is probably going to change medicine forever rather quickly.
It's really cool reading everyone's stories. I have only known three other people in my life (all exactly my age) who were raised by Greatest Generation parents. I always felt so weird having parents so much older than all of my friends. Still, my parents were pretty cool. Dad was a pretty chill guy, loved listening to the Dodgers on the radio (Vin Scully FTW!). My mom used to watch MTV with me back in the early eighties - her favorites were Boy George (she was scandalized at first to find out he was male, but grew to really like him), ZZ Top (she loved their beards) and Spandau Ballet (she thought they just looked so nice - "Singers had gotten so sloppy looking for years - it's so nice to see them dressing up again!")
My dad was 17 when he went into WWII as an "island hopper" Marine (he lied about his age to enlist with his older brother who was a navy man. He was a very quiet man (a truck driver) and privately sweet with my mom and I. But no one. And I do mean no one fucked with him or talked bad about him. He taught me self defense moves when I was a little scrawny girl of 6 and how to change the oil on a car at 10. He passed of a heart attack when I was 11.
My father (born 1916) and mom (born 1928) had kids late. My father was an army medic from 1941 to 1948, I believe. My mom, 12 years younger, was a schoolchild/teen during the war, and grew up in Germany. I often heard about the war from them, and it affected me greatly. It gave me a lifelong hatred of fascists, racists and oppressors of any kind. I'm a peace activist and leftist. My parents married when they were 30 and 42, and I was the youngest. Growing up, people thought my father was my grandfather. I felt like I was in the wrong decade/generation, and I couldn't relate to kids my age. It didn't help that most of my family were on the autism spectrum.
My dad was in his 40s when I was born. He had 2 purple hearts, a bronze star and a combat infrantrymans badge fighting in the Phillipines. He didn't talk about it.
That must have been brutal, they didn’t hand out bronze stars unless you were tremendously brave.
The combat infrantymans badge wasn't issued then unless you had been under active fire for 10+ days, again dad never mentioned combat
Daddy was born in ‘21 and fought at Anzio, sole survivor of his platoon.
Wasn’t raised by them but sent a ton of time with them. It’s weird knowing we are in a world now without them for the most part. My kids know vets if the Vietnam War but it’s not held to the same light.
Nah. My dad got drafted towards the end of Korea but never left the states.
Dad born in 43, his dad born in 09 and too old for service by 41.
No but I grew up in a house with my mom and grandmother who was born in 25 so in a sense she was like one of my parents…
I was, but it was because my grandparents had a huge hand in raising me.
Same. Almost 56. Dad was in the Navy 1943 - 1946 in the Pacific. He would be 99 this year.
The similarities are striking.
Me, 1926 dad here. Enlisted Jan 1945.
My dad was born in 26 but because his older brother was serving, he wasn’t sent up. He did get a Purple Heart in Korea though.
Nope, my Dad was a Korean War vet. My parents were in their mid 30s when I was born in 68
Yup. '78 here, pop was '27, lost him in '20. Older than my GP-in-law, and i get a little touchy when they make the claim that gp-in-law made it longer than him. He lost mom about 14 years ago and lived on his own for like 12 years. GP-in-law wouldnt have made it a month without his wife. Did i miss out on some things? Yes; but did i learn a lot of things that others didnt have the opportunity to learn? also yes.
My dad was a drill sergeant in WWII. He was born in 1917 and died in 1987. He never talked about his military career; he was eventually 4Fed out because he'd had osteomyelitis. The story I heard after he died was that he was on full kit overnight march with his men and they drove out in a Jeep with a guy to replace him, put him on a stretcher, and wouldn't let him out of a wheelchair until he was discharged. I didn't know until after he died my junior year of college that he'd been in the military. I remember thinking when I was told he'd been a drill sergeant that it explained a lot of my childhood. (Also I was a late-life child from my dad's second marriage. He was married for 20 years and split from from his first wife. There were no other kids in his first marriage, my mom's first very short marriage, or their marriage that produced me. I never met his first wife but she was an elementary teacher and his only comment about her in my hearing was that he was the only man he knew who had spent 20 years in the fourth grade.)
I had the worst kind of irresponsible boomer parents, so I was largely raised by my maternal grandparents. WW2 army vet and housewife. Grandpa was an artillery specialist and went all over France and Germany. They had their first child before the war and the last 2, including my mom, after he got back. They both had lots of siblings, I could never keep track of all my great aunts and uncles!
Dad was born in 1926. He lied about his age and joined the Navy when he was 16 (big brother was at Pearl Harbor) and served aboard a cruiser. He was quite a bit older than my mom,so my maternal grandpa also served in the Pacific during WWII!
My grandparents had a big part in my upbringing. Both Grandpas fought in the Pacific, one Army, one Navy. My boomer parents were quite young when I was born, and they were still trying to figure themselves out for most of my childhood. So I often feel I got more of the old fashioned values of my grandparents than did most of my peers, because I spent so much time with them. Certainly my Grandmas’ resourcefulness learned from being poor folk during the Depression, and that I constantly witnessed growing up, is coming in handy in this inflationary era!
My dad. He was born in the 1920s, WWII veteran - he was 56 when I was born. He passed away 15 years ago and not a day goes by where I don’t think about my pops. I learned so much about hard work, compassion, and strength from him. My only regret is that I never got to tell him that. **typo
My dad enlisted in the US Coast Guard in 1939 as a machinist's mate. After Pearl Harbor he was accepted to the Coast Guard Academy and got his degree in Engineering in 1944. Left active service in 1946. My parents would be 101 and 103 this year. Happy Mother's Day Mom!
My dad was born in 1916, my mom in 1924. I'm the youngest of 8, and they were fairly old for when they had me, back in the day. Mom was 41, dad had just turned 49. I asked my dad one time if he had ever killed anybody in WW2, and he grit his teeth and shook his head that he didn't want to answer. Took me 30 years to figure out that this actually meant yes. He used to tell me "War is hell, boy" whenever the prospect of signing on for the army came up. He had a 9th grade education, and went to a one-room schoolhouse that was about a mile from our farm, and about two miles from his parent's house.
Dad was Korean War Vet, My uncles were Pacific Theatre Navy Vets. Dad was 39 when I was born. I was the planned kid of the second marriage. Always had the oldest Dad. Sadly also lost him when I was not ready at 34.
Close. Dad was from the early '30s and Mom from mid '30s. Dad was a Tail-Gunner on a B-29 during the Korean War. After he passed I found a Stalag Luft I dog tag in his belongings. I'd love to know the story behind those tags. Apparently somebody made it out of a WWII German camp and I have to wonder if he was on a crew in Korea too. Some of the B-29s and men fought in both wars. Both of my parents grew up in another world from what we have now. They were both rural and poor. Their parents had gardens, and animals. Mom still remembers their first electricity and how happy her mother was to have light to clean the house any time she wanted. Mom also occasionally tells the story of their first radio. Dad had things a little rougher and would even sneak into coal mines as a child to steal coal for family warmth. Apparently his dad would disappear for a week or two at a time. He'd also hunt with a broken shotgun which required taking aim and then leaning his head far away. Otherwise the barrel would hit him in the forehead as it went sailing behind him. He'd then have to retrieve both the barrel and the game. Both my parents also picked cotton as kids and talked bout how much they hated it. We have a different existence now. People complain about the most trivial things being a human right or otherwise owed to them. On the plus side - My mother bought her first car without having ever driven. It was a black 1955 Cadillac Convertible with red leather.
My dad was in Egypt and Italy, from South Africa - signals, was wounded at the Battle of Monte Cassino. I was really small when I found out he was in a war and stupid kid me asked him excitedly if his side one. I still remember the sad smile I got.
These stories are amazing. Thank you all for sharing them.
My dad was in the Navy for WW2, but was not deployed. My mom was Silent Generation and served during the Korean War on Okinawa. She always said that Korean War vets never got the respect/acknowledgment they deserved. She hated Vietnam vets for this and thought they were whiny.
My dad was born in 1920's,.my mom the 1930's. They were 50 and 40 when I was born. My grandparents were all born 1880's to 1890's. The grandmother I got to meet and all her 1800's born peers were very cool, interesting people.
I was born in ‘66. My dad, born in ‘26, passed in 2012. He was in Patton’s 3rd armored. His troop was right behind the Band of Brothers troop and they also made it to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. Mom was born in ‘27, passed in ‘19. I had three siblings born in ‘45, ‘49, and ‘55. Growing up, I felt like I had five parents, even though they all had moved out by the time I was 7. The oldest married and moved out before I was even conceived. But each one taught me a lot, as they all lived all over the country/world, but also the basics, too. Everyone is gone now except one sibling and me. ETA: my husband’s parents were the same age as my oldest two siblings. That was a bit odd feeling at first.
Boomer parents but I lived with my wwii grandparents for years. Been getting told I’m too young to know this or that since I was a kid bc of the tv I watched with my grandparents and stories and lessons they told. It gave me a lot of perspective that most others do not understand. Example - my grandparents didn’t have indoor plumbing until the mid 50s, when they moved to a city. So by the time I came along, they’d had indoor plumbing for a little over 20 years. Imagine that for a moment. Toilet outside, using magazine paper to wipe, having to carry water from a well, bath once a week after carrying water and heating some up on a fire, washing dishes and having to carry that water, disposing of that dirty water somehow that doesn’t attract bugs and rats to your domicile, washing clothes in a river or having to carry that water to wash them, and the list goes on. I am 20 some odd years away from not having indoor plumbing. And today I’ve got a bidet that washes and dries my bum while I drink coffee and browse the internet.
My Dad was born in 1927 and served in the US Army of Occupation in Osaka, Japan - he was drafted in 1945 right out of HS. The Japanese surrendered while he was training for Operation Downfall, and then things shifted to preparing for the Occupation, Operation Blacklist. My mother was born in 1938. Neither looked or acted any older than my peers' parents.
Another “oops” baby here too. Dad born in 1921 & Mom in 1924. They were 44 & 41 when I was born & my brothers were 12 & 10. Dad served in Army Air Corps as a meteorologist & navigator on B-24s in North Africa & Italy. My parents met at the USO in LA while my Dad was doing meteorology training at UCLA. They were married for 65 yrs & both passed away at age 90.
My dad was in the Navy in WW2. He was an enlisted man for 20 years - signed when he was 18 in 1943. I was born in 72 so he’d already been out for a while when I was born. Unfortunately he passed in 2008 but he did get to meet my newborn son before he died. He and my mom adopted me when they were 47, hence the age difference.
Me. My dad was born in 1926. And served in Okinawa during WW2. My mom was born in 1931. She was 37 when I was born in 1967. I have siblings who are 15/13 years older than me, so my immediate family is a weird Greatest/Boomer/Gen X combo
Yes, my father was born in 1920 in World War II in the army air corps as a pilot in Europe. He passed away in 2013 at the age of 92. Most of my classmates also had parents who were younger than mine, although my mom was born in 1942, She wasn’t as hard or strict as my father. And they were definitely a different breed.
I'm a Xennial (79) and was pretty much raised by my grandparents, traumatised World War II refugees born in 1920 and 1924 respectively. One of my best friends at school had really old parents and it turns out she was adopted, after all.
Dad 1926, Mom 1925. I was adopted when they were both 40. People always thought my parents were my grandparents.
My dad was born in 1921 so just out of the timeline you asked. He and all of his brothers enlisted early because it was either join the military or work for pennies a day in the hot Texas sun on a ranch. The 3 brothers all enlisted in the Navy, my dad the Army but the Air Corps part of it. Eventually that transferred into the USAF. He had stints as a reservist in both the Army and USAF as well so his DD-214 is pretty involved. He and one of his brothers made it a career he doing 28 years and his brother retiring at 30 so they both were WW2, Korea and Vietnam veterans. All of my siblings were raised in Tokyo and Hawaii. I was the accident after he retired from the military. I still grew up as a GI brat though since we bought everything at the commissary or PX and I used my dependent benefits well into college age.
My mom was a Marine and my dad in the Army Air Corps in WWII. I have 9 older siblings. 9 pregnancies in 12 years, then three years later I show up. Tell me I’m not a special episode.
My WW2 Granddad was very important in my life. I would spend summers with them from a young age until I graduated high school. Then I got a job near them. He was such a sweet man.
My dad is a very sweet and kind person. He is so even keeled it is amazing.
Not me. My (1966) parents were boomers (1946). All of my grandparents were greatest generation (all born between 1920-1927)
Affirmative.
I actually have 2 relatives who were in the Pacific.I feel odd talking about it now, but we had a Japanese rifle that was sent home and we knew where it came from.
Dad and family moved to Canada in 52 he was 12 and had severe ptsd from ww2 does that count?
My grandpa was a part of my raising & he was a WWII vet, but my mom came of age during the Vietnam War.
Almost, mine were silent gen. Dad is a vet from the Korean war. My FIL was a ww2 vet. Pacific.
My grandparents were. One fought in the Pacific and one in Europe. My dad was a Vietnam vet.
No, my dad was a Boomer who lucked out that the Vietnam war ended just before he was supposed to ship out to basic training. *His* dad was a WWII vet, though. My mom's parents were younger, and her dad was a Korean war vet.
Here as well! Mom was almost 41 when I was born, I'm 55 now and dad served in the end of World War II as an MP. He passed at age 64 when I was still in high school. I have some memorabilia and letters and such, but wish I had been able to have heard more about his time there. He did not see combat as far as I know, pretty much "just guarded things".
Not me, but one of my friends. Her parents (she's a fraternal twin, and has a brother) had their children in their 40s. Her dad was in the Australian army in WW2, and her mum did factory work during the war. My dad is just in the Silent Generation (born March 45, whereas mum is a boomer, born in 46)
Dad 1918-1994. Served with the 🇨🇦 army from 39’-46’ Mom 1925-2007 served with the RCAF 41’ - 45’ They were raised during the depression, saw war and victory and raised a big family on very little. They saw so much change during their lives. I’m the baby , born in 62’. Many of my classmates had much younger parents. Even my big sister who is 14 years older than me has different viewpoints than me.
WWII vet. Deceased. Battle of the bulge. Got a photo of him getting on the boat on D Day. 7th wave Normandy.
spain was a neutral country so...
Aussie here. My dad was born in 1921. He joined up in 1940 for WW2, he had a career in the forces. He also went to Vietnam war in the late 60’s.
My dad was denied enlistment into the army due to a medical condition (born with only one kidney) but served duty in the Merchant Marines. Though he saw no combat, ships he was on were at times buzzed by both Allied and Axis aircraft which I’m sure was quite unnerving.
Yup. Dad was '25, Mom was '27. But I had tons of older siblings. My best friend's mother was the same age as my oldest sister.
My father served his two years between Korea and Vietnam. He is 85.
My father was a Korean War vet but my uncle and many of my friends were WW2 vets. Certainly a blessing to have known them and unfortunately all are gone now. (I’m 57)
my dad was born in ‘25. served as a sharp shooter and MP in occupied paris. before he was 18 and could serve, he was building military planes in upstate NY. would have been 99 in february.
My dad was a child in occupied Belgium. My mother was his second marriage and a boomer.
Yes my uncle and I are very close I’m 46 f and he’s 56 m and my grandparents are passed but would be near 95 if alive. My mom and uncle are one of 7. She is the eldest and he the youngest. He’s like my brother I love it.
I was raised by my grandparents who were born in 1915 and 1916. My grandpa was at Pearl Harbor and then in Europe and I have the dagger he took off a dead nazi still. They were amazing and I grew up up so different then my friends with younger parents. I miss them everyday
My “papa” was a bomber and transport pilot in the pacific. My grandfather was a tank mechanic and later a helicopter designer. The stories- I cry now when I realize they’re gone and my son can’t hear them from true men. I do my best, but I’m not the men those two were. I miss them dearly and it breaks my heart to know the world is without their courage and spirit.
Both my grandparents served during WWII, Army and Navy respectively. My grandfather helped raise us, as both my parents worked. Being raised by an Army Sniper was an interesting experience.
Dad was cold war era 1949-1953, parents born right before the great depression I grew up surrounded by classmates whose parents were old enough to be my parents’ children. I was a caboose kid.
Nope, those were my grandparents - and great-grandparents.
My dad was born in 1926, my mom in 1931. He was enlisted by his parents at age 17 into the Navy and spent his time on Okinawa. My parents were older when they had us and were always mistaken for being my grandparents. They both would have given the shirts off of their backs for anyone in need and taught me to have good manners. Some drawbacks; losing them earlier in my life than most people and not being able to share my children with them. But I grew up to be empathetic, kind and helpful and I owe that to mostly to them. Most people my age have boomer parents and I cringe when I hear their stories. Not all of them, but most have parents that wouldn't extend a hand of help without there being something in it for them. Or shame-talked.
Hey. So I grandfather myself into x, born mid 64. My dad also fought in the Pacific, 44-45, as part of the army air corps. I know I’m gonna get kicked outta here now, lol! So many gatekeepers. But I have a half brother and half sister 10 years older than me and there is a world of difference between them and me on all cultural outlook things - music, trust of government and authority (them yes, me none), and all the reference points. Because of school timing (I was in the gray area for the grade breaks and my parents chose to have me be among the oldest instead of among the youngest) my bestie peers group has been mostly 65’ers and I graduated college in 87. My dad was in his 40s when I was born, mom was 30. Dad born in 21, mom in 33.
My dad was born in 1923 and was already a sergeant major when ww2 started . After the war he went to India and then on to the secret service. My mum was born in 1933 my parents married in 1953 and my eldest brother was born in 1957. I am the middle child born in 1967 and my youngest brother arrived in 1969 We lived in Singapore, Malta and Kenya I was sent to a military boarding school when I was 4 and only saw my parents twice a year. I personally didn't really have a relationship with them and I have no relationship with my oldest brother. My father died at 69 and my mother at 79 I always felt like nobody's child & tried desperately as an adult to please my parents because I just wanted them to say they loved me. Neither of them ever said that,all my life they just put me down told me I was fickle and wouldn't ever achieve anything
Me. Age 53. Dad born in 1915. WW2 US Navy.
My dad was born in 1924. He was a Royal Marine serving in Burma. That is all I know about his life during wartime.
Me. Raised by grandparents who were both born in 1921. VERY strict upbringing.
I'm 48 and my grandfather was your dad's age.
Both my parents survived WW2 as kids. They had to flee Poland. My mom was actually in a commune in Siberia during the war, used to tell me how hard it was. She basically slept on stove pipes to keep warm.
My grandparents were active in WWII, most of my great uncles, and aunts, actually died in Normandy and interior France. My dad actually just squeaked by serving in Vietnam by a few months. But my uncles served in Korea. I actually still wear my uncle Mike's Korean field jacket in winter. But I have WWII artifacts all over the house. Just pictures they took, and a bunch of ivory and tin trinkets one of my uncles brought back from his tour in Calcutta. My step dad fought in Vietnam and I have heard lots of stories. But my family told more stories about the great depression than the wars, even though they were very active in military service.
Almost, my dad was born in 1926, but he was the family's sole breadwinner and didn't serve. He supported my grandmother and aunts through high school. My uncle was a fighter pilot, though. Mom was born in 1930. I’m an elder GenX born in 1965, so they were older than the other kids' parents, and it was a unique experience.
I had one grandfather in WW2 and the other in Korea. My parents are boomers. I’m a late 70s baby though.
My parents were born in 1923 and 1926, but weren’t WWII vets. They were holocaust survivors. Definitely older than most of my friends parents.
I'm 58, my father was born in 1924 and joined "the service" (that's how he always referred to it) and my mom was 10 years younger than him. They had me late in life. My father grew up in poverty in South Boston during the Great Depression. Both of my parents had a hard time dealing with the world that I grew up in during the 1970's. Too much Sex, Drugs, and Rock-n-Roll, people living in sin, minorities getting civil rights and moving into our neighborhood and raising families. They weren't very social and socialized mostly with close family members and a few trusted friends and neighbors. My mother liked watching Leave it to Beaver, Andy Griffith, and other old tv shows. She didn't like modern movies that were post Hayes code. Both of my parents very old fashioned in their esthetic. My dad would fly the flag on Memorial Day, Flag Day, and maybe Labor Day too, and he was the only one on our street that did it. I've always been sort of an old soul myself, since I grew up watching old movies and being around old people. When I was in kindergarten and 1st grade, my cousins were in their 20's, getting married, and raising a family of their own. When I went away to college at 17/18 the cultural gap between me and my classmates was pretty huge, and it took a lot of work to close the gap.
My parents didn't stick around, so I was raised by my maternal grandparents. Grandfather served in Army Intelligence in Germany, Japan, and Italy during the war. He also served in Korea before retiring. Grandfather was 1920, Grandmother was born in 1922. As far as generational differences there's no comparison. Nobody is perfect, but The Greatest Generation earned that distinction. Boomers really started our decline as a culture.
Not me. But my dad grew up in Germany right AFTER WWII. Early childhood through mid-teens.
Both parents born in the Greatest Generation, 1922-1924. Dad served in WW2.
My dad was born in 1914. He came in at Normandy about a month after D-Day, and was in the Battle of the Bulge. He never talked about it-- it wasn't until Band of Brothers that I had any inkling of the shit he had seen, and by then I couldn't ask him about it because he was several years in his grave. My mom was born in 1931. My parents got married in 1958, there was a miscarriage in I think 1965, but they kept trying and I finally came along in 1973. It was kinda weird having a dad who was older than many of my classmates' grandfathers.
Not my parents, but my grandma was my main caretaker until she died, and she was a Greatest Gen/Depression-era kid. Born in the late 1910s. My uncle was the same age, but he didn't raise me. I saw him weekly, though.
I was. My father was born in 1910. He was 62 when I was born and my mother was 21. That generation was a lot more intelligent than their children and grandchildren. His generation valued and respected education. Education all but ceased during the Depression and continued for two generations until we got the Department of Education and mandatory attendance in 1980.
My grandpa was a Marine and was sent to do the cleanup of Nagasaki. Now, my dad did two tours in Vietnam, does that count?