[Ken/Alabama]

I received this from a very good friend of mine who was a retired Air Force colonel.

Recieved this email from a good friend of mine. It is so true . I wasn't a member of the Greatest Generation, but I had the honor and pleasure to serve with and know a number who were. One flew C-47s and dropped paratroopers and towed gliders on D-Day. One flew Spitfires and Mustangs and became an Ace. Two flew P-40s in North Africa and downed Messerschmitts. One slogged through ground fighting in the Pacific islands. One flew as a gunner on a B-25. One said the P-39 was the best airplane he ever flew. One flew a B-24 and was seriously burned. One flew a P-51 as a wingman. Two were shot down over Europe, one escaped, while one spent time in a Stalag. One broke his back parachuting from a B-24. One was a B-17 co-pilot to Regensburg. One flew the Hump in C-46s in Burma and China. One flew Beaufighters out of England. One landed at Omaha Beach. One was a private at Schofield Barracks at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. One was a Marine guard to the 'code talkers.' Two, so young from their flight school pictures, I wouldn't have loaned them my car, flew P-47s. The Greatest Generation is legend. We have a few Iron men now, but not a generation of Iron men. A generation of self indulgent television watchers, iPad surfers, iPhone users, tweeters, face bookers, and inane X-Box game players is not a generation of Iron men. Where will we get "such men" when we need them? And, we will need them.