Generation of greatness

Passing 061509

My father died yesterday, he was over 100. It was an expected death and he went fairly quickly and easily so it wasn’t such a shock. Looking at his death with some perspective this morning it brought home the passing of the 20th century, the American Century.

My father lived through most of the century and saw change in land, the people and the world as a whole. I wish I had listen more closely to his conversations with his contemporaries when there were some who understood his time. There were a few stories that stand out, as a teenager he drove the family across country before there were highways or maps to show the way. He learned to fly in an old WWI Jenny and hopped freights during the depression he was not unique for his time there are many such stories of his generation.

His was a generation of giants that built a new culture they grew up when a man’s word was a bond, honest work was the norm and invention and discovery carried the nation from conquering forest to conquering space. These old men fought two world wars and numerous minor wars where not only they served again but their sons also. They survived the great depression, dust storms and industrial migrations that changed the nation. They invented and manufactured cars, planes and communications networks that bind the world today. It was their honor and hard work that carried America to respected great power status. They had vision and overcame obstacles, solved problems and created new solutions to achieve their visions.

Theirs was a hard scrabble life that shaped their character. They passed their values to a new generation but it became diluted for they wanted their children to have a better life without the challenges and struggles they had experienced. As generations multiplied the culture and values began to erode. It lasted for most of the 20th century as the Giants built a New World and controlled the development of the American Century for almost all of the century. They began to die off, from the wars, from their hard work and finally from old age.

The Giants left a legacy for the 21st century, their R&D and inventions continue to be exploited well into this century. Their greatest contributions to society however are being lost. Their values and their culture that made them Giants of the American Century are rapidly disappearing. These Giants who survived the challenges to old age may not have been happy with the direction of those changes but they were to old and tired to lead the nation to greater innovations and back to a respected place in the world.

My father was not a great statesman or a captain of industry but like most his generation a man of vision, invention, backbreaking labor and honor. I’m grateful to have known not only my father but also so many other 20th Century Giants, I wish I had paid more attention to their teachings.

My father outlived most of his generation, in the end missing the companionship of his generation of Giants. The passing of my father signals the passing of our greatest era.