Special Snowflakes...

[Guest MormonGator]

4 minutes ago, Vort said:

But did look distrustfully on the "Japs".

Careful @Vort. You are not allowed to say anything at all even slightly or remotely "critical" of Pompeia. Which your comment isn't, of course. We can't judge their attitude by our present values-and you know that. But it goes to show that their generation, like everyone elses, had some flaws. 

 

[Vort]

Just now, MormonGator said:

Careful @Vort. You are not allowed to say anything at all even slightly or remotely "critical" of Pompeia. Which your comment isn't, of course. We can't judge their attitude by our present values-and you know that. But it goes to show that their generation, like everyone elses, had some flaws.

My grandpa, who took great pride in having worked at Hanford to make plutonium for the Hiroshima bomb, tended to look askance at "Japs" (his term) until his death. On the other hand, when my younger brother brought home his Japanese then-girlfriend, Grandpa was nothing but kind, polite, and solicitous. So it was not a personal vendetta, just a deeply ingrained mistrust. Given his life during that particular period of history, this is hardly surprising.

[Guest MormonGator]

4 minutes ago, Vort said:

My grandpa, who took great pride in having worked at Hanford to make plutonium for the Hiroshima bomb, tended to look askance at "Japs" (his term) until his death. On the other hand, when my younger brother brought home his Japanese then-girlfriend, Grandpa was nothing but kind, polite, and solicitous. So it was not a personal vendetta, just a deeply ingrained mistrust. Given his life during that particular period of history, this is hardly surprising.

I understand. Like I mentioned 45 times, I have nothing but respect for members of that generation. No question the last generation to be great. I can't stress anymore how much respect I have for them.  

Though to say they were greater than the WW I, Civil War, Revolutionary War, etc generation is a bit of a stretch. Perhaps they were all equally wonderful generations. 

[The Folk Prophet]

Well, you know what they say, a rose by any other name still mistrusts "japs".

That's a saying, right?

[NeuroTypical]

Yeah, I remember growing up in my dad's house, wondering why he liked the people who were trying to kill him, but absolutely despised people he'd never met.  He was out of Germany and in jungle training when we dropped the bomb and ended the war.  

[Guest MormonGator]

16 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

Yeah, I remember growing up in my dad's house, wondering why he liked the people who were trying to kill him, but absolutely despised people he'd never met.  He was out of Germany and in jungle training when we dropped the bomb and ended the war.  

Oh. Given your age I thought your Dad would have told you stories about the War of 1812. Must have miscalculated 

[Backroads]

25 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

Oh. Given your age I thought your Dad would have told you stories about the War of 1812. Must have miscalculated 

Then there was that time we were fighting the French and Indians...

Edited June 28, 2017 by Backroads

[Guest MormonGator]

5 minutes ago, Backroads said:

Then there was that time we were fighting the French and Indians...

Don't feel bad @NeuroTypical. When @Vort was a young man his father told him about Rome being sacked by the Visigoths! 

[mordorbund]

28 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

Oh. Given your age I thought your Dad would have told you stories about the War of 1812. Must have miscalculated 

My dad did tell me stories about the War of 1812, including fighting under Old Hickory. I am fully proficient in converting a gator into a cannon.

[JohnsonJones]

I take it the derogatory term used in this thread means the Japanese?

Hmmm.

I would also contend there was quite a lot of dislike for the Germans as well from that Generations, perhaps as much as there was against the Japanese.  However, it can be harder to tell who was German and who was not than it is to tell Japanese apart.  They had some rather unsavory terms for those of German descent or who were Germans in that time period as well.  I am happy we are not using those terms here as well.

[Ironhold]

Functionally a member of the "Greatest Generation". 

[unixknight]

The quiz called me "Greatest Generation..."  I'll take that as a compliment, but I'm solidly Gen X.  (1974)

[NeuroTypical]

On 6/28/2017 at 5:54 PM, JohnsonJones said:

I would also contend there was quite a lot of dislike for the Germans as well from that Generations, perhaps as much as there was against the Japanese. 

Well, I can only speak of my personal experience growing up in the home of a WWII vet, and getting hauled to various bars, and Moose Lodges, American Legion meetings, etc.  

I never saw anyone in those circles hate on the Germans.  My dad specifically saw a certain brotherhood with them, which he gained by defeating them and then being part of the occupying force for a while.  He saw similarities between himself and the German infantry.  Both were grunts just trying to do a job.  Similarities with the German people too.  He came from depression-era hunger and want, and saw plenty of that in occupied Germany.   After the war, he befriended a German immigrant and they were lifelong friends.  A former member of the hitler youth, actually.  It turns out my dad had actually taken his town in the war, although they didn't meet until two decades later in Salt Lake.   After my dad died, the guy wrote me a very teary letter about how he'd miss my dad's good character and kind heart. 

Stark contrast though - My dad did indeed have a cold hatred of the Japanese, which I never did understand.  He considered them less than human.  He didn't just call them "Japs", he called them "Jap b*st*rds" for as long as I can remember.  I think maybe it was partially due to the propaganda everyone was churning out back then.  You can look up the loony tunes cartoons, truly horrifying by today's standards.  We seemed to demonize Hitler, but we also seemed to demonize the entire Japanese race.  I'm just glad none of that stuck with me.  I can truly say I don't hate anyone or any class of people or race, and apart from fleeting childhood dumbness, I don't think I ever did.  

[Guest]

Perhaps the Church teaches greatest generation traits, giving all good Mormons strong greatest generation traits no matter when we were born?

[SilentOne]

I'm trying to take the quiz (there are always going to be multiple questions with multiple answers that fit or no answers that really fit) and I couldn't help but notice they have an option for fiscally conservative but socially liberal but no option for fiscally liberal but socially conservative. Is that combination so impossible?

[SilentOne]

Well, I got the Silent Generation. Does that mean I missed out on those Greatest Generation qualities the church was supposed to teach me? Though I prefer to think of myself as belonging to the sixth generation since the pioneers on the line I chose to count down on. I would go with my generation number from Adam, but we don't actually have our genealogy traced back that far with adequate sourcing.