The term “The Greatest Generation" was coined by television journalist Tom Brokaw. He used the term to describe the generation of men and women who grew up in the United States during the hard times of the Great Depression. They went on to fight in foreign lands to protect the world from tyranny in World War II. Those that couldn’t fight served at home in America in various ways to support the war effort.
These were all great men and women. Parents lost their sons and daughters, children lost their fathers so that we and others around the world could enjoy the 4 great freedoms spoken of by the great American painter, Norman Rockwell (freedom of speech and worship and freedom from want and fear.)
Many of those people who were part of that generation of great men and women are long gone now. Many have been forgotten by this new generation of Americans. Others are quickly heading down that same path. Many who died on foreign battlefields don’t even have a grave marker to remember them by. But we don’t have to let these men and women fade into forgetfulness. We have a way to keep the memory of their lives alive.
The names of nearly all of those who were part of The Greatest Generation can be found in the 1940 US Census. The fact that their names are found in this census record shows that they can be remembered again. Indexing the names and other personal information of these people seems like a very simple act. But with the indexes that will be created from the census records we are indexing, we make it possible for each person listed in that census to be found and their lives remembered. Each row of information on a census page is a person whose life will not be forgotten.
Indexing this project is a relatively simple matter. Yet, by doing this indexing, in a small simple way, we are saying “Thank You” to those of The Greatest Generation” who went before us and gave so much to make life so good for us. THANK YOU!!
