THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 6, 1995 TAG: 9508050029
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANN G. SJOERDSMA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
THEY GREW UP during the Depression and learned sacrifice, thrift and charity. They listened to the radio and laughed and cried with their imaginations. They fought a war, worked hard, raised families, grew older, retired, and some died.
Men and women of the World War II generation. The last American Dream, however mythical, seems to have been theirs.
Today, on the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, which expedited the war's end in the Pacific, we again remember the heroism and patriotism of this proud generation of Americans who defeated the forces of oppression.
The members of the World War II generation hold a singular, honorable place in our nation's identity. They gave of their life's blood to preserve what they held to be sacred - home, country, family, freedom, a future. Theirs was a courageous, yet uncomplicated choice. In 1941, with half of today's teeming and more diverse population, these United States were indeed united against a common threat.
One of those who made a personal sacrifice was Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, a disabled WWII Army veteran who, at 72, is the oldest man ever to make a run at the U.S. presidency. (Ronald Reagan was 69 when he challenged Jimmy Carter.) The WWII hero appears headed for a direct confrontation with one of his generation's offspring, 49-year-old baby boomer Bill Clinton. But unlike his party's previous candidate, war veteran George Bush, Dole may have an edge in the ``generation gap,'' thanks to Clinton's hardly booming performance.
However individually they may be lacking, the WWIIers collectively represent values that all adult generations, even the feckless 35-to-50-year-old baby boomers, now bemoan as threatened, if not lost: leadership, fortitude, moral conviction, personal and community responsibility.
The early baby boomers, like Clinton, experienced in their impressionable young adulthoods the assassination of a popular, idealized president and a distant, senseless, if not corrupt war that wasted their blood, and were fundamentally changed by both. Children of the World War II freedom-fighters, they rejected their parents' old-fashioned teachings about the delayed rewards of education, hard work and family and instead embraced instant gratification - instant drugs, instant sex.
Today, boomers struggle to instill responsibility in their own children, even as they continue to gratify themselves with the trappings of instant materialism. Their world may be fraught with perils (crack cocaine, street violence, AIDS) of which their parents never conceived, but there is still the sense that the WWIIers would handle all such problems better, more confidently, than their children have. What a difference a just war makes.
The gap between baby boomers and WWIIers is easy to recognize, yet hard to assess objectively. While Dole and Clinton may not be the people's or even their parties' choices, they do broadly symbolize their respective generations: The sharp bite vs. the sound bite; the hard line vs. the soft pedal; action vs. talk; abrasion vs. persuasion.
Despite his war injuries, which left him with a partially paralyzed right arm and only one kidney, and his 1991 bout with prostate cancer, Dole manages 14-hour days and has the discipline to adhere to a low-fat diet and exercise regimen. He appears fit and fighter-ready. Clinton works even longer days, but he ``parties hard'' and sleeps very little; his battles with the bulge and his jogging ``form'' have become the stuff of ridicule. He appears overweight and haggard.
Personalities aside, Dole now - before the 18-hour days of campaigning and running the Senate - has the vigor and command that befit a wise, experienced and tested achiever. Clinton has considerable stamina and energy, but he lacks leadership and often appears indecisive. Both men are back-room negotiators, consummate politicians; and both cause their political parties consternation. Whereas Clinton can be too apologetic - a curse of Vietnam - Dole can be too reckless. Clinton has the edge in charisma. But isn't that the baby boomers' rap? All image, no substance?
Comparisons between the two men's styles, both personal and political, will track this presidential campaign. In 1996, will Mom and Dad, who know the weariness of being 70, vote again for the son who has disappointed them? Will the ``kids'' look to good ole Dad to bail them out one last time?
The generations may yet square off in a showdown about our nation's future, as the mantle is passed. Dole has spoken of one last ``mission'' for his generation; Clinton would like to leave his mark. But for today, at least, we remember the past and what might have been, and salute those who gave us hope and a choice in our ever-changing, and challenging, present. MEMO: Ann G. Sjoerdsma is a lawyer and book editor of The Virginian-Pilot and
The Ledger-Star.
ILLUSTRATION: Photos
World War II veteran Bob Dole, right, looks fit and fighter-ready.
Baby boomer Bill Clinton, on the other hand, appears overweight and
haggard. If the two meet in the 1996 election, whom will voters
choose, good old Dad or the disappointing son?
by CNB