Greatest Generation

The generation of people born in the 1900s through the 1920s, especially those who served in World War II. They were the subject of Tom Brokaw's 1998 book The Greatest Generation, which served to popularize the phrase. My grandfather was a WWII vet, and one of the most valiant men I ever knew. It's because of people like him that they call it the Greatest Generation. A: "Who comes after the Greatest Generation? Baby Boomers?" B: "No, it's the Silent Generation, then Baby Boomers." I can see why they're called the Greatest Generation. I mean, they lived through the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression and World War II—among other things!