This lyric is: #284

Finest Generation

He was starting school about the time the dust storms filled the sky
And he learned to do without things, and he never wondered why
And he turned sixteen in forty-one when the nation went to war
When he graduated high school, it was knocking at his door.

From Africa to Normandy, Pearl Harbor to Berlind
From the sands of iwo Jima, Okinawa to Japan
He bled in every country, kept Old Glory flying free
Never asked for any favors, just that people let him be
(chorus)
They were the finest generation we'd ever seen before
hardened by depression, tempered by the war
Never cracked under the pressure of what they were asked to do
They were our finest generation, passing through.

Now he walks downtown for coffee at the corner donut store
And he talks about the weather, and he thinks about the war
Sometimes he's a little edgy till he's had that cup of joe
But if you kid him he'll be smiling when it's time for him to go

But sometimes it comes back to him in technicolor dreams
He can hear those rifles barking, he can hear his buddies' screams
He's never gotten over it, even after all these years
And it's only with the sunrise he's released from all his fears
(chorus)
They were the finest generation we'd ever seen before
Hardened by depression, tempered by the war
And you can stand up now to honor him, he stood up once for you
They were the finest generation, passing through.

[This message has been edited by blakeh (edited 09-02-2002).]