what is the greatest generation 
the greatest generation is a term used to describe those americans who grew up during the great depression and fought in world war ii or whose labor helped win it the term the greatest generation is thought to have been coined by former nbc nightly news anchor and author tom brokaw in his book by the same name the greatest generation is also known as the g i generation or the wwii generation understanding the greatest generationthere are no precise dates that define when members of the greatest generation were born though many give a range of the early 1900s to the mid 1920s the common characteristic of greatest generation members is that they lived through and experienced the hardships of the great depression and later either fought in world war ii or worked in the industries that contributed to winning the war newsman tom brokaw is often credited with popularizing the term through his book the greatest generation which profiled people who came of age during world war ii and was inspired by brokaw s attendance at the 40th anniversary commemoration of the d day invasion of mainland europe 1 brokaw s profiles focused on the soldiers who fought the war as well as the workers whose labor provided the essential material and services in support of them in australia the equivalent of the greatest generation is known as the federation generation 