Many define the Greatest Generation as those Americans who came of age during the Great Depression, and fought World War II with productivity and U.S. military.

Victor Davis Hanson, premier historian, writes of the achievements during WWII.

Anyone who doubts America’s exceptionalism should read the article, as should those who want to renew their belief in the system our forefathers wrought.

In a brief 763 words, he encapsulates all that was great about that generation…

• Productivity ramped up to manufacture a B24 heavy bomber every hour;
• A single shipyard mass-produced Liberty merchant ships every 7 days;
• In 4 years, the U.S. produced more planes than all combined war powers;
• The U.S. supplied 400k trucks, 2k locomotives, 11k railcars, and billions of dollars of warplanes, tanks, food, clothing and strategic resources to Russia;
• During 1943-44, America supplied 20% of Britain’s munitions;
• By 1944, our 6000-ship U.S. Navy had become the world’s largest;
• From rifles to fighter planes to aircraft carriers, our weapons were best of class.

…all achieved by a Nation scarcely 160 years old. (By contrast, France was 1100 years old, England about 950 years old by the start of World War II.)

(If someone says America isn’t that great, Mr. Hanson’s article proves otherwise, with this riveting narrative of what democracy and a free market can accomplish.)

Question: will today’s generation meet today’s global challenges similarly?