It is a safe thing to do, pander to the “Greatest Generation” Sure helps out come the pledge drive. I wonder if Ken Burns will ever so honor the Afgan-Iraqi war vets. They volunteer, and re-enlist, in spite of negative press.
I think you may have some points, but I think you've put it in a very, very unfortunate way.
All service is honorable and potentially dangerous, but it is not all equal....it simply is not.
The generation of the Iraq wars has simply not been called upon -- has not had the opportunity to make the sacrifices and take the risks of WWII.
As miserable, dangerous, and thankless as Iraq service may be, it simply can not be compared to Okinawa or Midway or Battan or Normandy the Bulge or many other locations where there was no secure zone to fall back to and where death was not only a possibility for an unlucky few but a likely prospect for many.
Today's generation might be just as brave if called to that kind of service. But, thankfully, they have not been called.
If anything in America is sacred, it is the service of our soldiers in WWII. They didn't come up with that Greatest Generation thing for no reason at all.