Why are we called the "silent generation"?

[shraby]

This was in a poll on dailykos. I was born in 1942. It was the ones born 1942 to 1955 or so who were the protestors of Vietnam. Silent they weren't.

Lost Generation: 1883-1900
G.I. Generation: 1901-1924
Silent Generation: 1925-1945
Baby Boomers: 1946-1963
Generation X: 1964-1976

[bemildred]

1. Sounds like bullshit to me. nt

[OKNancy]

2. You can find anything on wikipedia

The name Silent Generation was coined in the November 5, 1951 cover story of Time to refer to the generation coming of age at the time. The phrase gained further currency after William Manchester's comment that the members of this generation were "withdrawn, cautious, unimaginative, indifferent, unadventurous and silent." The name was used by Strauss and Howe in their book Generations as their designation for that generation in the United States of America born from 1925 to 1942. The generation is also known as the Postwar Generation and the Seekers, when it is not neglected altogether and placed by marketers in the same category as the G.I., or "Greatest", Generation. In England they were named the Air Raid Generation as children growing up amidst the crossfire of World War II.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Generation

[TahitiNut]

3. We (I'm class of '43) invented rock and roll and the peace movement.

We fought and died in 'Nam before it was "fashionable." We rode the Freedom Buses and marched with Dr. King in Selma. It was people born in 1940-45 who died in Mississippi Burning. We did "Duck and Cover" in elementary school. We were graduating high school when JFK said "ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." We understood that "country" meant people, not government and not dirt. How times have changed!

[shraby]

4. Guess we just got compartmentalized a little

too early didn't we?

[TahitiNut]

6. I guess. I mean the Beatles sure weren't "silent" ...

... nor were the vast majority of the "Sex, Drugs, and Rock'n'Rollers" who were born 1940-45. I was always taken aback a bit in the late 60's and 70's when the post-war 'boomers' would marginalize those of us born during WW2 ('39 to'45) ... when I considered that the majority of that generation's "heroes" were born then. I had an uncle (my mother's youngest brother) who was born in '33, only 10 years older than me. He was actually closer in age to me than he was to his sister, my mother ... but behaved like a completely different generation. I tend to view us "war babies" as our own mini-generation - a kind of Watershed Generation. It's a mini-generation that's unusually well-represented in the movers and shakers of almost every field of endeavor, from entertainment to scientific research.

[tlsmith1963]

5. At Least That List Put Me...

...in with the Boomers. Some people seem to think that individuals born in '63 are Generation Xers. I don't really feel like a Gen Xer. Also, younger 'Boomers like myself are mostly ignored. The older 'Boomers define everything. Oh, well--such is life, I guess.

Tammy