As a woman turning 50 this year, I found your Aug. 3 editorial on the demise of the Baby Boomers to be insulting. Growing up in the 1950s and ’60s, I and many of my friends were hardly spoiled–there were too many kids in our families! Self-centered? My husband did two tours of duty in the jungles of Vietnam fighting a war that the “Greatest Generation” (as Tom Brokaw dubbed them) thought was necessary. Thousands of young men lost their lives for a war that, yes, Baby Boomers protested. Not because we were cowards but because we knew what the fight was really about: testing new military hardware and propping up another corrupt regime. America’s security wasn’t at stake.
We heeded John F. Kennedy’s call to public service by joining the Peace Corps in droves.
Noisy? You’re right about that. We made noise about the destruction of the environment. We protested at the 1968 Democratic Convention, speaking out against the trampling of civil liberties by the Chicago Police and Mayor Richard J. Daley. We spoke out against drug laws that we knew were arbitrary and hypocritical–we saw our elders abuse alcohol and cigarettes but rail against marijuana. Boomer women and minorities were very noisy and sued in order to gain admission to heretofore all-white, all-male institutions.
We weren’t and aren’t perfect. Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll all have their consequences (sexually transmitted diseases, overdoses, addiction, hearing loss, to name a few), but at least we tried to make a difference for the better. I am proud to be a Boomer. I hope I never get complacent.
