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Can you be a bit more specific? This might be an interesting question but is a bit too vague as asked.

"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."

-- KIng Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes

(King James Version of the Bible)

No offense, but I don't think you're asking a valid question. "Time and chance" happen to everybody, as King Solomon supposedly wrote.

The first generation you mentioned faced one combination of "time and chance." The second generation faced another combination of the two. And people in each generation responded -- well, however they did.

Comparing them in the abstract is comparing apples & oranges. You can't make good comparisons unless you have a time machine and get people who served in the military in one era to switch places with those who served in the other.

Personally, I think going to war is generally a BAD thing, not a good one. I also think the Vietnam War was mostly a bloody mistake & a boondoggle, while George Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq was stupid, self-defeating and basically illegal.

But that being said, I agree that Americans who were drafted in the Vietnam War generation -- my generation -- and those who served in the all-volunteer force in Afghanistan & Iraq BOTH sacrificed a lot (including sometimes their lives) and paid a very high price for their service.

I agree with you if you're saying American society has a huge debt to each group -- regardless of whether they always did right, and regardless of whether they were well served by our political leaders.

But saying one generation is "better" than the other is just confused thinking, IMO. If you're proud of what your generation did, that's understandable.

-- democratic socialist

This is not a Politics question. For a more insightful response, please consider reposting under Military.