curiously, despite the fact that my parents were born in the late 20's and early 30's respectively, they were better at that then my friends parents that were kinda hippy-dippy
Your parents were at the end of what I call America's Greatest Generations.
I don't understand why that is so, but generations born during the latter portion of the 20th century (40s, 50s, 60s, etc...) were educated well, lived better than prior generations had access to things previous generations didn't, yet we're responsible for the beginning of our nation's fall.
Throw in the Vietnam War, Hippies, Free Love, Weed, Expanded Narcotics Use, and many other ills; it becomes easier to understand just how we are where we find ourselves today.
I often spoke with my mother about the sacrifices citizens made during WWII, as well as the near uniformity of support for what we did in WWII, and things became clearer for me as why our once formidable nation was beginning to decline.
Dad would often speak abut the depression and the CCC camps that he thought helped build this country and restore it's infrastructure. He was paid $30 a month, of which he sent $25 of that home to his father. He lived on the remaining five bucks.
Dad never spoke about what he did in WWII until I returned home after my first tour in Nam. That was when I began to see more clearly the slow erosion of a great nation.
I pray everyday that this is temporary.
It will be corrected, and we all can proudly proclaim to be Americans, again.