Quote Originally Posted by Burney View Post
On another note, I do get very pïssed off when Americans get all 'Greatest Generation' about WWII and start acting like they did everyone a selfless favour. They were deeply cynical in the way they economically prostrated this country and did extremely well out of it.

Fair enough, that's Realpolitik, but don't start giving it the big'un about how wonderful you are and how we should be grateful.
The greatest generation argument is made at the personal level, not the national/political/economical level.

You are quite right that American industry did fantastically well, very often cynically, out of the war. That doesn't change the fact that millions of young, American men volunteered to serve in order to resolve issues in Europe and the Pacific that had little effect on their every day lives or the future security of their country.

The Americans, quite rightly, revere the contribution of that generation of Americans and you as a Brit should be equally grateful. Whether you wish to accept it or not, you never would have won the war without them.