Readers write

Baby Boomers have led the way for 80 years

“A look at aging baby boomers in America” (AJC, Dec. 27, A1) hit home with me. Someone said, “The second thing our parents did when they got home from World War II was put down their suitcases.” The first thing was to conceive babies. Whatever we Boomers did was “like watching a pig swallowed by a snake.” Seventy-six million of us.

I loved it. The first of us turns 80 next year. The music was great. I remember the words. The moon landing. The pride in America. The innocence. Vietnam changed everything.

Jan Scruggs, founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, is three weeks older than I. We met. My 1968 Toledo high school graduating class produced four Marines. All except me went to Vietnam. When I finished Marine Officer training, the war was over. I felt guilty for 30 years until I went to Hue City, Vietnam, in 1998, with the Marine battalion staff who fought there. A company commander stood on a street corner and, with tears running down his face, said, “I got 40 of my guys shot right here.” The guilt left me right then.

We Baby Boomers grew up on “The Lone Ranger,” Smokey the Bear, and Cheerios. But when it came time to fight, our generation never lost a battle.

DANIEL F. KIRK, KENNESAW

Newspaper has been more than a news source

With the shutdown of my hometown newspaper’s presses, this Southern gal is being flooded with AJC memories.

I recall “reading” my first article in what was either the Journal or the Constitution in the early 1960s. The article was about my crush, Burt Ward of “Batman” fame. I‘ve been hooked on the paper ever since.

I spent Sundays “lifting” comics with my Silly Putty. The AJC was my news source for high school projects, my job source when I was job hunting, and my recipe source as a newlywed. I made it into Ron Hudspeth’s column one year when I found a cow in my suburban yard. I hired Lewis Grizzard for his very first speaking engagement in the early 1980s at Auburn. (He was so new to it that he asked me what he should charge for the gig!)

I will miss the newsprint stains on my fingers and the sharp snap of the papers’ folds. With a reluctant nod to the future, I thank all those talented reporters, helpful circulation desk workers, tireless press runners, and dedicated paper delivery wizards for their commitment to getting my paper to the end of my driveway for decades.

STACEY HADER EPSTEIN, SANDY SPRINGS