Actually, maybe Iraq counts as the defining element or whatnot of this generation. Or not. It has become commonplace to link it with Vietnam, which is not ours... I may need to muse more about 'defining' moments and whether we are simply a cynical generation (though there is already a book called "the cynical society") burned out by all of this. But that tends to end in intellectual masturbation and discussions about the postmodern world... still...