Lawrence.com

World War II is finally over. At least for Tom Brokaw.

The NBC news anchor says his third book on the subject, the just-released "An Album of Memories: Personal Histories from the Greatest Generation," will be his last word on the subject. OK, so his documentary on Pearl Harbor, "Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack," airs at 9 p.m. May 27 on NBC. But that's not a book.

"This is it. No more World War II books," he said recently "Of course, I should never say never, but I have no plans for more books."

One can hardly blame Brokaw for giving himself some hedge room. The avalanche of personal reflections and photographs that came after the publication of his first book, 1998's best-selling "The Greatest Generation," took him by surprise, he said. That led to the publication a year later of "The Greatest Generation Speaks."

But after that, the letters continued to pour in from men and women who recalled everything from having to share one pair of shoes among an entire household, to huddling in closets during air-raid drills, to a family whose mother received a telegram informing her of her son's death, on her birthday.

After about 7,000 letters and photographs had flooded his office, Brokaw was still resistant to a third book. "I was determined to not appear to be exploiting the World War II generation, so I told everyone I was not going to do it," he said. "But I was told 'Tom, that's unfair. These people have entrusted you."'

After discussions with former Sen. Bob Dole and others about establishing a World War II memorial and accompanying Web site (still under construction), Brokaw agreed that all proceeds of the third book would go to the project.

Two weeks ago, he also agreed to donate all the material he has collected for his books to Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Brokaw said he was "relieved" to find a permanent home for the letters and photographs that continue to arrive by the hundreds daily. They will be shipped to FSU's Institute on World War II and the Human Experience, an archive founded by a student looking for a place to house the war photographs his grandfather was trying to throw away.

Sole anchor of the "NBC Nightly News" since 1983, Brokaw has interviewed major world leaders, covered wars and every presidential election since 1968, and has won dozens of awards. Still, he calls his involvement with the Greatest Generation books the highlight of his 38-year career.

"Of all the things I've been privileged to do professionally in my life," said the 61-year-old anchor, "nothing has been as gratifying, or as enduring probably, as working on these subjects and these books. I cannot go anywhere, any day of the week, without people coming up and wanting to talk about this. I've covered Watergate, Gorbachev, the Berlin Wall coming down, presidential campaigns. Nothing compares with this."

As evident in his nickname for them, Brokaw is unabashed in his admiration for the generation that gritted out the Great Depression, stepped up to the plate in World War II, and returned from the war to build a land of unparallelled prosperity for its offspring.

"It was America at its best," he said. "There was virtue in selflessness and modesty. I worry about how we divide ourselves up too much and compete. At some point we have to take the measure of the common good, and they really did understand that."