A South Carolina World War II veteran took his own life outside a VA clinic. He had attempted to get a PTSD classification (prior to 1980 it was called anxiety neurosis) a number ot times and it was always denied. Just demonstates the long lasting memory of war.
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation/20091129_ap_scwwiivetsbattleendsingunshotatvaclinic.html
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Another World War II vet writes a book about his PTSD
Glenn, 85, has a long ponytail, easy smile and bright eyes that belie the sometimes somber nature of "The Hawk And The Dove," a chronicle of his wartime experience on Okinawa and in Korea following the end of hostilities with Japan. His book was recently published by Kittery-based Smith/Kerr Associates. He said he has battled post-traumatic stress disorder since before the now widely recognized issue had a name, and what began as a book about his experience in World War II grew into a tale of his long struggle with demons ranging from nightmares of killing and death to alcoholism.
Another story being told in old age about a World War II veterans struggle with the problem of war trauma which wasn't diagnosed and treated after WWII. Those who sought help, like my father, often got a diagnosis of anxiety neurosis and inability to digest war experiences.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20091110-NEWS-911100387
Another story being told in old age about a World War II veterans struggle with the problem of war trauma which wasn't diagnosed and treated after WWII. Those who sought help, like my father, often got a diagnosis of anxiety neurosis and inability to digest war experiences.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20091110-NEWS-911100387
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Return To Duty - MTV
This shows a young vet who was on The Real World returning to Iraq for a second tour of duty.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Veteran Aid
An interesting and useful website was sent to me by a daughter of a WWII veteran which will help with VA benefits for care - another child of a WWII veteran making a difference:
I wanted to share the following with the hope it will make a difference for someone you love.
I am also the daughter of a WWII veteran whose death lead me to discover a hidden VA Pension Benefit known as Improved Pension, which is a 3-tier Pension that includes, Basic, Housebound and Aid and Attendance.
This is a Pension and not disability compensation. It can represent up to $23,000 annually to help pay for care. I filed on behalf of my mom as his widow, and got the Pension awarded to her.
Four years ago at my mother's passing, I launched www.veteranaid.org dedicated to my parents and my journey as their daughter.
My hope is make a difference for someone else who now walks in my shoes as they face being the caregiver of older parents and in need of financial assistance to pay for that care.
I wanted to share the following with the hope it will make a difference for someone you love.
I am also the daughter of a WWII veteran whose death lead me to discover a hidden VA Pension Benefit known as Improved Pension, which is a 3-tier Pension that includes, Basic, Housebound and Aid and Attendance.
This is a Pension and not disability compensation. It can represent up to $23,000 annually to help pay for care. I filed on behalf of my mom as his widow, and got the Pension awarded to her.
Four years ago at my mother's passing, I launched www.veteranaid.org dedicated to my parents and my journey as their daughter.
My hope is make a difference for someone else who now walks in my shoes as they face being the caregiver of older parents and in need of financial assistance to pay for that care.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
PTSD and a Medal of Honor Winner
A new documentary about the effort to name an airfield in Idaho about a Medal of Honor winner, Pappy Boyington, a Marine pilot who led the Black Sheep Squadron in WWII and who was also a prisoner of war.
Quoted for educational purposes from USC News:
Boyington, an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, became famous for his heroism as a pilot during World War II, commanding the famous VMF-214, also known as the “Black Sheep Squadron.” He was captured and became a prisoner of war for nearly the last two years of the war. Upon his return, he was awarded the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.Boyington later wrote Baa Baa Black Sheep, an best-selling autobiography and inspiration for the ’70s TV series of the same name. But the hero’s personal postwar life was plagued with problems, including alcoholism, which contributed to multiple divorces and bad debts. It was judgment of his personal life that initially prevented county officials from renaming the Idaho airfield.
“I do have a section of the film called ‘Pappy’s Reputation,’ which explores what the implications of his reputation were on the campaign locally,” he said. “As a filmmaker, you hope to be a part of dialogue about a subject. In screening the film about a WWII hero on military bases, some Marines bring up the point that as a society, we didn’t come to understand PTSD and its effects until after Vietnam.”
Click on title for entire article
Quoted for educational purposes from USC News:
Boyington, an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, became famous for his heroism as a pilot during World War II, commanding the famous VMF-214, also known as the “Black Sheep Squadron.” He was captured and became a prisoner of war for nearly the last two years of the war. Upon his return, he was awarded the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.Boyington later wrote Baa Baa Black Sheep, an best-selling autobiography and inspiration for the ’70s TV series of the same name. But the hero’s personal postwar life was plagued with problems, including alcoholism, which contributed to multiple divorces and bad debts. It was judgment of his personal life that initially prevented county officials from renaming the Idaho airfield.
“I do have a section of the film called ‘Pappy’s Reputation,’ which explores what the implications of his reputation were on the campaign locally,” he said. “As a filmmaker, you hope to be a part of dialogue about a subject. In screening the film about a WWII hero on military bases, some Marines bring up the point that as a society, we didn’t come to understand PTSD and its effects until after Vietnam.”
Click on title for entire article
Monday, August 31, 2009
Okinawa Remembered
Some memories, long repressed, never die. This 85 year old World War II veteran is dealing with long ago horrors that he was able to suppress for many years. The bloody battle of Okinawa, with many civilian and service casualties, is coming back to haunt him.
Extensive quote for educational purposes:
John Landry never spoke about the island, the scattered bodies, the smell of death -- but six decades later, nightmares of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II woke him up from his sleep soaked in sweat.
"They were things I could never talk about, but it's time I told it like it was," said Landry, 85, whose buried memories began haunting him after he saw scenes of the Iraq war on television.
"I don't want to leave this world and take it with me."
The most gruesome chapter of the veteran's life happened in the Battle of Okinawa -- the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific theater of the war.
"The things that went on on that island are things you never forget," Landry said. "Death was all over the place."
Except for a long time, Landry did manage to push down those memories.
Only recently have the long-blocked scenes started to come back to life.
He can suddenly see mothers clutching babies and leaping off cliffs into the water. He can see the natives fleeing into caves engulfed by fire minutes later from grenades.
"What got me was these people were trying to get away from us, and it was their island," he said. "I hadn't seen the destruction we were doing from the air. Now I'm on land and I'm seeing the bodies, the kids. I could smell burning flesh, which is something if you ever got near it, you never forget."
The ferocity of fighting in the 82-day-long bitter battle from March to June 1945 caused among the highest casualties of any WWII engagement, earning it the nickname "Typhoon of Steel."
Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed or wounded or attempted suicide.
Had he followed the rules, his last war memory would have stayed in Europe.
He would have continued to tell his family the only part he has always told -- about the roughly eight months he spent performing air missions for the British Coastal Command.
And how he served in the same squadron as Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. -- President John F. Kennedy's brother who died in a plane crash. How he ate dinner next to and walked the town with the sociable pilot.
"I was very proud to have known him, whether his brother was president or not," Landry said.
But about five years ago, Landry was reminded of the untold stories when he was combing his hair and a sliver of what he believes was shrapnel from Okinawa fell from his head.
"He'd tell us about his flying days, but he never talked about Okinawa," said his wife, Patricia. "I think he wants to get it out in the open. The World War II veterans are dying off, and their stories are getting lost."
Landry, who spent much of civilian life as a construction heavy equipment operator, joined the Navy "because I liked the navy-blue suit" and was drawn to romantic sailor tales.
The father of five sons said Okinawa scenes have started coming back in bits and pieces, many times through nightmares.
"I'm lost and I can't get to where I want to be," he said of his dreams. "I think it's because I don't want to do what I have to do. I don't want to wake up in a foxhole or in the dirt."
He has finally began sharing with his family the details he had intentionally forgotten.
"I've been through what I've been through, and I changed because of it. I just want them to hear it," .
.
Extensive quote for educational purposes:
John Landry never spoke about the island, the scattered bodies, the smell of death -- but six decades later, nightmares of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II woke him up from his sleep soaked in sweat.
"They were things I could never talk about, but it's time I told it like it was," said Landry, 85, whose buried memories began haunting him after he saw scenes of the Iraq war on television.
"I don't want to leave this world and take it with me."
The most gruesome chapter of the veteran's life happened in the Battle of Okinawa -- the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific theater of the war.
"The things that went on on that island are things you never forget," Landry said. "Death was all over the place."
Except for a long time, Landry did manage to push down those memories.
Only recently have the long-blocked scenes started to come back to life.
He can suddenly see mothers clutching babies and leaping off cliffs into the water. He can see the natives fleeing into caves engulfed by fire minutes later from grenades.
"What got me was these people were trying to get away from us, and it was their island," he said. "I hadn't seen the destruction we were doing from the air. Now I'm on land and I'm seeing the bodies, the kids. I could smell burning flesh, which is something if you ever got near it, you never forget."
The ferocity of fighting in the 82-day-long bitter battle from March to June 1945 caused among the highest casualties of any WWII engagement, earning it the nickname "Typhoon of Steel."
Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed or wounded or attempted suicide.
Had he followed the rules, his last war memory would have stayed in Europe.
He would have continued to tell his family the only part he has always told -- about the roughly eight months he spent performing air missions for the British Coastal Command.
And how he served in the same squadron as Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. -- President John F. Kennedy's brother who died in a plane crash. How he ate dinner next to and walked the town with the sociable pilot.
"I was very proud to have known him, whether his brother was president or not," Landry said.
But about five years ago, Landry was reminded of the untold stories when he was combing his hair and a sliver of what he believes was shrapnel from Okinawa fell from his head.
"He'd tell us about his flying days, but he never talked about Okinawa," said his wife, Patricia. "I think he wants to get it out in the open. The World War II veterans are dying off, and their stories are getting lost."
Landry, who spent much of civilian life as a construction heavy equipment operator, joined the Navy "because I liked the navy-blue suit" and was drawn to romantic sailor tales.
The father of five sons said Okinawa scenes have started coming back in bits and pieces, many times through nightmares.
"I'm lost and I can't get to where I want to be," he said of his dreams. "I think it's because I don't want to do what I have to do. I don't want to wake up in a foxhole or in the dirt."
He has finally began sharing with his family the details he had intentionally forgotten.
"I've been through what I've been through, and I changed because of it. I just want them to hear it," .
.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Warrior to Spiritual Warrior - Jess E. Weiss
I just completed the above titled book by Jess E. Weiss, a 91 year old veteran of World War II. He was in the second wave of the Omaha beach landing on D-Day. I strongly recommend this book (available on Amazon) A few excerpts:
The beach was congested with the dead and wounded. . . . There wasn't a pebble to hide behind. I crawled under the bodies I'd piled . . . . I waited frozen and afraid, thoughts racing, Am I dreaming? Am I dead? What does being dead feel like?
On PTSD:
It's the residual effect of being afraid all the time and pretending you're not.It's the killing, the death, and the dying around you. Your mind turns into a camera taking pictures and storing negatives in your brain stem, but you don't develop them. . . . the real you down in the base of your brain is dormant, waiting for the right sound or sign to trigger something berserk. You clamp down on that guy. . . . And that just makes the berserker more berserk when he does break out. And he will. He will. You're a real fun guy to grow up with.
The beach was congested with the dead and wounded. . . . There wasn't a pebble to hide behind. I crawled under the bodies I'd piled . . . . I waited frozen and afraid, thoughts racing, Am I dreaming? Am I dead? What does being dead feel like?
On PTSD:
It's the residual effect of being afraid all the time and pretending you're not.It's the killing, the death, and the dying around you. Your mind turns into a camera taking pictures and storing negatives in your brain stem, but you don't develop them. . . . the real you down in the base of your brain is dormant, waiting for the right sound or sign to trigger something berserk. You clamp down on that guy. . . . And that just makes the berserker more berserk when he does break out. And he will. He will. You're a real fun guy to grow up with.
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