Support group for elderly WWII vets

http://www.sunjournal.com/story/185009-3/MaineNews/World_War_II_vets_learning_to_not_suffer_in_silence/

At this Maine vet center, there are support groups for surviving veterans of past and current wars. There are 2 groups for WWII veterans who are now in their 80s. Many of them have been living with unexpressed trauma for decades. Mental health programs were not available to anyone except Vietnam era veterans at the vet centers until 1991. A debt of gratitude is owed to the Vietnam vets for bringing the issue of war trauma to the forefront. The WWII vets were a product of the era where men had difficulty asking for help for emotional issues, because society would consider them to be weak.

A Nurse's Perspective on PTSD in the Aging WWII Combat Vet

In a 2003 American Journal of Nursing article, Charles Kaiman discusses the therapy group he ran for elderly WWII veterans with delayed onset PTSD. Aging can cause the intrusive memories, survivior's guilt and unresolved grief of the combat vet to appear after many years of repression. Exacerbation of PTSD in elderly veterans is common. This should be taken seriously since there are many generations of combat veterans following their WWII fathers and grandfathers in having to deal with effects of combat.

How PTSD Affects the Veteran's Children

Children of vets with PTSD have often been ignored in discussion of the issue. Some research has been conducted - mainly on children of Vietnam vets - that is probably applicable to children of combat vets of other wars. There are a number of mechanisms used by the children: over-identification with the PTSD affected parent; secondary traumatization; a rescuer role; depression and anxiety. These children are at greater risk for behavior, academic and interepersonal problems. Jennifer Price, Ph.D. has developed a fact sheet for the National Center for PTSD that explores some of these problems.

Emotional numbing of combat

The article by Mark Van Ells (click on post title for link) published in VFW magazine in 2002 demonstrates how for a small number of WWII vets the war never ended. According to the author, only about 6% of the 16 million servicemen actually saw sustained combat. Maybe that's why the myth of the well-adjusted WWII vet began. So many had not seen combat and therefore had not experienced the trauma of war. My dad, a paratrooper, told me that when he came home, nobody wanted hear about that side of war. So they were left silent with no outlet or support.

PTSD Combat blog

Ilona Meagher's blog(click on favorite links) is a wonderful resource for all who are concerned about our military who have PTSD. I have been inspired by her commitment to this issue and credit her with making many aware of the limitations of the care given to our brave veterans.

Homefront

This link (click on title) is to an interview with a poet who has captured the allure and madness of war. Patricia Monaghan is a daughter of a WWII and Korean war vet who is eloquently breaking the silence of the boomer children who never quite understood the trauma experienced by their fathers. It took the Vietnam war and discussion of PTSD for me to personally comprehend the journey my father had to travel.

Organization for children of World War II veterans

I am in the process of getting tax exempt status for our Daughters of D-Day nonprofit, which is still in the beginning stages. We would like to create an educational program for schoolchildren wherein the children of the vets can tell their dads' stories in the historical context, but their children can add the personal touch which makes history more compelling.