On 6/2/2010 10:41 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
> jmcquown wrote:
>
>> This brought tears to my eyes. I remember when my father returned from
>> his second tour in VietNam. It wasn't a surprise but I was only 8
>> years old and I was thrilled to see him get off that plane. No matter
>> what anyone thinks of any war, god bless the troups. Thanks, Stu.
>
>
> I can imagine how happy you were to see him home safely after being away
> for so long. Soldiers these days are lucky that deployments tend to be
> shorter. My father joined the air force in 1940 and was shipped over to
> England in the spring of 1941. He was over there for two years before he
> could come home, and he would have had to stay longer had he not been
> shot down over Denmark and managed to escape back to England. He was
> given a one month leave and had to sail back.
>
> His parents didn't know that he was coming home. The last they had
> heard, he was still in Sweden and waiting to get back to England. He
> didn't bother to call when he arrived in the city and just showed up
> unannounced. His parents were thrilled.
>
> My uncle was in the army and was shipped overseas in 1941. He fought his
> way through North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Holland. He came home to
> find that his wife had left him for another man. Four years of being
> away from home and enduring hardships and privation... plus being shot at.
>
> It's interesting that guys like this endured the horrors of war for
> extended periods and came back, picked up where they left off and led
> normal lives. Soldiers these days live with a much higher level of
> comfort, have a much better chance of survival and spend relatively
> short periods of time on deployment. They can communicate with their
> families by telephone and email. Yet, a high percentage of them come
> back claiming of post traumatic stress,even among those who aren't on
> the front lines.
>
Some very large differences Dave. Back then the troops had a clearly
defined enemy who was in uniform, mostly. Nowadays most of the enemy are
dressed in civilian clothing, blend in well with the surrounding
population and there are clearly defined rules of engagement, often
causing troops to take chances they shouldn't have to take.

In WWII and Korea PTSD was called combat fatigue but was basically the
same syndrome. My eldest brother-in-law was a Navy medic assigned to the
USMC, he was in almost continuous battle from early 1942 until he was
wounded severely enough to be pulled out of battle the day before VJ
Day. My sister didn't get to see him until mid-1946 and he wasn't
discharged to go home until early 1947. He had what we used to call a
Section 8 discharge. He was jumpy at loud noises, very protective of
family, to the extent he would throw his wife and daughter on the ground
and cover them with his body if he heard anything resembling a gunshot
sound. He was a good man who died at age 61 from chronic alcoholism and
too many cigarettes, he died two months after being diagnosed with
pancreatic cancer, brought on by booze and smoking according to the doctors.

I see young troops coming back here with many of the same symptoms, a
different war, a different generation, many of the same problems. God
Bless Our Troops and their families, both have a tough time.