"George Shirley" > wrote in message
...
> 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.

Amen! Yours and ours too!


--
--
https://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/