We had his dog tags, his wings, and many photos of our of dad looking both serious and smiling broadly. We knew he loved the Army and flying and today, my sons have his dog tags and wings. But we were never allowed to ask about his military experience. He often woke up with nightmares and I could hear him screaming. The next morning mother would say, “Don’t ask him anything.” But we never understood why. He had been stationed in Florida. And if we tried to question, our mother would give us “the look.” She would then change the subject to his love of flying.
When the Alzheimer’s memory thief began hijacking his mind, he retreated to events of his past and even his military days. We began to see what troubled him — the war at home.
The War on Our Florida Coast: It was just recently that I began researching my father’s history and came to learn that the Sunshine State had become a military training ground. It seems that enemy U-boats sank at least 24 ships off the Florida coast near Miami and Jacksonville, and special group was formed to prevent further attacks. As a pilot, our father began talking about flight operations dispatched from Florida — the war on our shores.
I could not really understand the secrecy surrounding Florida until accounts from the New England Historical Society revealed an alleged pattern of denial about military operations along the East Coast.
As our father’s dementia worsened, he went through a period of anger. He talked of being a bombardier and of the Army Air Corps. His talk of Army days often focused on friendships and his love of flying. And then he would retreat into darkness.
Heroes not Losers: We spent many hours at the VA Hospital, which helped treat him for his dementia. And there he would talk to others and came to share a great concern for those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. If he were alive today, he would be raging against a man in the White House who calls men and women who serve, “losers and suckers.”
Some wonder why the suicide rate among veterans is so high. Here is part of the explanation from PTSD on the government’s website.
- Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Enduring Freedom (OEF): About 11-20 out of every 100 Veterans (or between 11-20%) who served in OIF or OEF have PTSD in a given year.
- Gulf War (Desert Storm): About 12 out of every 100 Gulf War Veterans (or 12%) have PTSD in a given year.
- Vietnam War: About 15 out of every 100 Vietnam Veterans (or 15%) were currently diagnosed with PTSD at the time of the most recent study in the late 1980s, the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS). It is estimated that about 30 out of every 100 (or 30%) of Vietnam Veterans have had PTSD in their lifetime.(https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_veterans.asp)
On this Veterans Day, we thank you for taking care of all of us. You are indeed heroes.
Adapted from: Memoirs: Learning Too Late About Our Dad’s Military Life: PsychologyToday.com. Posted Jun 17, 2017
Copyright 2020 Rita Watson