New Book Examines Challenges Faced by Returning World War II Veterans

In Fourth of July celebrations across the country, Americans honor our seniors who served as soldiers during World War II. Many seniors and professionals in the field of aging are taking a fresh look at the experiences these veterans faced upon their return home.

When Michael Gold's B-17 is shot down over Germany, he ends up Stalag 1, a German POW camp. Finally repatriated, he becomes a successful physician after attending Columbia and Cornell...but over the years, the effects of hunger and disease pale in comparison to the psychological impact of the readjustment period.

Tom Childers and his wife Mildred are ecstatic to be reunited after the long wartime separation, only to find themselves strangers. After London and the intensity of the war, Tom's small Tennessee town and life seem drab. When the Korean War breaks out in 1950, it is all Mildred can do to keep Tom from enlisting again.

In one of his first speeches after the election, President Obama said, "We have a sacred trust with those who wear the uniform of the United States of America. For their service and sacrifice, warm words of thanks from a grateful nation are more than warranted, but they aren't nearly enough. The nightmares of war don't always end when our loved ones return home."

Significantly, the president spoke these words on the 67th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor—the day the war began for an earlier generation of young men. The image most Americans have of returning World War II veterans is by now almost iconic: arriving home from Europe or the Pacific, they are greeted by a tickertape parade and the gratitude of the nation. Unscathed by their experiences, they trade in their fatigues for a suit and tie, move their wives and children into newly constructed suburban houses, and slide seamlessly back into the prosperous America of the 1950s. They put their wartime experiences behind them, or perhaps recall them with fondness.

But in reality, many World War II veterans, now in their 80s and 90s, had a much harder time of it than the nostalgic popular scenario would suggest. Indeed, many of these vets and their families are still dealing with the repercussions of the cataclysmic conflict that engulfed the globe during those years. Soldier from the War Returning, a new book by Thomas Childers, makes the case that understanding the experiences of returning WWII vets is an often overlooked part of serving our seniors today—and even of addressing the issues of Baby Boomers, many of whom grew up in households interrupted by or newly formed after the war.

The Impact of Wounds, Both Physical and Psychological

Many soldiers of World War II came home with horrific wounds and disabilities—blindness, amputations, burns, spinal cord injuries and aftereffects of malaria, malnutrition, tuberculosis—and with psychological wounds that were in many cases even harder to overcome. Childers humanizes the subject of the "readjustment period," as it was called, by focusing on the experience of three veterans, one of them his own father.

The book helps dispel some common preconceptions. For example, the homecoming experience of World War II soldiers has always been compared favorably to that of vets of later conflicts (most notably, those who served in Vietnam). But in reality, the WWII soldiers returned to high unemployment, an overextended healthcare system, and major shortages of housing and goods. Many WWII vets experienced the same kind of resentment reported by those of the Vietnam era. Taking advantage of the relatively modest GI Bill, they were sometimes accused of asking for a handout. The nation was overwhelmed by the returning tide of young men, many of whom had suffered serious physical and psychological wounds. Sensationalized magazine articles with titles like "Will Your Boy Come Home a Killer?" preceded their return.

Families, Too, Experience Impact of the War

Family life could be especially hard hit. Women on the home front had their own challenges—not only dealing with the wounds of their husbands, but also shifting back to the traditional role of wives after the years of relative independence. The popular "ladies publications" of the time offered advice to wives for dealing with "the stranger who has come home to you." The divorce rate soared to an all-time high as marriages were strained and tested. The author describes the experience of his own parents who, after writing almost daily during the long separation, had formed an idealized picture of each other that reality couldn't sustain. Another wife, when her husband abruptly left home in 1965 after 20 years of marriage, reflected that after the war he had never really unpacked his bags.

According to Childers, the emotional healing process of World War II vets was hindered by the common notion of the time that one should leave unpleasant experiences in the past and just move on. A few years after his liberation from a German POW camp, Michael Gold learned during a casual conversation that a close colleague had also been a prisoner in a German Stalag. The two discuss it for a moment...and never mention the subject again. "Dwelling on" the horrors they had experienced was seen as a sign of weakness. And so it was rare that a veteran had access to treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Many professionals in the field of aging are now paying more attention to residual effects of the war on "The Greatest Generation." With age, wounded warriors are experiencing increasing rates of disability from old war injuries. Emotional issues long unresolved may come to the forefront during the natural life review process. But this is also a time of opportunity. In some families, a veteran's emotional scars stood in the way of the closeness they all craved—but as children serve as family caregivers, a new degree of openness develops. Children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are finding out things they never knew about their loved one's history. After a long silence, many senior vets are discovering that openness about the painful readjustment challenges they faced in no way diminishes the sense of courage, sacrifice and determination they inspire.

Michael Gold, who was reticent to discuss his experiences even with fellow POWs over the years, experienced a sudden, powerful flashback during a visit to a B-17 at an air show. He finally sought treatment, joined a support group—and today, counsels returning Iraq veterans about the effects of PTSD. Like Gold, many vets are at last coming to terms with their experiences. As one veteran expressed, "I am home at last—my war is over."

 By Joyce Remy, Editor, and Dennis Kenny, Co-Author, Aging in Stride–Plan Ahead, Stay Connected, Keep Moving. Copyright, 2009.