War is delightful to those who have not experienced it.
Erasmus
World War 2 soldier at rest camp, New Guinea
In World War 1, combat trauma was referred to as "shell-shock." In World War 2, the most commonly used term was combat fatigue or battle fatigue. Unlike World War 1, soldiers were not executed for desertion if they exhibited the symptoms of combat trauma. Indeed, American psychiatrists, J.W. Appel and G.W. Beebe, wrote that, in their opinion, "There is no such thing as 'getting using to combat' . . . Thus psychiatric casualties are as inevitable as gunshot and shrapnel wounds" (quoted in Judith Herman 1997:25). A great deal of data was collected about trauma in World War 2, but treatment doesn't appear to have changed very much since the previous war. Treatment focused on soldiers resting at camps as close to the front as possible and returning to combat within a fairly short time. Following in WHR River's footsteps, psychiatrists also recognized the importance of the bonds between soldiers and the role of leadership, in preventing or minimizing combat trauma.
Even though soldiers, like my Uncle Dellous, were treated humanely by medical staff, soldiers with a diagnosis of "combat neurosis" or "combat fatigue" continued to be stigmatized by both the military and the larger society. In August 1943, General Patton was involved in two incidents where he humiliated soldiers hospitalized in Sicily for combat fatigue. He called them "yellow bastards" and said they should be sent back to the front immediately. In one case, he even slapped a recuperating soldier. Even though the head of the hospital didn't report these incidents, word eventually got back to General Eisenhower who severely reprimanded Patton, although he did not remove him from active service.
General Patton in Sicily, 1943
No wonder, then, that men like my uncles returned home and rarely, if ever, spoke about their war experiences. Both men were haunted all their lives by these experiences, but, as far as I know, did not receive any treatment or medical support for the traumas they incurred in combat. Thousands of other soldiers were in the same situation and rarely spoke about their war experiences. Some were even hospitalized with diagnoses of mental illnesses unrelated to their war experiences. It is only after the diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder became well known that World War 2 veterans have been comfortable telling their stories. The video below shows poignant footage of World War 2 veterans sharing their combat stories in a supportive group setting, most for the first time.
As World War 2 veterans near the end of their lives, others have come forward to tell their stories. Michigan veteran John Landry was compelled to tell about his experiences in the Battle of Okinawa after his memories were stirred up by images from the war in Iraq. Sadly, my uncles never shared many war stories. They were probably too ashamed or felt that such stories weren't suitable subjects to speak about. Dellous, apparently, never talked about his war experiences at all and Wesley only when he was drinking. These stories have gone with them to their graves: the stories of two young men whose lives changed forever on the battlefields of World War 2.
Uncle Dellous, circa 1957
Why do you think it is so difficult for veterans to speak about their war experiences?
