Please support my mission of helping families who suffer from PTSD and moral injury…order my book, Reconciliation: A Son’s Story. Click and order paperback or download Kindle version. Buy my book at Barnes and Noble as well… Thank you!Steve Sparks, Author
During World War II, 150,000 Oregonians from all walks of life served the country in Europe and the Pacific. Thousands more contributed at home. Their shared sacrifices and that sense of common purpose shaped the Oregon – and the America – we know today. Those stories can continue to inspire us and future generations of Oregonians to think about what it means to come together for a single purpose.
Many of us have heard stories about World War II from our parents and grandparents – about the war in Europe and the Pacific and the hard work on the home front. But we were surprised to learn that Oregon is one of only six states that has not created a dedicated World War II memorial.
Join us now to contribute to the Memorial and honor those stories!
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As a military child of a WWII US Navy combat veteran, a memorial to our “Greatest Generation” in our adopted home state of Oregon touches my heart deeply. I want to do my part in making this happen, including starting an awareness campaign on this blog. As a US Navy veteran during the Vietnam era, I feel a special honor and duty to help as well…
My father, Vernon H. Sparks, a US Navy BMC survived the surprise Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor aboard the USS West Virginia (BB48) and then was sent to the Pacific Asiatic Theater aboard the USS Belle Grove (LSD2) for the remainder of WWII. Dad finally came home in June of 1945 as a hero, but a far different person when he left. Dad was physically exhausted and morally wounded for the rest of his life. There was really no treatment for him and thousands of veterans of all wars until after the Vietnam War when we knew so much more about combat stress and PTSD. Children and families like ours suffered for decades not knowing or understanding the painful and invisible wounds of war. Families were torn apart by war and the toxic home cultures that resulted in family members and loved ones being afflicted with secondary PTSD or worse yet Complex PTSD. To this day WWII has had a lasting inter-generational legacy of emotional pain for millions of Americans, including caregivers, children, and the families of veterans who served in combat.
The memorials to veterans of all wars, help us heal as a society. These memorials bring peace of mind to veterans and also family members, and loved ones who served too! We can never forget the shared sacrifice of millions of Americans who served both on the battlefield, at sea, and the home front to protect our freedoms. We must have a way to remember and honor service to America , and to heal as a nation. The proposed WWII Memorial to be built in Salem, Oregon is exactly the right thing to do right now! The video clip of the project is heartwarming and healing as well… Please donate your time, energy, and money to this noble and honorable endeavor…
Steve Sparks is a retired information technology sales and marketing executive with over 35 years of industry experience, including a Bachelors’ in Management from St. Mary’s College. His creative outlet is as a non-fiction author, writing about his roots as a post-WWII US Navy military child growing up in the 1950s-1960s.
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