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It was so encouraging listening to Patrick Stewart talk about his post WWII childhood.  Rarely do we “boomers” talk about the domestic violence that persisted in countless homes all over the world following WWII.  We were conditioned to be silent, hush, hush…  I don’t believe we even understood what was happening in our homes as children.  I know in my home we just thought it was normal crazy behavior.  But it was scary and dangerous!  “We lied to our coaches, we lied to our teachers, we lied to keep the secrets…”  Our fathers came home with moral injury and damaged souls and were told to just go home and get on with life.  But they took the war home with them and many acted out with anger and rage against loved ones, including children.  There was no real understanding or research regarding the stress of combat and the emotional damage we now refer to as PTSD.  There was little treatment for warriors until later following the initial research during the post Vietnam era…  I know all this too well as a post WWII kid who lived and coped with a traumatic life at home. 

I spent my entire adult life until age 64 wondering “what was wrong with me” until researching and writing my book about my family’s 70 year struggle with PTSD.  Now on a path of healing with a keen level of awareness about the symptoms of PTSD and the root causes, I manage so much better these days and have mostly peace of mind.  Once finding out that my experience was about “what happened to me” it was so much easier to put my past in perspective and forgive… My days are spent helping others through my book and blog become more aware of  moral injury and PTSD.  I am most thrilled when my peers decide to revisit their own post WWII childhood experiences.  It is most healing for a child of WWII to learn of the heroic service of parents protecting the freedoms we enjoy today.  It is possible to develop a different perspective of parents who were considered abusive and to forgive.  Awareness and forgiveness leads to a journey of healing, and it is never too late to start… 

I feel grateful for Patrick Stewart and others from the post WWII generation who now discuss and reveal childhood experiences.  We must continue to work hard to talk about and break the pattern of inter generational PTSD.  Symptoms of PTSD never go away but can be managed with the right awareness of yourself, treatment, and in making a difference for others.  If you are from the boomer generation and perhaps have not yet talked about or revisited your childhood, especially learning more about your parents WWII & Korean War honorable service and duty to America, it is not too late to start now…

Steve Sparks
Author
Reconciliation: A Son’s Story  click and order my book or download Kindle version…