Steve Sparks at the Palm Springs Air Museum November 3, 2013 |
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 & Noble as well… Thank you!
“Surviving and Thriving” life after trauma… at the Palm Springs Air Museum… click on link for slide show…
Vernon H. Sparks, BMC, U.S. Navy (1918 – 1998)
“This story is written to honor my father’s sacrifice to his country during WWII, Korean Wars, and as a survivor during the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. The story will also show how battle affected the lives of the men who experienced extreme trauma to body and mind at a time when mental health research and treatment were barely getting attention. This story is also about the families who were affected by the war, who suffered and sacrificed during the war and long after with the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).”
Steve Sparks
Age 10, 1956
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It was very special to my family, especially son-in-law James See, son of Captain Robert B. See, to honor his father during my presentation at the Palm Springs Air Museum. It was particularly appropriate because the very aircraft piloted by WWII Fighter Pilot Ace, Captain See was the Corsair F4U during the Solomon Island 4 month mission to overcome the superiority of the Japanese Zero. The Corsair is housed in the Robert Pond Hanger at the Palm Springs Air Museum. James See was able to revisit his own family’s proud WWII legacy and share with his wife, my daughter Deanna, and granddaughter Cameryn. James was deeply moved since his father, Robert, was killed in an accident when James was just 15 years old. It is profoundly personal and healing for family members to remember and honor loved ones who served America and actually piloted the aircraft preserved and exhibited from WWII and later wars during the 20th Century. The museum also has a Pearl Harbor exhibit, which was especially moving to me because my father served aboard the USS West Virginia (BB48) on December 7, 1941.Steve Sparks
Author
Reconciliation: A Son’s Story Click to order
“First Lieutenant Robert B. See made the squadron’s first “kill” four days after arriving on the island.” click on this website to learn more about the VMF-321…VMFA321 Home… The Distinguished Flying Cross awarded to Robert Byron See… VMF321 WWII first mission history…
FighterPilot Aces… Honoring Captain Robert B. See. 5 victories.
James See with Deanna & Cameryn
“VMF-214’s five-month tour of combat created eight aces, including Pappy Boyington. The Black Sheep accounted for 97 Japanese aircraft downed. VMF-215’s
tour lasted four-and-a-half months, and Bob Hanson and his squadron mates — the squadron’s roster included 10 aces — destroyed 137 enemy aircraft, 106 in the last six weeks.”
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