WWII Combat Veterans lived most of their lives without treatment for PTSD, which affected the families who served.

by Steve Sparks on Friday, October 7, 2011 at 7:44am

My father, Vernon H. Sparks (1918-1998) BMC Retired US Navy survived Pearl Harbor on board the USS West Virginia on December 7, 1941 and later served aboard the USS Bellegrove in the Asiatic Pacific Theater. Dad’s medical records show 66 months of continuous combat duty starting prior to WWII in China through the summer of 1945. He came home a different person. He was admitted almost immediately to a treatment center near Oakland, Ca for almost two months, then sent on his way without further treatment. Dad’s only medication was alcohol until his later years when medications and treatment became more available. In the meantime, our entire family became exposed and lived with the baggage of intergenerational PTSD. This is a terrible and tragic legacy of war that must be addressed. No one should be in denial or fear treatment because of the mental health sigma. My book, Reconciliation: A Son’s Story, will be published in November, which is a testimonial and case study of the pain caused to families living with PTSD. See my blog www.livingwithptsd-sparkles.blogspot.com.
If there is anything, yes anything I can do to help with the awareness campaign on behalf of my family and countless others, I stand ready to go anywhere, anytime to help carry the message and represent this cause. We have to work harder to help combat veterans as well as their families who serve too.
Steve Sparks
Depoe Bay, Oregon