Jason Lambright has a great piece over on his Patreon that he’s made free. It’s a chapter and character analysis from his latest book, but worth reading on its own because of the way he discusses trauma and what separates soldiers from the rest of us.
It wasn't until the 1980s that the US Department of Veteran's Affairs recognized Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a legit disability.
From family history and direct observation of WW2 guys I knew, that generation came home and had whiskey bottles pressed into their hands. Many drowned in tub fulls of liquor and died young, leaving deep familial scars.
This was a gross disservice to those who had "borne the battle," to paraphrase the VA's motto and Abraham Lincoln's words.
There is the amazing 1946 documentary of WW2 soldiers being treated for PTSD. It was made by Major John Huston for the army. John Huston is the famed Hollywood film director. He had already made The Maltese Falcon.
The film, known to the U.S. Army as PMF 5019, is more widely known as “Let There Be Light”. The film was banned by the army as not being great for recruitment. It was not released until the 1980s. It was not staged, but intimately records real soldiers in one on one sessions with their army therapists, getting treatment etc. All in high level Hollywood standard film quality, editing etc.
It starts off with “About 20% of all battle casualties in the American Army during World War Ii were of a neuropsychiatric nature”.
It goes for a little under an hour and it is on youtube.
There is the amazing 1946 documentary of WW2 soldiers being treated for PTSD. It was made by Major John Huston for the army. John Huston is the famed Hollywood film director. He had already made The Maltese Falcon.
The film, known to the U.S. Army as PMF 5019, is more widely known as “Let There Be Light”. The film was banned by the army as not being great for recruitment. It was not released until the 1980s. It was not staged, but intimately records real soldiers in one on one sessions with their army therapists, getting treatment etc. All in high level Hollywood standard film quality, editing etc.
It starts off with “About 20% of all battle casualties in the American Army during World War Ii were of a neuropsychiatric nature”.
It goes for a little under an hour and it is on youtube.
https://youtu.be/KKSAGjceSKs