FRANK RESSLER'S SONS COMMENT ABOUT PTSD

FRANK RESSLER'S SONS COMMENT ABOUT PTSD

Frank & Bertha RESSLER had 4 sons: Clarence, Andy, Victor, and Charles and all saw battle - I believe in WWII. They all married, had jobs or their own businesses, and seemed to have adjusted to civilian life fine - at least from what I could see. None were drunks, drug addicts, wife or child beaters, etc.  They just seemed to be settled, responsible community members.

Source: personal collection

During my teen years in the 1980's when Vietnam and Vietnam vets were still spoken of as if they were curse words, I was privileged to overhear a few comments by my gr-uncles as they discussed "the war". When there was a break in their conversation, I quietly asked what did they think the cause was for the Vietnam vets coming back and having such adjustment problems back into "real" life? By the looks on their faces, this was something they had discussed among themselves before.  

Uncle Andy was the spokesman for the response, which started as "troop ships" and continued from there when I said I did not understand. Uncle Andy explained what a troop ship was and basically said that they blamed the majority of the "battle fatigue" (now PTSD) issue on the soldiers being flown back from the war and dropped back into civilian life and just told to adjust. They felt that the benefit of troop ships was that the soldiers were with others who had experienced the same or similar things while in the war, and because the trip across the ocean took a week or two, the soldiers were able to cry, weep, scream, be angry, be scared, occasionally have minor fist fights, etc. with others who completely understood.  

They were counseling themselves and able to get much of the emotions out before they were returned to "real" life. Was bringing back soldiers on troop ships a cure all? "Absolutely not" was the response, but they felt it was a big help to both the soldiers and their families when comparing WWII vets to Vietnam vets.

Source: National Archives

Another thing they pointed out was that America as a whole was proud of its' soldiers from WWI and WWII. Vietnam vets are/were looked at by many as being somehow not really soldiers or maybe even as just plain killers. The attitude was different, and they felt that also made it hard for Vietnam vets to adjust back into life.  I wish I could have recorded the entire conversation. I never heard any of the four speak of their time in the military again and they are all dead now, but I am so thankful they took time to answer a curious teenager's questions about something that I really had no understanding of.

This conversation changed my view entirely about being patriotic to America and viewing all veterans as people and thanking them for their service to our country every chance I can.  This is also why I refuse to watch NFL or knowingly buy products from their sponsors - those spoiled bratty NFL players would not have the right to be disrespectful to our country and our veterans if those same veterans had not fought so the NFL players could have the right to kneel during America's national anthem. 

Yes, it is a quiet protest, but they need to be thankful and respectful for those who shed their blood or gave their lives so that they can act like spoiled 3-year-olds fighting over toys in a toy box. Personally, it is my right to state that if the NFL players cannot be respectful to this country and our veterans, then I think they should be fired.  Believe me, they are lucky to be in America because no other country would tolerate their crap.

It cannot be stated enough: Thank the veterans you know for the rights you have and for their sacrifices to maintain your rights.

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