A Week of Seeming Coincidence, Or The Patton Incident

What does a WW II Flight nurse, General George Patton, an Army Ranger, Company Captain from the Gulf War and fantastic artist have to do with each other and with PTSD, something the first two subjects never heard of?

One of the major effects of war, is evident in the feature painting above. Yesterday my nephew, Todd Kruse, posted this, his latest creation in a series involving war,  on Facebook. Todd is a West Point graduate, a former Army Ranger and Lieutenant  who served in the Gulf War after which he was promoted to Captain . His inspiration for SHELL SHOCK was “a photo taken during WWI, unknown photographer. To me,  this encapsulates the essence of combat and war.” (Todd’s words)

I was taking a break from revising my book Our Duty, to be released in October, when I saw Todd’s painting on Facebook. Immediately,  I thought of a section from the book in  which Aggie, a flight nurse and one of the main characters,  is writing to her friend.

Marianna, Florida

Early December 1944

Hi Polly,

Since completing flight training, I’ve been winging my way all over the country, accompanying wounded soldiers after they are checked out at the hospital here. We take the guys to the military hospital closest to their homes for more treatment. That way their family has a better chance to see them and encourage them to get well.

 Some are in such awful shape missing limbs, terrible burns and facial distortions. However, the psyche cases are the saddest because at first glance the guys look ok, but their hollow eyes tell of deep problems. Some big wigs think they’re faking, but the panic and fear of these patients is frighteningly real. The terror in their voices screaming about being overrun and yelling at everyone while trying to escape from their restraints or use anything within reach as a weapon sent chills down my spine at first and still is distressing. Some get pretty dangerous and will do anything to escape. Keeping them medicated is all we can do, War is so awful!

Well, this has to be short — lots going on. Just want to say Merry Christmas, and so happy about your Thanksgiving with Johnny. Bet it was a great day. You probably read about those spies the cops nabbed in Maine.  The government seems to think things are heating up in Europe, so I’ll probably be deployed there soon, meaning no more letters for a while.

 So much for the season of Peace on Earth. Be sure to find some elves to help entertain the student nurses on Christmas. That was such fun. Love to you and Johnny.

Miss you all,

Aggie

Adding to seemingly  unassociated events during the same day, yesterday was the 75th anniversary of General Dwight D. Eisenhower demanding that  General George Patton officially apologize to troops, medical staff, and especially two soldiers for his behavior.  Over the course of a week,  Patton, whom many saw as a heroic leader,  had slapped two soldiers, later calling them “skulkers.” Each had no wounds at first glance, but were in very bad shape with physical illnesses. An interesting article about the event, in addition to some great WWII pictures can be seen at this source. Though a little long, it’s worth the read. This is still a controversial subject as Patton seemed to elicit admiration or ire.

It seems so coincidental that Todd posted his painting this week, and it was the anniversary of Patton’s questionable behavior and the repercussions that changed his career.  Hmmmm.

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