The Greatest Generation Comes Home: The Veteran in American Society

Chapter 2 Healing the Wounds

CHAPTER฀2฀ Healing฀the฀Wounds Shock฀is฀what฀they฀felt฀first.฀Disbelief฀that฀it฀could฀happen.฀Sometimes ฀the฀wound฀felt฀like฀nothing฀at฀all,฀a฀tug฀on฀the฀uniform฀as฀ fighting฀raged฀around฀them,฀a฀minor฀item฀in฀a฀maelstrom.฀Sometimes฀ it฀came฀all฀at฀once,฀after฀the฀explosion฀and฀concussion,฀in฀a฀cloudburst฀ of฀steel฀fragments.฀Either฀way,฀the฀body฀failed฀as฀shock฀set฀in฀and฀the฀ central฀nervous฀system฀collapsed.฀The฀GI฀lost฀control฀of฀himself฀at฀ that฀moment.฀His฀future฀passed฀to฀others’฀hands:฀his฀own฀buddies,฀ who฀would฀carry฀him฀to฀safety,฀and฀the฀medic฀who฀might฀eventually฀ appear฀to฀treat฀him.฀What฀he฀could฀do฀was฀observe฀and฀remember:฀ the฀copper฀scent฀of฀his฀own฀blood,฀the฀acrid฀odor฀of฀sulfa฀powder,฀his฀ own฀feces. ฀ In฀time,฀once฀the฀panic฀subsided,฀realization฀dawned฀as฀to฀the฀extent฀ of฀the฀wounds.฀For฀the฀first฀time฀in฀many฀a฀young฀life,฀a฀hard฀boundary ฀appeared,฀the฀product฀of฀ruptured฀blood฀vessels,฀fractures฀that฀ never฀quite฀healed,฀or฀the฀loss฀of฀an฀ability฀so฀long฀taken฀for฀granted.฀ Time฀became฀a฀precious฀commodity.฀Patience฀became฀a฀virtue฀at฀a฀ time฀of฀life฀when฀few฀young฀men฀practiced฀it.฀Recovery฀was฀possible.฀ But฀before฀life฀could฀begin฀again,฀a฀time฀of฀healing฀was฀necessary. ฀ World฀War฀II฀produced฀the฀largest฀number฀of฀American฀wounded฀ casualties฀of฀any฀conflict฀in฀U.S.฀history.฀For฀Americans,฀the฀Second฀ World฀War฀narrowly฀followed฀only฀the฀Civil฀War฀in฀terms฀of฀its฀total฀ cost.฀In฀approximately฀four฀years฀of฀fighting,฀291,557฀Americans฀died฀ in฀combat,฀and฀113,842฀perished฀from฀wounds,฀disease,฀and฀accidents.฀ A฀total฀of฀671,846฀Americans฀were฀wounded฀during฀the฀war.1 ฀ Advances฀in฀conventional฀military฀technology฀produced฀these฀casualties ฀in฀unprecedented฀numbers.฀Modern฀science฀had,฀for฀example,฀ significantly฀improved฀the฀yield,฀range,฀and฀accuracy฀of฀existing฀weapons .฀The฀centuries-old฀art฀of฀artillery฀benefited฀from฀refinements฀in฀ the฀types฀of฀alloys฀used฀for฀gun฀barrels,฀the฀growing฀catalog฀of฀shells฀ fired,฀and฀the฀use฀of฀radio฀communication฀to฀coordinate฀bombardments ฀over฀vast฀areas.฀Old฀tools฀like฀these฀were฀joined฀by฀ever-improv- Healing฀the฀Wounds฀ ฀ 39 ing฀generations฀of฀deadly฀military฀devices,฀from฀antipersonnel฀mines฀ to฀strategic฀bombers.฀Combined,฀they฀made฀combat฀in฀the฀Second฀ World฀War฀the฀most฀lethal฀in฀recorded฀history. ฀ The฀closing฀months฀of฀the฀war฀riveted฀public฀attention฀on฀the฀issue ฀of฀casualties.฀While฀the฀war฀wound฀down฀in฀Western฀Europe,฀the฀ battles฀for฀Iwo฀Jima฀and฀Okinawa฀raged฀on฀land฀and฀sea.฀After฀only฀ two฀days฀of฀fighting฀for฀Iwo฀Jima,฀3,650฀Marines฀were฀dead,฀more฀ than฀the฀total฀casualties฀of฀Tarawa,฀and฀nearly฀as฀many฀as฀all฀of฀the฀ marine฀casualties฀after฀five฀months฀of฀fighting฀on฀Guadalcanal.2 ฀One฀ military฀history฀describes฀the฀carnage฀during฀the฀three-month฀battle฀ for฀Okinawa฀as฀the฀“Asian฀Götterdämmerung.”฀Under฀the฀punishing฀ attacks฀of฀Japanese฀kamikazes,฀the฀U.S.฀5th฀Fleet฀suffered฀10,000฀killed,฀ wounded,฀and฀missing.฀During฀the฀ground฀campaign,฀the฀U.S.฀10th฀ Army฀endured฀an฀additional฀40,000฀casualties.3 ฀ More฀bloodshed฀appeared฀likely฀in฀the฀future.฀As฀the฀summer฀of฀ 1945฀drew฀to฀a฀close,฀American฀planners฀began฀final฀preparations฀for฀ the฀invasion฀of฀the฀Japanese฀home฀islands.฀Although฀hotly฀debated฀ within฀the฀confines฀of฀the฀Pentagon,฀casualty฀estimates฀for฀this฀final฀ stage฀of฀the฀war฀ran฀as฀high฀as฀500,000.4 ฀ Paradoxically,฀unlike฀in฀previous฀conflicts,฀more฀Americans฀also฀ survived฀their฀wounds฀during฀World฀War฀II.฀The฀use฀of฀blood฀plasma฀ close฀to฀the฀front฀line฀and฀the฀availability฀of฀rapid฀evacuation฀by฀ ground฀and฀air฀transportation฀dramatically฀improved฀the฀survival฀ rates฀of฀the฀wounded.฀Breakthroughs฀in฀modern฀medicine,฀such฀as฀ the฀availability฀of฀sulfa฀drugs฀and฀penicillin,฀saved฀many฀paralyzed฀ soldiers฀from฀infections฀of฀the฀bladder฀and฀kidneys฀that฀would฀have฀ killed฀them฀in฀the฀First฀World฀War.5 ฀Improved฀surgical฀techniques฀ allowed฀soldiers฀with฀traumatic฀amputations฀to฀survive฀at฀a฀higher฀ rate.6 ฀Contemporary฀treatments฀for฀fractures฀reduced฀the฀incidence฀ of฀permanent฀disability฀from฀46฀percent฀during฀World฀War฀I฀to฀10฀ percent฀by฀1945.7 ฀ The฀same฀trends฀were฀also฀apparent฀with฀respect฀to฀the฀mental฀ injuries฀of฀combatants฀during฀the฀Second฀World฀War.฀“For฀the฀duration ”฀was฀the฀most฀common฀yardstick฀used฀to฀describe฀the฀term฀of฀ service฀in฀the฀war.฀In฀comparison฀to฀combat฀in฀the฀First฀World฀War฀ and฀the฀Spanish-American฀War,฀World฀War฀II฀saw฀sustained฀fighting฀for฀ longer฀periods...