This week on Wellbeing we speak with Carol Schultz, a daughter of a World War Two veteran who had PTSD. Carol’s father, Dutch Schulz (1923-2005) enlisted in the army in 1942 following the Pearl Harbor attacks. Dutch is best remembered as being depicted in the 1962 John Wayne film “The Longest Day”. This movie was made about the 1944 Normandy Invasion that is known as D-Day, a battle in which Dutch fought in as a part of the 82nd Airborne Division. After returning from the war, Dutch took back with him also what would become known as PTSD. Carol was born soon after her father's return and wrote about her experiences as a daughter of a WW2 vet going through PTSD in her book “The Hidden Legacy of World War II: A Daughter's Journey of Discovery”. While writing this book, Carol obtained copies of her father's Veteran Affairs documents. Dutch Schulz had been trying to receive compensation for PTSD symptoms since 1946. Dutch did not receive help or compensation from the VA for his PTSD until over 50 years later in the early 2000s.  

In this episode, Carol shares a bit about her father's WW2 service, the challenges her father went through with his PTSD in a time where PTSD was not recognized, the mental health struggles her father had because of his PTSD, how she was affected by having a father with PTSD, how her family helped her father in a time when PTSD was not understood, and how her father found help with his PTSD towards the end of his life.  

 “My mom did tell me stories about what my dad was like when he came back from the war and how changed he was and the horrible nightmares he would have, so I did have a sense that the war had some impact, but it wasn’t a popular culture, so children of veterans of that war, we felt we were isolated” - Carol Schultz on this episode of Wellbeing 

Tune in next week when we speak with a Vietnam War Veteran about their PTSD journey.

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