Have you ever wondered what happens when a veteran returns after being away for long periods of time, say for a period of two or three years. Some had left a wife and children to go off to war.

I'll try to explain what happened to me when I returned after two years in North Africa and Europe.

You, no doubt, have heard of Sibling Rivalry which happens just about every time a new child joins another child in the family. The common assumption is that jealousy is the cause of sibling rivalry, and it may be, but there may be frustration because the new person is in the path of the other person. This is what happened to me and hundreds or maybe thousands of other veterans when they arrived home after the war. My son, Bruce, was 2 years old and I had never seen him and of course he did not know me. He had been living with his mother and her parents and they were his family. Also after 278 days of combat I wasn't the same person that had left 2 years before. It was very difficult for my son and me to bond, it took about four to five years before we really got to know each other. I was a problem to my wife too.

I can understand why some of the veterans turned to drugs, alcohol, and lived in the streets after they returned. It's very difficult to accept some of the things that go on.

I told my wife a number of times that if I would have been her I'd have left a number of times. But she didn't and I thank God every day that she didn't give up. Most of the fellows who were involved in actual combat don't talk about it when they come home. It took me about 40 to 50 years to really talk about some of things that I was involved with during my 278 days of actual combat. Most of them tell their wife and kids that they were at the front during a certain battle, and that's about it.

They don't say much about the war for many, many years. It takes some 40 or 50 years before they can talk about it. But it's eating at them all the time. They sit around alone Crying, muttering to themselves and if anyone asks them what's wrong the usual answer is, "You don't understand, you can't"

They are looking back at the war, something you can't forget, it's terrible. All that these combat veterans want is for God to forgive them.

They are asked what they did that was so terrible, but it is so very hard to talk about--They have killed a lot of people.

I'm inserting an article that was printed in the Stars And Stripes. During these 43 days on the line was when I was there for 28 days before I got hit and went to the hospital. This was the place and time I received my Purple Heart.