Missing The Boat: War Stories of Thomas Alan Dirkin

43 The Bus Ride Not long after returning home from war, my father was getting on a bus. He and another passenger got into an argument over a seat. Irritation led to anger. He dealt with the situation with the mindset of a prisoner stealing his food. In a second, the other passenger was on the floor. My father’s action was unbecoming in civilized society. In telling this story, my dad was clearly a little embarrassed. A few months after making second-by-second decisions in combat you are supposed to fully reign in your heavily practiced ability to go from zero-100 mph as the situation dictated. In fact, in war, you were rewarded for that skill and mindset. Now on a bus in Manchester, you are looked at as unstable, or accused of grievous bodily harm, and potentially locked up. These are familiar veteran’s problems that require empathy by society, and systematic help in deprogramming by the veterans. The British government had discussed the need for structured assimilation of POWs back into society. Appropriate behavioral counseling was in its embryonic stages of development. Help offered was minimal.