REMARKS
Council Member Holden's personal experience with his father's PTSD
0:03:48
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153 sec
Council Member Holden shares his personal experience growing up with a father who suffered from undiagnosed PTSD after serving in World War II.
- Holden's father served in the Philippines during WWII and witnessed many soldiers die in his arms
- The family struggled with the father's inability to hold a job, alcoholism, and erratic behavior
- Holden and his siblings found ways to cope, including leaving home early to escape the difficult environment
Robert F. Holden
0:03:48
And I'll speak to my personal experiences.
0:03:52
My father came back and I said I told this story many times, but each time it it does bring back, you know, very, very hard memory of my dad coming back from World War 2 and obviously He's, you know, he fought in the the Philippines, very tough campaign.
0:04:16
He was in the medical unit, and I only learned he never spoke about his war record.
0:04:23
And I learned this from my uncle who served with him.
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That's how the my father and mother met through my uncle and my my uncle served in the Philippines, and they were in the like I said, they were in the medical unit.
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And my uncle told me later after my father passed, how many people, how many soldiers died in my father's arms.
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My father, he told me, was the greatest person he met.
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But he said, you never met your real father because he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder.
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Undiagnosed.
0:04:56
But And the reason why we're we're doing this hearing is I did just bring this up to the committee council, and I said, you have to see the 60 minutes piece because it really resonated with me.
0:05:07
It was like I was looking at myself as the only the only I had 3 other siblings who were all affected by my dad's post traumatic stress disorder.
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My father never received the help from the VA.
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We it was a daily roller coaster living at home.
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In fact, My older brother left home in high school.
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He he attended high school in Buffalo to get out of the house.
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My sister got married at 20 to get out of the house.
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My brother my younger brother was never home.
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He stayed out on the streets as late as he could.
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I was I had to help my mom because my mom had to do everything in the in the household.
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My father couldn't hold the job.
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We often didn't have any money.
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We Because of my father, he was obviously, he was he suffered from alcoholism.
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This is all tough to talk about, but because it brings back such terrible memories.
0:06:15
And the fact that I got married at 21 to get out of the house too, we can look back.
0:06:21
We can look back, but it it if post traumatic stress disorder does affect family members.
