Telling the Whole Story

Those of you who have followed the whole series here of World War II letters home from my father-in-law to his folks in Chicago may remember that the family always felt that the war substantially changed Frank Stevens. He came home different.

The term “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” had not yet come into use in medical circles. Regardless of what it may then have been called—or not called at all—my father-in-law most definitely suffered the impact of what he experienced in some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific arena.

The man was, evidently, not alone—and most certainly among the more fortunate. Though his life unfolded so differently than would have been expected—at least for those knowing him before those war experiences—a great number of others returned home in far graver condition, emotionally.

A press release passed along to her readers on DearMYRTLE’s blog earlier this weekend arrested my attention for that very reason: this Memorial Day, I’ve been thinking of how completely this war experience had turned around a life, and all the repercussions that change incurred.

The press release, from the National Archives and Records Administration, announces the re-release of Let There Be Light, the controversial World War II documentary about the rehabilitation of psychologically scarred combat veterans. Developed under the creative hand of Academy Award-winning director, John Huston, the film originally was commissioned to help Americans understand the challenges faced by returning veterans and to demonstrate that the psychological wounds of war are very real, but could heal through therapy.

To tell the story, Huston used then-unprecedented techniques and approaches, obtaining for the film a legacy within documentary film history, but the film itself was pulled by the War Department just before its premiere. Its message remained untold until public pressure secured its official release by the Secretary of the Army decades later, in 1980.

In its currently-restored condition, Let There Be Light is now available for free streaming and downloading at the National Film Preservation Foundation’s website through August.

While film enthusiasts and war historians may have their own reasons for regaling the release of this restored documentary, there are some—like those in my family—who may be interested in the story this film presents for just one reason: we know someone who, after that devastating conflict and without any officially-sanctioned explanation, came back home different.