When Johnny/Joanie Comes Marching Home: Reuniting Military Families Following Deployment [With DVD]

This book was written by a retired Navy Chaplain, an Episcopal Priest, himself a Viet Nam War veteran AND a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. It consists of five chapters, the most significant of which are Chapter Two The Combat Experience and Coming Home and Chapter Five The Reunion. There are also two valuable appendices on how to organize pre-reunion seminars, Section A Seminar for Returning Groups and Seminar B Seminar for Spouses. In Chapter Two, under Surviving Combat, the author very significantly points out "To survive under fire, one must act instinctively to every threat and every perception of intrusion....There is no time to think about anything else, nor can one surrender to one's feelings--no matter how powerful they are. Combat requires emotions to be buried--perhaps for revival at another time, perhaps not. This conditions the combatant, over time. to repress feelings....Bad memories can thereby be blocked, at first voluntarily, but this can develop...into an involuntary practice of hiding them in the unconscious. From that vantage, they can intrude at unexpected times when either sleeping or awake. The inability to come to terms with feelings can serve not only to block bad memories, but also to isolate the former combatant from those around him or her." The author then most importantly points out "The ability to know one's emotions at the instant that an event or encounter is happening is a gift, the restoration of which may require the time and talents of a professional psychotherapist when the returnee is in a point to seek assistance." He adds that "The nation has belatedly learned much from the Viet Nam War and its veterans. Many changes are evident in troop handling in current conflicts in Southwest Asia, and in expressions of support from the American citizenry...Veterans of previous conflicts are now vicariously receiving the benefits of renewed patriotism." The author states in the final section of this chapter (Homecoming Adjustments) that "feeling crazy may be a healthy adjustment to the surrounding reality. But when one has returned to the safety of one's homeland and family, the compassion and understanding of others is the ... absolution that heals and helps one leave the war behind..." In Chapter Five The Reunion the author discusses further reentry issues and mental health issues. He even includes a special section on When She is a Returning Soldier. I think this is a most important book even though the author's experiences had more to do with working with veterans of the Viet Nam War as opposed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lessons learned from working with veterans of previous wars can, however, be effectively applied to working with veterans of ALL wars. As unpopular wars go, the treatment of our current returning war veterans has come a long way since the Viet Nam era. I am happy to see that in many cases our Viet Nam War veterans are starting to get the long overdue recognition they have

I am a medically retired deputy sheriff, diagnosed with PTSD. I found various passages in the book especially helpful to me. After speaking with experts in the Post Traumatic Stress field over the past few years, I still found new and helpful information in the book. The book not only made things clear, but gave me a great sense of peace and hope. Kudos to Dr. Westling for being there for the Troops and their families in our country's hour of need! Deputy Neil Shaw (Retired)

This book and the proven program it contains offer both professional guidance and personal experience to military personnel and their families who carry the burdens of deployments in the service of our nation. This book has two audiences: military families, and both civilian and military mental healt professionals and pastors. It provides guidance for those who experience duty-related separations, and information essential to understand and to anticipate potential pitfalls of the reunion process. Not all deployments involve direct armed conflict. There is a special chapter about what combat does to the soldier, to the waiting familly, to the nation under whose mandate the soldier is sent, and how it affects the family upon return and reunion. The book deals with the family upon return and reunion. The book also addresses women who now serve in combat and on ships-of-the-line who return to their waiting families. Rather than providing material which may not be new to professional family therapists, it demonstrates how this material has ben effectively presented in the past so as to provide positive means of coping. The DVD attached to the back cover provides two films that, over a six year period, were shown to returning personnel and spouses which deal with child care and communications. The author has been a clergyman for 52 years as well as a Navy Chaplain for 26. He is a disabled combat veteran, was licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in 1975, and has a doctorate in that field. As a professional Social Worker, and a combat veteran, I strongly recommend this book. Michael Wiley, MSW Senior Chief Petty Officer, U.S. Navy (Retired)