Death frees WWII vet after 62 years of mental torment

[devilgrrl]

I had to share this....

Death frees WWII vet after 62 years of mental torment
By Lou Michel
News Staff Reporter

Before Edward F. Kielich marched off to some of the bloodiest fighting in World War II, he was like a father to his little sister, Peggy, reading her comic books and making up voices for the different characters.

He was the father she never knew.

When Kielich returned home from the war, he was silent and continually paced the floors of the family’s South Buffalo home. The young sister wondered: “Where’s my brother?”

He ended up spending 62 years in a Department of Veterans Affairs nursing home, his mind devastated by the horror of a war that psychologically impacted two of his other brothers as well. But Kielich’s family says he is finally free. The 86-year-old Army veteran died Nov. 16 in the Canandaigua facility.

Edward Kielich and his brother Gene had participated in the D-Day invasion of Normandy at Omaha Beach, which became known as “Bloody Omaha” because of the high number of casualties.

A third brother, Henry, flew in more than 60 missions above Poland and Germany, and a fourth brother came within a whisker of serving in World War II, had it not been for their mother’s fierce intervention.

After fighting his way into France, Edward Kielich became an anti-aircraft gunner and continued fighting all the way into Germany. He never suffered a scratch from enemy fire, but the carnage he witnessed devastated his mind.

Except for a few months at home in 1946, he would spend the rest of his life — and it was a long one — in the VA nursing home.

more: http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/504141.html

[Danger Mouse]

1. War is hell,

[Blue Diadem]

2. OMG, that's so very sad.

All those years and it seemed he suffered mostly in silence.

RIP Edward Kielich

[hlthe2b]

3. Wow... so very sad he couldn't have found some peace in life

I sincerely hope he has that now.... RIP, dear man and thank you.

[Lithos]

4. My Father in law fought in WW II as well

Medic, second Wave at Omaha where he won a Silver Star. Then France, then Hurtgen Forest where he suffered a mental breakdown. They patched him up enough for him to have a better life than Mr. Kielich, but even so he was far from a whole person and remained severely impacted by his duty.

God speed Mr. Kielich, I am glad you have finally found peace.

L-

[Historic NY]

5. “He was there when we needed him. .........

“He was there when we needed him. He always sent his money home from the Army,” she said. “That’s why I loved taking care of my brother Edward because he took care of me.”

He was also there when his country needed him. Its the least they could do to repay him, by seeing he is buried with honors. RIP, you earned it.

[Elwood P Dowd]

6. When I was drafted,

one of my good friends was just coming home from his 'Nam tour. He was never the same because of the combat he witnessed. At one point he would do nothing but pace the floor, chain smoke, and drink whatever liquid was in the fridge. One weekend he smoked 2 cartons of cigs and drank 30-40 glasses of Coke, milk, and tea while constantly pacing and talking to himself. I doubt he slept more than a couple of hours each night. I came home from my Army training on leave to attend a family funeral. Couldn't believe it when I saw him broken like that. Since about 1971 he has been in a VA facility.

[Muttocracy]

7. wow. and the part about them quitting high school...

"The youngest of 11 brothers and sisters, Chapin, an Elma resident, said her father, John, a well known South Buffalo barber, had died six weeks after she was born in 1934 and her mother went out to work at a chemical factory.

But that was not enough and in time Ann Kielich was forced to pull her older children out of high school so that they could work and help support the family. "

[Lint Head]

8. It's one thing to witness one act of horror than to live everyday with

hours filled with horror for months at a time. War is barbaric and something conceived during the cave dwelling period of human evolution.
:dem:

[devilgrrl]

9. kick

:kick:

[ben_meyers]

10. My FIL quit school in the 10th grade to "join up"

the army sent him to Europe where he went ashore at Normandy fought through France and into Germany. When he came home he got his GED, went to college and law school on the GI bill, got married and had 5 kids and now lives here in AZ and does nothing but play golf 6 days a week.

[Kingofalldems]

14. Aren't you special

[KitchenWitch]

15. What the hell is your point with this?

[ben_meyers]

17. Figure it out, Witch.

[KitchenWitch]

18. Figure WHAT out?

Most people who come back after seeing actual hardcore combat come back and do not have Happy Joy Bliss lives. Glad your relative did, but he is in the extreme minority.

Meanwhile, we have thousands of our best young men and women over there that will come back and have the same types of mental damage. And our VA is so underfunded that we will do NOTHING for them.

[Hangingon]

16. Few people who actually see combat are ever the same.

The majority come home, adapt and get on with their lives as your father did. Most still feel the horror of war from time to time. I am happy your father did well on his return.

[Wind Dancer]

19. Ouch!

Seems like your post is meant to dismiss the horror experienced by this one man and many others. Don't know if that was your intention but it sure comes across as unsympathetic and cold!

[devilgrrl]

20. Oh yeah? What's your story soldier?

:popcorn:

[ben_meyers]

21. Since the OP seems to be about WW2 and Europe

and I was much to young to have joined the 17 million Americans in the United States Armed Forces at the time, I have no "story", Grrl.

[devilgrrl]

22. So that means you can't pass judgement on GI's that were traumatized by the experience of warfare.

Am I correct?

Fine, your FIL was able to put the experience behind him. Not everyone is your FIL. Get over yourself!

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. RIP Mr. Kielich

[pitohui]

12. good lord what a nasty little story

one of my older relations was also brain injured in ww2 but he was fortunate in that the brain injury made him sort of "slow" but happy, he lost his sharpness and i guess he lost his memory but he was always cheerful and did not need to be put in care (large family to watch out for him)

i guess this goes back to what lincoln or churchill or one of those quotable guys once said -- the secret to a happy life is a bad memory

well, they are both at peace now, my god, 62 years, that is a long time to suffer and to be confined in a nursing home thru no fault of your own

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

13. An alternative view

Often the sting of death is spoken of. In this case, it was the sting of life. That's a long time to wait for liberation. I trust peace arrived with his passing.

[mitchum]

23. This is the kind of thing that makes me hate what life can deal out to my fellow man

may he be at peace

[Swede]

24. My grama said the war took all of my dad's joie de vivre .

The man she described before the war I wouldn't know.