Jack and Mae were to be married but ten days before the wedding he joined the army . His country was at war and all young men where called to enlist .
Off he went to serve and fight instead of love and settle down . It just didn’t seem right but he left his young sweetheart for the war .
It seemed like a brief moment that took him from the silence of a rural lifestyle to the raging battlefield . The fighting was fierce and unrelenting .
Day by day Jack and his mates marched and eventually dug in .
The tragedy of war shook Jack and often he saw things he wanted to forget .
Jack stopped a bullet one day as he provided cover fire on the ground for an advance . He lay there unable to walk . When one of his mates saw him bleeding and in pain he rushed to get him out of there .
Ken lifted like Jack like a haversack from the battleground and carried him through the fire fight to a tent that was as close to a hospital as there was . Some treatment was provided as bombs and bullets hailed down .
After the operation Jack was sent back home to recover .
Unable to remove a bullet from inside him they left it there as a souvenir of the war and Jack’s time in the war had come to an end .
He was sent home with an injury but still alive to his family and his sweetheart Mae .
The war soon came to an end and Jack was relieved for all his mates who were still over there .
Jack and Mae were married in a church in the country and lived in a little hut for a while until the Government introduced a package for all ex-servicemen .
Small parcels of land with a home where given as a kind of reward for soldiers who had returned . Their war effort were not in vain and they had a choice of cattle or horses for their property .
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Jack found it hard to adjust back into life after the war . He asked his wife to be patient with him . At first he received some help from a few mates who were also having problems adjusting .
Jack and his mates met once a week and had a few drinks .
What they couldn’t face they cut with alcohol .
Without warning , his mates took their own lives and suddenly Jack was thrown into a battlefield of the mind . He was devastated but his loving wife brought him the news that she was expecting their first child . That seemed to help Jack and when his severance pay came through he planned to begin a vegetable garden on the little farm . He worked hard every day and spent his anger on the land toiling away in the soil .
Each month his produce was brought from the farm to the markets .
Corn and carrots , cabbage and beetroot .
Even though things seemed to be going along reasonably well Jack disguised his inner war very well . He couldn’t forget the past and still tried to cut it with alcohol .
News of another child on the way brought some happiness but that was short lived as the great depression arrived and a drought followed .
The farm soon was dry and dusty with no crop in the ground .
In despair Jack and Mae took their two young children and left the land for
the city in the hope of finding work .
Jack and his wife had noticed a big difference in the city .
People and attitude were different and that was a challenge but one they could adapt to . Jack found a job although the work didn’t suit him he was glad of a job as many had nothing .
Each day Jack was never able to talk about his work and just sat quietly in the corner . Memories still haunted him and he was troubled with regular flashbacks of the awful events that he had experienced during the war .
The children were growing up fast and were now at school .
Some nights Jack awoke in fear with the sounds of bombs exploding in his ear . As his wife slept Jack crept out of bed chained by the shackles of a nightmare that haunted him night and day .
Bathed in sweat he let the moment pass like a miniature death before returning to bed where he could not move an inch in a relaxed state .
He always drifted off to sleep chained to the fear that he knew so well .
By the time the kids were in high school they noticed the photographs of their Dad in army uniform . They found an old suitcase with sketches of the war Jack had done .
Their were no details of where and when and the children who were now young adults were intrigued .
Each time they asked questions about the their was a silence .
No information was given about the men in the phoyos of the sketches of places and what it was all about .
Jack most times would just walk away and eventually the children stopped asking questions about the war .
The truth of it was Jack was still in the trenches and fighting the battle .
Somehow he wanted to protect his kids from that experience .
By keeping quiet he thought that might help .
At times they didn’t know why their Dad got angry and smashed things around the house . Mae made excuses for Jack and yet couldn’t understand herself what he was going through . She tried to get him help but he always said he was ok .
It came to a head one day when he hit her in fit of rage . Mae was taken to the hospital . Suspicions arose as Mae ,black eyed and bruised , wept in the ambulance . The doctor in emergency spoke to her and asked some questions about what was going on .
The sad thing was that Mae had become the victim of a victim and that is the worst kind of victim there is and she still made excuses for Jack .
As time went on there were more and more angry outbursts and visits to the doctor and hospital .
Eventually Mae did explain was happening at home . At first the police made a visit . This was followed up by local church groups and then the doctor made a home visit and spoke in private to Jack .
After a brief consultation Jack agreed to take some medication .
The doctor gave Jack list of phone numbers and people to contact at any time should her need to speak to anybody .
For a while the medication seemed to help and apart from being drowsy Jack was more able to cope with things .
When the medication ran out Jack didn’t bother to renew the prescription and things soon returned to the way they were .
Still unable to talk about his experience in the war Jack cut it with more alcohol .
He tried to shut the world out which he did as his wife and kids left him .
They could take no more and Jack soon became a recluse .
His marriage was finished .
It was too late , his kids and wife had enough of becoming targets for Jacks abuse and anger .Confused and afraid Jack began to question his own existence .
He stood in front of the mirror and spat back the the face life had given him .
Everything he had was gone .
That evening Jack stood on a chair under a tree with a rope suspended from its main branch . He kicked the chair from underneath his feet but after three broken limbs and three failed attempts to end his life , Jack had decided maybe he had been given a second chance .
He had always been a battler but with each personal victory there often came a cost .
The biggest price he had ever paid was losing his wife and kids to a war he couldn’t win . Jack was went in survival mode and dug in deep .
He knew he had to make a stand .
His thoughts now focused on his children and he wanted to see them and what would become of them . He realised how much his wife had goner through and slowly but surely Jack started to get his life together again .
He visited the doctor and went back on medication . The doctor gave him some other ideas and contacts .
With each step to recovery Jack grew stronger and faced his fears alone .
He started some cognitive therapy and joined a war veterans group .
With the ability now to listen to others who went through the same experiences as him Jack realised he was not alone .
A year passed and Jack was feeling more human , more in control and at ease with his life .
He never tried top contact his wife or children during this time which was difficult for him .
At Christmas Jack received a card from his kids and one from his wife .
A return address was given and Jack decided he would show up at the door .
Not knowing if his wife and kids would give him another chance it was the best chance he had .
With a head filled with new years resolutions and his arm full of presents he knocked on the door .
“Happy Christmas. “
He said .
Mae stood there and looked at him for a few moments .
There was a silence that cut him in two .
“Are you well Jack ?”
She asked .
“I’m all right .“
“The doctor called me a few weeks ago . He was telling me about how well you are .“
“Oh I’m a lot better . How are you ?”
“I’m doing ok . There’s talk of a wedding . You better come in .“
