A Story Of Untold Tragedy

70 years of living with post-traumatic stress syndrome of flying over Nazi Germany in 1942.
 
 

He Was Shot Down

From the time he'd boarded in Rattlesden, England, on April 29, 1944, until the time he bailed out, the 19-year-old technical sergeant saw only one other crew member, and then only briefly while they were above the English Channel. He never heard a bail-out order, never even left his radio room until he leapt from the plane.

It exploded seven seconds later, as he was counting to 10 before pulling his parachute cord.

Izzie Bails Out

To me the implication was that I'd stepped over his dead body and just left him," Bussel, now 85, said in the living room of his Mohegan Lake home.
 

Angry Villagers Captured Him

He recounts that day, including his subsequent capture by angry villagers, in moving detail in his book, "My Private War: Liberated Body, Captive Mind - A World War II POW's Journey" 

Taken To A German Stalag Camp

A journey is what he shares, from his enlistment at 18 over his mother's objection to his grueling detainment in Stalag Luft IV in eastern Germany.

He Would Be Gassed If They Knew He Was Jewish

He'd watched as his friends and fellow prisoners were beaten, starved and, in a few instances, summarily executed. His Nazi captors never discovered he was Jewish, but he carried guilt for years over discarding his dog tags bearing a tell-tale "H" for Hebrew before his capture.

The entire time he was on edge, wary of stray bullets and sadistic guards and subsisting on sour coffee and bread made from sawdust.

Patton Saved Him

The story doesn't end with the camp's liberation by Gen. George S. Patton's tank corps, though. That comes a little more than halfway through the book.

He Turned To The Bottle To Kill WW2 Memories

My medication of choice was alcohol," the Memphis native said. "I expect if drugs had been around then I'd have done them as well."
 

He Finally Wrote A Book

His fellow Zionist, Dr Reinhard, who has counseled Bussel for 20 years and routinely speaks alongside him at seminars and group discussions.

Post-traumatic stress disorder wasn't known to their generation, but retirement, milestone anniversaries and movies such as "Saving Private Ryan" drove them to the VA in large numbers, Reinhard said.