BREAKING A CODE OF SILENCE
B Y M A R G A R E T J O Y W E AV E R
T
he unnoticed and unsung heroes of our time are spouses of war veterans. Although all family members can struggle to engage with and effectively support their returning soldier, the relationship between spouse
and veteran is profound. The contrasting needs and capacities to uphold
this intimate relationship are coupled with a spouse’s empathy for his
or her partner’s wounds of war. Too often, spouses can become depleted
about the silent, shared journey of my
husband’s PTSD as a Vietnam veteran.
For me, he is a most courageous, magnanimous man with dark corners in
his heart and simmering wounds that
mostly only a spouse would experi-
and lack the empathetic support that they themselves are trying to provide.
As a wife of a veteran for