The Effects of War | The Wordsmith's Page

Used courtesy of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary

The Effects of War

Like all veterans, Jack was affected by what he experienced in World War II. Some veterans are so deeply affected that they struggle for the rest of their lives with the memories of their experiences. Their emotions show, whether they want them to or not. On a few occasions, we were touched – even privileged – to see Jack’s wartime experiences reflected on screen.

In October 1971, Jack appeared on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour in an episode that was filmed in Hawaii. Near the end, a scene took place at Fort DeRussy with recovering servicemen from Tripler Army Hospital (now, Medical Center) in attendance. Glen called Jack on stage to say a few words. Jack became overcome with emotion, and the scene ended abruptly.

Similarly, at yet another public appearance, we could see great emotion not only in Jack’s eyes, but also in the facial expressions of those standing nearby, listening to him.

Photographer Unknown

On Hawaii Five-O, near the end of the episode “When Does a War End?” (Season 10), McGarrett and Danno (James MacArthur) arrested Alicia Wade (Anne Francis) and Willie Barker (David Dukes) for threatening the lives of Japanese-American businessman Yuhio Muromoto (Bennett Ohto) and his daughter, Nancy Muromoto (Donna Benz). Reporter Joe Boyd (Joshua Bryant) arrived and asked McGarrett when wars will end. In the scene, Jack appeared to be feeling strong emotions, which some have reported was not acting.

Perhaps most telling of all is a scene in “The Hostage” (Season 7). A shell-shocked Korean War veteran, Jesse Cooper (Dane Clark), tells McGarrett, a naval officer, that the Navy had it easy in the war, sleeping on sheets and eating hot meals, to which McGarrett replied, “Yeah. Yeah, I agree with you, Jesse. We really had it soft, until the ship went down, and then, you wished you were in a foxhole.” Jack was speaking from personal experience. He knew what it was like to have his ship blown out from under him. That experience cost him his ship, his shipmates, his marriage, and his ability to know his son. The scars remained visible for the rest of his life.

Job well done, Commodore.* By sharing your scars with us – even unwittingly – you showed us what war is really like. It is far more than a tour of a vintage battleship or a Tiger Cruise aboard an aircraft carrier. It is the loss of one’s control over his outcome. It is fear for one’s life. It is suffering with painful injuries. All too often, it is death.

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* Jack was honored by the Coast Guard Auxiliary with the rank of commodore for his work on Hawaii Five-0 to promote the Coast Guard. The rank of commodore is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral - lower half. No longer is it used in the active-duty armed forces; however, the Coast Guard Auxiliary uses it as an honorary rank. Thus, Jack is seen wearing one star on his uniform in the photograph at the top of this page.