Legacy of healing PTSD from my Dad

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
April 22, 2021

When I think about my Dad, I often wonder how he'd feel if he knew what he started back in 1982. All these later, the number of lives changed because he served in Korea and he never knew about them. I am a living legacy to him and his life.

About a week ago, I received a strange message on Facebook from a man claiming to have pictures of my Dad in Korea. He wrote things that had to be true, so I called him. His Dad served with mine. The twist to the story is that his Dad probably never knew he had a son born in Korea. Yesterday he sent me pictures I had never seen before and I thought about my Dad a lot more than usual.

My Mom and oldest brother went to stay with him when he was in Japan.

We were a normal family. Both of my brothers were born on Army bases. He was a Staff Sergeant. He left the Army before I was born but I was a typical Army brat. I also grew up with uncles who served in WWII. That was all normal to me. I didn't discover it was not usual to have a family full of veterans, or that having living room furniture from Japan was odd, until I was older.

When I met my current husband, I was already divorced and only 23. The night he met my husband, he said, "He seems like a really nice guy but he's got shell shock." My husband is a Vietnam veteran. I had no idea what he was talking about and when I asked him to explain it, he told me to go to the library because war changes people.

I spent all my free time at the library with clinical books and a dictionary, learning as much as I could. The more I learned, the more I fell in love. Not just with the man I would end up marrying, but loved my Dad more and all veterans. Now they call it PTSD.

My Dad started what turned out to be my life's work. Thousands of articles, books, videos, several websites and more, all started because of my Dad's life in the Army. Over the years, I've had many messages thanking me for what I do and to pass appreciation on to my husband for his service. I just wanted you to know, that had it not been for my Dad, I don't think any of this would have started.

This is why today the featured video is, Dan Fogelberg, The Leader Of The Band.

If you've sent me emails thanking me for what I do, and thanking my husband for his service, I wanted you to know that none of this would have happened if my Dad didn't understand what he saw in my husband. It is a good reminder that we never know how much we do change the world when we are willing to do what we can, when we can, when we are willing to try.

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Sailors from U.S.S. Ingersoll meets family they saved...30 years ago

Navy heroes reunited with family they rescued at sea 37 years ago

K5 NBC News
Author: Jake Whittenberg
November 12, 2018

A Kent family spent a decade looking for the sailors that rescued them at sea more than 30 years ago. They were surprised to find their heroes living in the same state.

It's not every day you get to say thank you to someone for saving your life. But at a small Vietnamese restaurant in Vancouver, Washington, the day has finally come.

Anne and Elaine Huynh, along with their parents Kay and Hoa, spent the past decade searching for any of the Navy sailors that helped rescue them in the South China Sea decades ago.

"America is our heaven on earth. It's as close as it gets," said Anne. "They gave us a chance to live heaven on earth and we just want to tell them that."

On October 11, 1981, Dale Joliffe, freshly enlisted in the Navy, was the lone lookout about the U.S.S. Ingersoll. Just before dawn, Joliffe remembers seeing something off in the distance.

It was the Huynh family, along with 40 others, packed into a small boat adrift at sea. The group was fleeing the communist government of Vietnam years after the fall of Saigon. Rations on board the ship were running low.

"My father said, 'By the grace of God, we're going to do this. If we live we live, if we perish we perish together,'" said Anne. "There were so many ships that actually passed us. Six to be exact." Then, when it appeared all hope was lost, the U.S.S. Ingersoll came near.
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Navy Veteran's Mom Denied VISA, Missed His Funeral

Navy veteran’s mother denied visa to attend his funeral

WREG 3 News

Luke Jones

January 9, 2018

"He's already done for this country, but what has this country done for him? What did this country do for him?" Truong asked.

BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. — He proudly served his country, but when it came time to bury him, a Navy veteran's father said the government wouldn't grant his son's mother a visa to attend his funeral.

Ngoc Truong, a four-year Navy veteran, died of leukemia Dec. 17 at the age of 22.

Truong's father, who owns a jewelry store in Blytheville, said Truong's Vietnam-born mother applied for a visa twice but was denied both times.

She ended up missing the funeral.

"That's what made me fuming mad. Fuming. Why?" Truong said.

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