STRESS AND COPING WITH TRAUMA OF WAR IN THE PERSIAN GULF

File: 110596_sep96_decls2_0022.txt
Page: 0022
Total Pages: 48

Subject: STRESS AND COPING WITH TRAUMA OF WAR IN THE PERSIAN GULF        

Unit: VAR. BUMED  

Parent Organization: BUMED       

Box ID: BX303818

Folder Title: USNS COMFORT TAH 20 MEDICAL ARTICLES 1991 1992                                                  

Document Number:          4

Folder SEQ  #:         13











                  A single telephone was available on the ship. The

             telephone cost $13.00 per minute and was often used,

             unfortunately, by junior enlisted personnel to attempt a

             reconciliation with a spouse or significant other.

             Inevitably, these calls resulted in frustration and enormous

             phone bills. Others received news of births, deaths, and

             illnesses. The telephone, located in the radio room,

             offered little privacy, and intimacies were often shared.

             The lack of privacy and limited support from the outside

             world resulted in closeness among crew members.

                  Shortly after the ships departure from Norfolk, VA,

             five crew members began meeting each morning on the deck at

             0530 to do calisthenics. Later, the small group began to

             meet at lunchtime. The group eventually grew to 50

             individuals who devoted their lunch hour to strenuous

             activity. Officers and enlisted, males and females met and

             sweated together. People took pride in the control they

             exerted over their waistlines, their weight, and their

             vitality. Jazzercise, aerobics, and on deck basketball also

             flourished. These organized activities fostered social

             support, decreased feelings of helplessness, improved self-

             esteem, and sublimated other desires.

                  Several physicians were addicted to their daily

             exercise. They found it extremely difficult to stop working

             out when injured. They would complain of rising tension,




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Document 48 f:/Week-39/BX303818/USNS COMFORT TAH 20 MEDICAL ARTICLES 1991 1992/stress and coping with trauma of war in the pers:1104960910243
Control Fields 17
File Room = sep96_declassified
File Cabinet = Week-39
Box ID = BX303818
Unit = VAR. BUMED
Parent Organization = BUMED
Folder Title = USNS COMFORT TAH 20 MEDICAL ARTICLES 1991 1992
Folder Seq # = 13
Subject = STRESS AND COPING WITH TRAUMA OF WAR IN THE PERS
Document Seq # = 4
Document Date =
Scan Date =
Queued for Declassification = 01-JAN-1980
Short Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Long Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Permanent Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Non-Health Related Document = 01-JAN-1980
Declassified = 04-NOV-1996