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"Reactions
of Children with Fathers and Brothers in the Armed Forces,"
Two
weeks after the enlistment of his 18 year old brother, [an]
11 year old boy, the third of seven children in the family,
suddenly carried our his decision to transfer from parochial
to public school. He attended the latter only two days before
he began to cry whenever his mother tried to force him to go
to school and defiantly stated that nobody could make him go.
He also threatened to run away, jump out of the window or kill
himself. He had always been extremely fond of his enlisted brother
whom the mother considered had taken the place of a good father
to him, as the rather elderly father was always too tired or
cross to be bothered to play with the children. The brother
had spent a great deal of time with the boy and took much interest
in his daily life .... During treatment when the psychiatrist
first mentioned the brother's name, "the boy sat with tears
streaming down his face, utterly lost in his misery. He gave
the impression of being in a depressed state, was unable to
answer questions or say anything, and kept on weeping for several
minutes. When he finally dried his tears, he said simply that
his brother had gone into the army. When the psychiatrist commented
that he liked his brother very much, the boy began to cry again."
George
E. Gardner and Harvey Spencer, January 1944, "Reactions
of Children with Fathers and Brothers in the Armed Forces,"
pp. 37 38.
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