Howard Parad’s (’48) Social Work Stories

By Howard Parad (’48)

Among others, there were two memorable army experiences that prompted me to apply to BUSSW in 1945 or 1946.

While assigned as a corporal , intelligence technician(Technician/5th grade) at a prisoner of war camp (KRIEGS GEFANGERER LAGER, if I remember my then fluency in German), I overheard two prisoners trying to explain to the not fluent in German Anglo officer in charge: “But we are Jews” (Aber wir sind Juden). In vain I tried to explain to the officer that these two unfortunate Dutch Jewish prisoners had been incorrectly swept up by the British when the British army had captured a Nazi labor camp. Encouraged by my wife Libbi e(then a Red Cross social worker) to do the right thing, I emboldened myself to appeal to our Company Chaplain for help in fighting the army bureaucrats. My persistent advocacy/intervention efforts were finally successful.Both prisoners were released to allied forces where they could serve against their Nazi conquerors!

Example two: I was later assigned to the Medical Corps as an untrainedMilitary Psychiatric Social Worker.My job was to do social histories and lead group therapy sessions for soldiers with what we now call PTSd. To this day I recall vividly interviewing an almost mute soldier whose Battle of the Bulge foxhole buddy had died, leaving my client with a a persistent image of a mass of quivering flesh when a German mortar shell had exploded. Having read some social work literature, I realized my client was traumatized; he wondered: Why my buddy and not me?

So when I explained to my client,then relaxed due to medication,that he was suffering from survivor guilt,he was dramatically responsive.  This was a cathartic experience,My client was on the road to recovery! Obviously, the course of therapy would not always be so simple, as I learned. 

About a year or so later, when I enrolled at BUSSW, I majored in psychiatric social work and was launched into what became a rewarding career.

In today’s lingo, example one was a “mezzo intervention” and example two a”micro intervention.”