Let There Be Light
Channel: PublicResourceOrg
Date: 31/12/2010

Let There Be Light - National Archives and Records Administration 1946 - ARC Identifier 35924 / Local Identifier 111-M-1241 - Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Chief Signal Officer. (09/18/1947 - 02/28/1964).  DOCUMENTARY: Veterans' hospital (Mason General Hospital, Brentwood, NY.) showing ten week treatment program for men with psychological problems stemming from combat; men enter the hospital, go through the orientation, admission, and evaluation process as the narrator observes that these men, whose education, culture, and development rejects war, share common anxieties: fear, apprehension, disaster, hopelessness, death, and the fear of death; veterans relate their experiences, thoughts, and emotions to hospital medical and professional staff; at night dreams of combat and other fears interrupt the men as they try to sleep; next morning, as the process of diagnosis, treatment, and therapy begins, men undergo a series physical exams and psychological tests; shows individual and group counceling sessions; demonstrate use of hypnosis; as weeks pass, the positive affects of therapy become apparent; men relax in the recreation room as combat experiences are no longer blocks to present activities and future plans, with emphasis on the veteran's occupation; visitors day, time for contact with family and friends; group therapy discussion concerning civilian reaction to returning veterans and their adjustment to the post-war pattern; montage contrasting condition of men before and after therapy; men show signs of recovery, of readiness for discharge, and ability to resume civilian life.