Depression In William O. Abernathy's Life

Depression is a common, serious illness and not a personal weakness. Depression struct William O. Abernathy at a young age in his life (14). Causes of depression may include chemical imbalance in the brain and stressful life events, such as the loss of a loved ones which is Williams case. The persistent feeling of sadness or loss of interest that characterizes major depression can lead to a range of emotional and physical conditions. Any range of emotional damage is tough to deal with at a young age. He was born on August the 3rd, 1913, in Monroe County, Georgia, out in the country, not in the hospital. He grew up for the first six years of his life living in the country. Then he moved to town where his dad bought a grocery store and was brought up in a grocery store. His dad died at age 46 and his mother had to raise all six of us children from that time on. He also lost his sister around the same time he lost his dad too. Even through times of depression he kept his motor going to go and be successful and would find a way to help his family, that 's the main reason why William’s story is inspiring.
William had served from 1939-1945. The loss of his dad and his sister within a year is what caused his depression at that age. William didn 't really have much ways to help support his family so he went and joined the army. He joined the national guard in 1929 because he needed money. William was in the national guard for about three years before he left to go join the Marines. After 1932 he left and decided to join the US Marine Corps. He joined the US Marine Corps, and was sent to Parris Island, South Carolina, where he went to boot camp there. After boot camp, William had got assigned to the fire department at Parris Island and he had stayed there for about eight months. He was in the Machine gun company and was in a mortar platoon Once he joined the marines he then traveled a lot around the world. Cuba was one of the major places his battalion went to. Sometime about the first of October 1939 his battalion, Second Battalion Fifth Marines, were sent to Cuba and they went aboard the USS Romain and sailed for Cuba and anchored right in the middle of the harbor in Havana, Cuba. They were there to protect any American lives at risk. Mainly because of the rebellion Batista took over as a rebellion, but, fortunately, they finally resolved their difficulties by electing a president, (not Batista) . After being in cuba in 1937 he decided to join sea school where he learned all the stuff …show more content…
He was in the service a long time and finally retired at the age of 62. William had an interesting experience joining the war depressed and coming out a happy family man, in most cases it 's the other way around. The war gave him something he didn 't have though, and that was faith and a plan. William had two boys who followed after his footsteps joining the marines. Williams ability to stay in the war despite depression shows how mentally tough he is as a person. This vet was most interesting to me because he overcame depression, made it through the war and lived to tell his story and have a happy life