"Seen and Not Heard"

By Wayne Gombar

Seen and Not Heard
For generations, American children were expected to obey without question. Bruises were dismissed as playground injuries, humiliation was called discipline, and fear was mistaken for respect. Children were to be seen and not heard.
Blending historical analysis with personal testimony, Wayne J. Gombar examines the physical, verbal, and psychological abuse endured by children during the 1960s and 1970s-and America's gradual awakening to its consequences.
Gombar writes candidly about beatings, body-based humiliation, and being told he would be in prison before twenty. He also honors the patient stepfather he considers his real dad, who proved that authority did not require cruelty.
Compassionate and unflinching, Seen and Not Heard explores how childhood violence can affect health, trust, parenting, work, and identity without defining an entire life. It is a testimony to children who were silenced and a reminder that what is inherited can still be refused.

AUTHOR BIO
Wayne J. Gombar is a United States Marine Corps veteran, author, technical professional, and business leader whose career has spanned more than four decades in telecommunications, critical infrastructure, security, emergency management, and federal contracting. His work has taken him across the United States and around the world, supporting complex projects and leading multidisciplinary teams in demanding environments.
Gombar earned a Bachelor of Science in Homeland Security, graduating magna cum laude, and a Master of Science in Emergency Management from Columbia Southern University. He later pursued doctoral studies in criminal justice. His writing combines historical research, institutional analysis, and personal experience to examine military service, public policy, leadership, resilience, and events too often left outside the official record.
Seen and Not Heard is his most personal work. Drawing upon research and his own childhood memories, Gombar examines the physical, verbal, and emotional abuse endured by children during the 1960s and 1970s. He also honors the stepfather he considers his real dad-a patient man who never struck or degraded him and who proved that authority did not require cruelty.
With the support of his wife, Tracey, Gombar gradually confronted memories and emotions he had buried for decades. He does not present his later success as evidence that abuse was beneficial. His military service, education, career, leadership, and fatherhood did not make the child worthy; that child possessed worth before the adults around him failed to recognize it.
Gombar lives in South Carolina with Tracey and their dogs, Tucker and Trixie.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HMPMZF3G
• ISBN13: 9798161698396
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.0" x 10.0"