Page 548 - Total War on PTSD_FINAL

I am a little older than Paul and remember Vietnam. I only knew survivors and their stories. They were a little more eager to share their stories and for some reason they trusted me enough to tell me. Of course we all know they were not honored for their service; on the contrary, they were blamed for it. One friend of mine spoke about “never having gotten off the plane.” He was here. It was the 80’s so he had been home from Vietnam for almost a decade. He was walking about, living his life, carrying on as if he was home, but for him...he never “got off the plane” when he landed back in the U.S..
The men I met over the years, even the ones who evaded the draft...all had issues with some form of substance abuse, multiple marriages, isolation, detachment, or were adrenaline junkies. I am not a professional nor do I wish to seem judgmental about them, it was my observation and my heart broke for them. The Vietnam War was on TV every evening, on the news, just in time for dinner. Bloody soldiers, half naked children with burnt bodies, tanks and more were our dinner companions when I was growing up. We were all there together.
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