Page 484 - Total War on PTSD

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.
Today, this is still true I believe. Even though we do not see Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, etc., on the nightly news, we are never far from one degree of separation from those that serve or have served. There are movies and television shows about the wars of today and what it might be like; we watch them in support. I lived in New York just blocks from Chelsea Piers on 9/11. The day this world was traumatized irrevocably and we all went to war with terror. That’s why I say, the effects touch all of us. None of us however in any way like those who have risked life and limb in service to our country and live with
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