PTSD and Hate Upon Returning Home
“Living with the past isn’t that difficult, unless one has PTSD or never got over the drug addictions that seem to go along with war. PTSD is short for Post-Tramatic Stress Disorder, a horror that follows our military home from war. So many of us were proud to serve our country. We had the draft then, but it really didn’t matter whether we were drafted or came in on our own. We went to prevent the horrors of war from reaching our own shores.” The old man looked at me with cataract laden eyes that still held that hint of pride.
“Vietnam was our last war where the draft was employed. During the time you fought for your lives and our country, others went to Canada to avoid the draft, while still others protested the draft and the war. How did these things affect you over there?”
“We couldn’t believe so much hate was aimed at military men and women doing their jobs, deadly jobs that kept us on edge every minute of the day or night. We wondered at the people who did not have the guts to join the military.
“How could those who did not face traps on patrols, who did not know the horror of checking on a child’s still body only to find it booby trapped with grenades could condemn us. The same people who remained free to run away, march, and scream epitaphs.”
Military Men and Women and Their Families Attacked
“Some military, when returning home, were greeted with vicious people condemning them. What was it like when you came home?”
“They SPIT on us! We got off the plane, wanting to see our families, to have a few minutes with our loved ones. Those violent cowards intruded to call us baby killers and murderers and spit on us. Can you imagine your husband waiting long months to see you after something like the Vietnam War and having people jostle between you? Can you imagine being called vile names and having people spit in your face? No, unless it actually happens, you cannot possibly imagine it.
“And it was not a one-time thing. Even at home, if we were required to wear our uniforms off base, people refused to sell us food or supplies. Passersby screaming names at us and sometimes, we got into fights, egged on by those who did not go, who did not have a clue what we went through.”
Love of Country Outweighs the Hate of Her Citizens
“Yet you decided to make the military your career. Why?”
“Because regardless of the fact that President Johnson did not support us, or that so many Americans reviled us, I love my country. I will fight for her and her people anywhere. Even today, if my health and age allowed it, I would still be in the Army. The comradeship of my fellow soldiers is like nothing ever experienced on the outside. We live and breathe to support each other. We are brothers and sisters through everything.
Above all, America is worth fighting for every day. Even those protesting are worth fighting for and giving the right to protest. That is part of our country’s freedom.”
“Given that statement, I believe, knowing what you now know and going through what you went through, you would do it again. Am I right?”
“Yes, but with differences. Over there, drugs became too prevalent, simply because the horror was too much for some to handle. Rarely did we go out on patrol without losing at least one to hidden traps until bit by bit each of us learned to recognize the signs and avoid them. The trouble was, some traps were made to be seen, which often guided us into a worse one. Unfortunately, the drugs made it tougher to recognize the danger.
“Far too many came home addicted to those drugs and moved on to even worse ones. Many later suffered diseases from Agent Orange, sprayed by our own military to defoliate the jungles. We had men killed from ‘friendly fire’. When that happens, the morale suffers because we fear being killed by our own as well as by the enemy.”
Fighting for All, Even Those Who Protest Against Us
“Have you found it in your heart to forgive the protesters and those who evaded the draft while you and the others fought?”
“The odd part is that I never held their views against them. Fear does strange things to people. Some fight and others flee. The only time I truly detested them was when they treated my family and me with such disdain. You see, they didn’t just want me or my fellow soldiers to pay a price the protester agreed on, they went after our families. That is unconscionable.”
“Belatedly, may I thank you for your service to our country. And thank you for speaking with me today and for allowing this blog to tell your story.
The above conversation took place over a series of years and with more than one soldier. The gentleman I spoke with last is the one described at the beginning of the interview. He does not want his name mentioned. Instead, he wants to be known as “An American Warrior. I am always surprised when these military people tell me that’s why they are in the military – to give these protesters freedom of speech.”
Dawn, I will pass along your kind words. During those years, we were divided in so many ways, just as we seem to be more and more today. Although soldiers had to go where they were sent, they were reviled simply for being soldiers. If our leaders were blamed, they did not get hit with it first hand like our men and women returning from a hell like they had never seen before. The war became political, instead of fighting to win. And we have not fought to win since that time. Politics, like the rules they set today, where they almost insist that our men ask for permission from the enemy to shoot before defending themselves, will never win a war. We have to go in to win or a war is useless. In WW II, that was the last war we fought to win. When the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that was a terrible thing to do, but it stopped the war almost immediately, because no one had ever experienced anything like it. Today, we are on the verge of a nuclear war and no one will win that one.
I would like to say thank you for everything you have done and gone thru and all military and their families i started to cry reading this i know everybody does mot have the same views but to be that disrespectful is just downright low i cant understand how they can treat our soilders this way when they are fighting for the very freedoms they have so they didnt have to.