I’ve been reading Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character by Jonathan Shay, MD. Or, I should say, I’ve been listening - I have it in audiobook format. His work compares the Soldiers of Homer’s Iliad with Vietnam Veterans suffering from PTSD. While that might sound a little heady, it’s an important work and a must-read for clinicians.
What has struck me the most about Shay’s account are the direct quotes he includes from the Vietnam Veterans in his group. At times they are the exact same words that have come out of my own mouth to describe my experience in Iraq - or the exact same words that my clients have used to describe Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and any number of deployed AOs. While driving and listening to the book last week, I pulled over and replayed a section in disbelief – I was genuinely shook by the connection; word-for-word.
My dad was a Vietnam Veteran; he died in 2019 and we never discussed our combat experiences while he was alive. I inherited a slide projector and a crate of slides marked Binh Thuy Air Base and Vietnam that I can’t bring myself to look at just yet, although I am not exactly sure why. But I think about them a lot.
Since publishing The Soldier’s Guide to PTSD this year, I have had the privilege of connecting with many Vietnam Veterans and learning about their experiences. What has struck me the most is how Vietnam Veterans worked to ensure that today’s Veterans were honored when we came home. How often I heard accounts of Vietnam Vets being spit on at the airport or being called “baby killers” at their family gatherings.
After my first deployment, Vietnam Veterans were front and center and welcomed us home at the airport. Back in 2004 I didn’t know why, and now I do: they wanted to make sure that I did not experience what they did. What an incredible gift.
The decision that Vietnam Veterans made to pay it forward despite their own experience is an inspiring sacrifice. I feel humbled, grateful – thankful. As I listen to their words through Achilles in Vietnam and relate them to my own experience I find myself reflecting on how I want to help others in our community.
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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“If you believe change is possible, you want to change, and you are willing to do the work, you absolutely CAN get your life back.”
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