Quote:
Originally Posted by HeavyMetalLover
I thought the same thing about it possibly having something to do with PTSD, myself , when I read the OP. I have a few friends & family that are V-vets. One of them has pretty severe flashbacks and I'm short with black hair. Anyway, one night, he had a flashback and thought I was Vietkong (sp?) He used to be Delta Force so he's dangerous when in the midst of a flashback. He had me tied up in a chair with a gun to my head before I could get him to snap out of it with help.
Basically, I screamed my head off that I was a friendly until another friend , who heard me, and is also a V-vet, talked him down. Very scary stuff... and it took A LOT of coaxing to get him professional help for his PTSD. He's doing much better now, but my heart really goes out to these vets. Our vets coming back from the Iraq/ Afghanistan areas are also dealing with some major PTSD issues. They are dealing with some seriously ****ed up stuff!! They also, though not to the same degree, are dealing with a public that doesn't appreciate them at all when they come back home. And they're just kids, most of them!!
Wow, I kinda jumped on my soapbox there. Sorry for that.
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Yes, we keep repeating war and keep having messed up vets. Vietnam vets, though...they really had the cards stacked against them in so many ways. A horrifying war that was never declared a war, very little support from the U.S. & other nations, and not even being recognized as veterans until at least a decade after Vietnam ended (after all, 'Vietnam wasn't like WWII!'). The Vietnam war situation was really a mess, a serious blight on our country's history - and I fear that as time passes, Americans have either forgotten or have never learned (younger Americans) how severely Viet vets suffer with PTSD.
Your example of your friend who mistook you for VC (Vietcong) is very typical.
I have little doubt that PTSD (and the self-destructiveness that often accompanies it) plays a role in the sad story coffeebuzzbuzz shared. And I'm not sure that many people really understand the depth of mental health hell most Viet vets live with.