[hepkatmama]

it means a lot to me that nyteshade understands where i am coming from, cause i know he was a vet too.

i think a lot of guys think that ptsd is just the crybaby hiding in a corner. that is just not accurate for the majority of vets exposed to trauma in the field. there are hard as nail marines that did what they had to do in a kill or be killed situation & they come home a little edgy.

how many ex vets do you know that have trouble sleeping? drinking problems? wife divorcing them cause they have changed from the 18 yr old she fell in love with? lost jobs because they are hyper-defensive and get into physical altercations when provoked?

these are just symptoms. and its usually manageable when they are freshly back in the states. but the anger becomes exhausting though not just for the vet, but the ppl around them too. the 20 year ages into a 50 year old & they have complications that could have been avoided if they had just CONFRONTED the trauma when they got home.

that book i mentioned? the foreward was written by ex-POW, Sen. John McCain. its not a bleeding heart book, its just dealing with the ugly truth about coming home on the defensive.

cause there are plenty of hateful punks to go around & its a waste of energy to try to put them all in their place.