The Lifelong Effects After The Vietnam War 

My grandpa was a Nam Vet. When he finally decided to get help around the late 90s when I was born, he became the gentle and loving man I've always known him as. Very different than the angry and aggressive man my father and aunts knew growing up. His dedication to personal growth aspires me in my healing journey. I am forever greatful to my grandpa for showing me recovery is possible.

To quote British musician Paul Hardcastle: "In World War II the average age of the combat soldier was 26, in Vietnam he was 19." I have a cousin on my dad's side who was drafted into Vietnam, while he was out on patrol his buddy stepped on a trip wire and was killed. The shrapnel from the explosive went into my cousin's face. My dad learned this when he was at a family dinner and noticed a purple spot on his cousin's face. When my dad asked what it was, his cousin said bluntly, "It's just a bit of shrapnel working its way out."

PTSD is the main killer of all vets. Those who served in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan are hit the heaviest.

My wife had met a Vietnam war vet once, she told he couldnt stand being near rice or even hear the word rice as he was pow back in the day

I have a vietnam war veteran on each side of my family. What’s sad is that ever since the war they were never the same.

It is actually horrific what happens to the human mind after traumatic experiences. Very sad.

One thing I've always hated about Vietnam is how the troops were vilified but the politicians were the ones truly at fault.

As one with non combat PTSD ....i feel for Combat Vets 😢

I’ve been a front line police officer for 15 years, I’m 40, married and have 2 kids under 5. I was diagnosed with acute PTSD in December last year, but realised I was showing symptoms for the last 5 years and the main ones suffering were my wife and girls. Responses, attitudes and treatments for PTSD are progressing here in Australia, but more needs to be done. Videos like this raise awareness, understanding and acceptance of PTSD affects, symptoms and causation. Well done.

My father fought in Vietnam. My mother said she had to wake him up by throwing a towel on him and run out of the room, because he’ll grab his gun and jump out of bed. He couldn’t watch war movies, couldn’t be around firework shows of course, and he couldn’t be around Vietnamese women. He survived getting blown up twice. But he didn’t survive Agent Orange. Vietnam was no joke. I’m a veteran myself but I’ve never been deployed to a combat zone and I’m grateful for that!

It’s terrible what they had to experience during the war, but it makes it even more sad when you see how many of them were treated by the public when they got home

My grandpa on my father's side had quit the police force after a group of kids set off firecrackers under his unit and almost smoked one of them. My mother's father said he didn't talk about Vietnam until after watching the movie Rambo

A horrific fact in Disney comics: a Carl Barsk story shows that Donald has PTSD from his service in the Pacific War, complete with flashbacks. His nephews triggered one while he was sleepwalking, and it wasn't pretty.

My grandpa will sometimes talk about his time in the army… but almost never his time in Vietnam. Like it didn’t exist

I have a cousin who flew medivac in Viet Nam. He's so badly messed up by it now that he can't even be allowed to see and hear a balloon being popped because it sets his PTSD off. He goes to counseling and takes meds for it, but those can only help so much when the unseen scars are so deep.

My father served in Vietnam during 68-69. He gets scared sometimes when he hears fireworks.

Helps explains why some war vets don't want people shooting off fireworks near their homes. Some fireworks sound like artillery shells or bullets whizzing by.

My dad was a serviceman in the US Navy in the late 70s early to mid 80s. People viewed it as "just another job". Service is service period. My uncle was in Vietnam and had a host of health problems after exposure to agent orange. And for all that he'd have done it again if the US asked him to. Anyone who disrespects a vet isn't worth the soil they stand on.

I remember when I work at a dollar tree 7 years ago a Vietnam veteran was buying stuff I thanked him for his service he just cried and hugged me saying no one had ever thanked him for his service and man it crushed me it was also super awkward

I think peaky blinders came up with the most poetic description of PTSD, in the show they constantly reference it as “the war you tell nobody about”

My father-in-law is a veteran of the Vietnam war he had a very supportive family and relationship to help him through the times. I know how my mother-in-law feels my husband is a veteran of the South African National defense forces and he had times at night when he was in the back yard sitting on a lawn chair staring or even crying. My husband went to counseling and he like his father got through it. My husband sought to help others by gathering like minded men and women and started a private security company. As a pediatrician i understand the importance of helping other who suffer from PTSD. I found children who suffered abuse and SA and i had to contact the authorities. I will always do my best for those who suffered. I’m a mother too and not turning your back on someone you love will always help.

Ptsd SUCKS! The flashbacks arent just memories. You can have visual hallucinations and auditory ones. Nightmares and night terrors. It takes away everything you once were and leaves you an empty shell. The depression, the anxiety and panic attacks get old. It causes actual changes to your brain.

If it counts my dad use to be NYPD. Around 9/11 he lost a buddy that during the horrific day. After the tragedy they never recovered his body. During the post 9/11 era my dad did have major stress issues eating him up and just looking back it really felt like a nightmare for him.

My Uncle Chuck has spent most of his youth in The Army served in both Vietnam and Gulf War. He stayed in The Army for decades until 2010. He doesn't mind talking about his time in Combat. Always treat a veteran like they are human beings.

This video gonna skyrocket for sure.

A mixture of a cultural shift, popular opinion, misunderstanding/lack of information, and uncertainty of outcome in theater. Were just several of factors that impacted those who served in this conflict. Also the transition period of leaving the military to return to civilan life. Are massively different compared to the modern era. Many Vietnam era veterans at my local American Legion, still remember things clear as day.

With how much this country portrays their love for servicemen, it's heartbreaking to see how many are left behind by the federal government and how many suffer. I pray for all our veterans and I hope they get the support and recognition they deserve.

Yeah, my father in law was at Khe Sahn and he's got the whole package. He doesnt do rice or fire works. Im an Afghanistan veteran . Most of my trauma stems from rough upbringing and driving truck. We have interesting conversations. Im glad he was there for me during the fall of Kabul.

I had read and heard about the whole "thousand yard stare" thing many times, but I've only seen it in person once. It's pretty unmistakable. It's sort of a permanent glassy-eyed expression, or it may not be all the time, but they slip into it. Like if they're paying attention to what you're saying and looking at you while you're speaking, from your perspective, it seems like they're looking past or right through you.

Had a family friend who passed a few years ago that escaped a POW camp in Vietnam. My mom told me stories of how the war affected him until he died. The two biggest examples I can remember was her telling me that she witnessed him speaking fluent Vietnamese in his sleep, likely memories of what his captors were saying because he didn't actually know the language himself, and the second instance on a brighter note was the time my mom made some kind of Indian dish upon inviting him over for dinner one time and it was his first time eating rice since the war and kind of broke him of that trauma so to speak. Miss you Rick

The wounds to your body heal but the wounds to your soul will never heal

Thank you Simple History for this fascinating video, well done. It really pains me for all those veterans to go through so much turmoil after having seen the horrors of war and it also pains me how the public turned their backs on them before they recieved the support they needed😔.

They made an entire movie series about Vietnam flashbacks: Rambo.

Vietnam war had such a high rate of ptsd because the soldiers spent the most amount of time in combat then any war before and after, something like 280 days per rotation (not sure exact number) compared to like 30 days for ww2 vets

The VA has determined that your vivid war flashbacks are not service connected.

Vietnam war flashbacks? I’m excited for this one.

No Squidward. I won't allow it! Not after what happened-- back in 'Nam. - Mr. Krabs, Vietnam War Vet.

I support veterans they help and support love and care they are people and friends im glad there getting help they need

My brother in law was wounded twice in Vietnam while serving as a sergeant in the 101st Airborne, getting shot in the neck during one tour, and hit in the bicep during the other one. How he survived is beyond me. But after all that, he volunteered to serve a third combat tour. However, the Army wanted him to serve stateside as an airborne instructor. He was so set about returning to Vietnam, and the Army would not budge, so he quit and returned to civilian life. He eventually became a sheriff's deputy in Los Angeles.

It's worth highlighting how criminally-underfunded the Department of Veterans Affairs really is. Hundreds, if not thousands of veterans report having to wait weeks, months, even _years_ to receive treatment that they desperately need *_NOW._* Vietnam had a more profound impact on our troops than many of us realize, and it certainly doesn't help that servicemen were ostracized due to political and cultural climates at the time. The experiences these veterans suffer daily are not just "in their head." It is a horrible, _horrible_ nightmare that they can never seem to wake up from.

One quick note: Gulf War Syndrome and PTSD not the same. Carry on…

All these vets are my people! No man left behind!

My grandfathers, mom side navy WWII, dad side korea and nam US army. Never heard a word form the two about the wars. Mom side grandpa, when the dementia kicked and with some research, I found out he was in the think of it. Dad side, wounded at the busan peremeter at 16 years old. Three tours in nam including tet 68. He survived a shoot down in H 1 chopper he jumped out got busted up in the fall laid in rice patty for 3 day before a patrol found him. Everone else on the helo was KIA.

Bro got shushed two times in the library

Great Video. Thank you for posting. 👏👏 (loved the library scenes)

Such an iconic phrase, even people who weren't in this war use it to describe something traumatizing in the past that happened to them. Most likely not as tragic or sad as an actual Vietnam flashback but it really conveys a message. Thanks for this informative video soldier 🫡

Even though i am well aware of ptsd by now, i still open to see the animations here. Which has been the usp of this channel from the beginning! The sync of the audio with the visual aspects is really well done and they keep up with the good work. Even the sponsor break is seamlessly integrated within that it won't seem boring or disconnected.

R.I.P. and huge respect to those who died for their country and to veterans suffering from PTSD... Many of Poles that were fighting in ww1 mainly in Haller's Blue Army and in Russian Imperial Army had PTSD, but in my country that is Poland this is small number comparing to American veterans that are suffering from PTSD..

My grandfather Brian Crumley served in vietnam for 3 years and he celebrated his 21st birthday there. He never talks about vietnam much and whenever I've asked about it he's given be some vague stories about mundane task he had to go do etc. But that's all - I empathize deeply for those who experience this affliction and just want to say ,if your suffering from any mental illness. Seek help. Even if you cannot afford it seek help somehow. Talk to someone- there is someone who wants to listen somewhere.

This is SO sad...😣😢😢😢

My dad is a gulf war vet, he hates the smell of natural gas from the oil fires, sleeps with the door open , and when he got back he hear a bell like sound which was the symbol for gas attack and he started reaching for his gas mask…..in a car dealership. He heard a woodpecker and dove on the ground. He’s finally getting more help from the VA after 30 something years

This video never showed up on my news feed. I saw others saying the same thing

My late grandfather served in Vietnam in the airforce and because of his service suffered from PTSD. I hardly knew the man until the very latter years of his life due to his history of various sources of substance abuse. I too suffer from PTSD even though I have never been in the military, and as I work with my doctors I find myself increasingly appreciative that the medical community recognizes it and how it can affect people.

My Grandfather served in the theater and there was a few times when I was a kid I would see him stare blankly at the TV even though it was turned off. One that stood out to me was when a car backfired (One of those mufflers that sounds like an AK-only assholes put on their cars) and he started to take immediate cover, my grandparents lived in a relatively quiet neighborhood in central PA, Another one was what my Mom told me during the Camp Hill prison riots in the 80s he sat in his Lazy Boy just staring out to space because of the choppers and shotguns going off and at the time they had a Dog and she sat right next to my Grandfather during the whole ordeal.

Ive got ptsd over words being said it makes me irrated and anxious and sad

I'm currently in my local chapter of SADD and when I came for my first SADD meeting I met a girl who's father was a Vietnam Vet that had PTSD and he began to severely drink and drug and began to hit his wife and take it out her and began to OD often and that lead to a divorce with his wife and she tried to reconnect with him but he kept doing drugs and he eventually died due to an overdose and she talks about it to students in other high schools and when she talked about it to me it made me Crack and expose my own abusive relationship with my own father and that lead to a 2 year war that it was always a secret war that was going on for 5 years and I credit her for opening my eyes to my own father's toxic abuse with me.....her name was Stephanie

The other issue is the VA itself, it says they will help vets in need, sometimes though, and others they fake help them. My dad can say it best for his dad being a vietnam viet, as his dad had issues with gripping his hands, fought during the Tet offensive, and told of a story where he was drunk and did not go back to the barracks when ordered so, but that barrack was attacked either by a mortar or fragging, resulting in them pulling bodies out, and giving my grandpa guilt like he should have been in there. After he came back, he tried to live normally, but his health falls, and was never the same. He did seek help, but the VA did not believe he suffered any issues due to him being in the Air Force, but he was dealing with Agent Orange constantly, and being on the department where when an airplane crashes, they rush over to help. The biggest thing is that the VA offered my grandpa a walker, when he couldn't walk, then offered him a wheelchair, but he now was homebound, and after he died, they tried taking the money for my grandma away as they felt like he didn't deserve it, and only after we fought for it for years, now they partially accept that agent orange had an affect on his early death, but never fully saying it did. Seek help if you need it, please, we do care about you Vietnam, Gulf, Iraq, and anyone else, we love you and we owe the deepest apologizes to you for the way others have acted towards you when you came home. Thank you for being there for us, and know that you are not alone in this, tell your story if possible, as I never fully got to hear my grandpa's stories. If you are ever able to, look into being a volunteer for other vets, or go and help at museums, after you seek some help for yourself!

My grandfather fought in this war. He got malaria and was honorably | medically discharged. He passed in 2000 due to complications from agent orange exposure. I never even got to meet him. He was 53. He was drafted at age 20

Imagine if you're a Vietnam War veteran? You could throw temper tantrums like a toddler, just like Caillou, not because they're young children who show that they're upset or frustrated, but it's ALL because of PTSD.

This is why the Vietnam war shouldn't happen at all.

Man better help sucks all the controversy they suck a nd even thought they said they changed they never did

My grandpa still has them and turned 80 this year

This is gonna be the perfect time for this since May is mental health awareness month

Last year I had the privilege of meeting a Vietnam Vet who was giving a talk in front of a huey. He noticed that I was very familiar with that war. We ended up having a long talk about his experiences there. I told him that the newsreels of hueys dropping soldiers off to battle and transporting dead and wounded back, is the first picture that enters my mind remembering that war. He told me about the worst experience he had there. He was 19 years old on a crew on a huey. All the others were 19 years old. What happened was horrific and all I could think was that all of them, the soldier who was tortured to death and never talked, A YEAR AGO THEY WERE GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL AND THIS 19 YEAR OLD KIDS LIFE ENDED LIKE THAT🤬🤬🤬🤬. This vet actually talked about his PTSD that he has to this day. My heart goes out to him. I will never forget him.

Man…those horrible things they encountered during the war, the body came back home but soul still stuck in the war…

My neighbor Peter was a Naval gunship pilot in Vietnam and is a recipient of a Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Purple Heart. I just did an interview with him and he said that he had to work on himself for a very long time to get over the war.

Yeah even watching videos from Vietnam puts me close to PTSD

I'm glad that the Better Help ad is appropriate for the on topic at hand. And though it is a means of getting your money, the app may actually help PTSD victims. Rather than a random ad from sponsors like NordVPN, or something that isn't related to the topic.

In Bogota, Colombia, a Vietnam veteran (born and raised in Colombia) had a severe episode of PTSD and killed 29 people in a restaurant called Pozzeto, it happened in 1986

7:55 THE LANDMARK 🗣️‼️

Imagine that murdering civilizations in other countries causes ptsd

My dad served in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division 1st Batallion 327th infantry regiment 2nd platoon Delta Company he is a Veteran of the Tet Offensive and Hamburger Hill out of 15 kids my dad knew from his hometown I'm Texas only 2 came home alive to this day my dad has sleep apnea and Sever nightmares

I understand of mental health. Good luck to all suffering

2:15 is that the backyard from Phineas and Ferb?

I spent 9 years in combat including being wounded in Afghanistan. Yeh , ptsd is awful . Not a day goes by where I’m not impacted by what we went through.

My dad is a Vietnam vet. That is the only way we know him :( My uncle said that as a teen before getting drafted he was a whole different man.. PTSD attacks you in different ways

My neighbour was an aussie infantry vet from vietnam, the VA gave him Champix to quit smoking and at night he was screaming and rolling around on his back lawn "back in the jungle knife fighting" he was a conscript and that war ruined his life.

My grandfather is a Nam vet. I remember when we were kids, you'd have to use a broom stick to wake him from his naps, otherwise you could get hit by him defedning himself from what he believed to be an attack. He got help years ago and was much better after.

7:54 “THE LANDMARK! 😊” “The landmark 😮”

"Cause im still in Saigon!!"

I remember when I was younger my friend had a grandpa who was a Nam vet and he couldn’t stand loud noises and whenever he saw a Asian he said “ITS THE ENEMY” doesn’t matter if it’s the person is Chinese, Japanese or Mongolian, he would still have a bit of ptsd.

War... war never changes...

the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel God help me, I was only 19 And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep? Any why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet? And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means? God help me - I was only 19 (lee kernaghan)

My father is a Nam Vet. When mom first married him he would tell me bits and pieces of what the war was like. Now that he is 82 he doesn't want to talk about at all. I think the closer you reach the end, the more you would think about the things you done/saw. And the more you wish you could forget it. I thank God and the good men that sacrifice and have sacrificed so we don't have to 🇺🇲

Unable to express emotions, even with family. Hop up and down when I got dressed to make their were no rattles or clinks.

My dad is 75, still struggling with it. Advancing age isn't helping.... Thankfully he is now on Medicare and no longer using the VA

I admit that I looked up a lot of memes about vietnam flashbacks but I understand that it’s not a laughing matter. Even though I have a selective service card I know that I would never be able to serve as i not only have autism and adhd but I have stuff and fluff as winnie the pooh calls it.

God help me I was only 19 listen to that song that explains this a whole lot

No wonder Rambo suffered like that😢

The Vietnam War ended in 1973 with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. That less than a day after signing those accords the North violated the Accord and started fighting the South Vietnamese forces doesn't change that. The only American troops still in Vietnam in 1975 were attached to the US Embassy, and the "Fall of Saigon" was an evacuation of Embassy personnel and friendly locals, not some horrible over running of American troops forcing a retreat. Oh, and the scene portrayed in the thumbnail, the "Civilian' being shot by South Vietnamese troops, is unwitting propaganda perpetuated by the world media. That "civilian" was an ARVN (North Vietnamese Army) major who had been sent south on a spying mission and caught by the South Vietnamese Army counter-intelligence. A spy, in other words, and as with most countries during war, a spy was liable to be summarily executed (Enemy troops caught spying, not scouting. Uniforms are fine but once you wear civilian clothes or friendly troop clothes you cease to be protected as a combatant) were often shot on the spot in combat zones

Could we make a video of Nakba or Intifada?

Im form VN anh thank you very much for making a video about our country

True terror

My papa fought in the Vietnam War he doesn't seem to have pstd, he's living happy with his wife

My dad told me he snuck out once and his dad caught him, he snuck behind him slammed him against the wall started telling him “He’s gotta stay inside the line or he’d get everyone killed.”

I think this just proves the mental fortitude of the men’s from WW2 and beyond

I sorry for all Army for the war like World War 1 and World War 2 and Vietnam war and Now. War is Not Fun and Happy. See people have is be me and people sad and sorry for the people fight for free and stop the war at the people home.😢😢

As an OR RN, I used to work with an ortho surgeon that was a surgeon in Vietnam. When he would get stressed out and pissed off during surgery, he would yell out "CHARLIES IN THE WIRE"!!! then he would be OK.

Can you make a video about the khmer republic and lon nol?

0:30 they did not have to make him look so scary