Two Vietnam Vets Reveal PTSD & What Gave It To Them. Filmed In 1970 

another haunting interview - Vietnam Vet Oliver Stone - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dQTrTtqW-uk.html

I'm a 72 yr old Nam vet. My 32 year old neighbor just informed me he was going to Hanoi for vacation. Hanoi and vacation can never be comprehendible to me.

My foster dad was a vietnam veteran. He still struggled with PTSD when I lived with him [terrible nightmares that caused him to wake up screaming; I was warned to never wake him or startle him from behind, etc.] He raised 5 of us foster boys with his wife. Even after serving his country he continued to serve his community. Rarely have I met men like him.

These poor men looked 30 years old but their eyes and souls made them appear to be 80

I'm diagnosed with Severe Complex Combat Specific PTSD from Bosnia and Iraq where I was injured in a blast and disabled out of the military. It's hard to explain what happens, but when you listen to another sufferer, it's easy to feel and relate to their suffering. I've been through counselling and manage it OK these days, but live alone and keep to myself, I've got my house and my cats 🐈 and I'm alive. Charlie 🇬🇧

How intelligent these good men speak while describing their PTSD and trauma while also showing us how far our education system has fallen since the 1960s.

As a teenage girl, my mom would make me go to bed before the 10pm news. She didn't want me to see the televised war. Thanks, Mom!

Brutally honest interview from both men interviewed. My dad served in Vietnam in 1970 and fought for years with the VA to get benefits for his PTSD. He finally got them the last year of his life in 2016 at 100% but he was no longer in his right mind to enjoy them. At the very least, my mother is now receiving those monthly benefits for the rest of her life and is financially stable into her retirement thanks to it , so at least something good came out of it. But we sure do miss him.

My dad had ptsd for decades after WW2. We hated it when he watched TV shows about the war. No sleep, grouchy. My mom said he was a lot worse when he 1st returned home. He always said War is hell. After he died I found his pocket diary he carried into battle. He was a paratrooper dropped on the front lines. The diary is filled with sad and terrifying entries. His friend who died in his arms, standing in waist high water for days, cutting the throat of a female soldier with her own machete. The time he was surrounded by enemies and thought he would die. The msg he left for my mom in his diary. Fortunately, he lived into his 70s.

PTSD is greatly exacerbated by guilt. PTSD often materializes some time after separation from the military; after the servicemen have had time to reflect. In that sense, PTSD is often just a euphemism that helps the state hide its skeletons. "No, no, don't tell people you feel guilty. You're forgetting your lines. The war was just. We're good. They're bad. You're merely traumatized, superficially."

I was a teenager, involved with young returning Vietnam Vets. They spoke of atrocities they had commited themselves. Altho we shocked by their stories, the tenderness they exhibited towards us, I felt our innocence helped them heal. 50 years ago, I'm still in touch with two of them. We all grew up together. Your film echoes their experience. Again, (tearfully)thank you Mr. Hoffman.

Ya know people don’t realize how lucky the youth is to be born into peaceful times… I’m 23 years old and I don’t know shit about this world. But I always respect those who have served.

My God, i can identify what that 1st man said about fighting in a war (Iraq for me) and coming home to a country that was oblivious to what we had just went through. I felt like a foreigner in my own country and felt useless. I volunteered to go back and was back in Iraq a year and change after I'd been there the first time. That deployment was insanely more violent and chaotic. I deal with PTSD everyday. My hands are shaking trying to write this just thinking about what I've seen and done.

This is powerful and heartbreaking. My grandfather had five children, was in his thirties and a Lt. Colonel in Vietnam. As a teen in the 1990s I interviewed him for a school history paper. He had stories. Still, I was surprised when he told me it was a “stupid war.”

The man that helped raise me was a Vietnam vet. He never brought the subject up on his own, but after i was closing in on my teen years and was all gung ho to be some brave Marine he wouldnt just cut into me with insults of how war is hell, and ive no idea what im talking about, but instead, and i dont know if this was intentionally or it just came across this way, but he started talking more about his experience. He never got angry when he seen that all i wanted on a particular day was the play by play of action, Hollywood style. His method, on those discussions was less Audie Murphy and more the feeling you would get when the time was calling for you to be paying attention and act and fate jammed your weapon because you neglected to clean it and care for the things in life that keep you alive. He was spot on in making me see the lesson in the story. You can learn alot about how a man looks at his world, feels about it, about the people in it, by simply looking at his weapon. It wasnt the guys that kept their things and the the things around them nice and neat. Spotlessly clean and in perfect working order. It doesnt matter how well you keep house, only that you make sure your weapon is spotless and well oiled. You choose the people you surround yourself with by what their weapon looks like because those people will demand the ones around them keep their weapon cleaned as well, or they simply will not have anything to do with them. I didnt understand this meaning fully till i was in my late twenties, but i see it now. Start your children early. He would buy a rank or two of wood and have it piled up waiting for us when we came home from school. We stacked that shit a thousand times it felt like. Over and over and over again. Torcher in our minds, but lots of lessons learned in the doing of it, and not to many words needed spoken in those lessons. Sorry, ive got off on one of my rants and have written the feelings of thoughts and memory. Good day

My dad was a helicopter gunner in vietnam. Hes a good guy but hes been haunted every day since. He drinks a lot and screams at night sometimes. Horrible

My brother was a marine in Vietnam in 1968 he had real bad PTSD when he came home he was a lone survivor when his whole platoon got wip wiped out he was the only one left though the most thing that bothered him his whole life was in a firefight the navy corpsman standing near him was killed by a sniper he reached out to try to pull the corpsman back into the bushes but it was too late out of all the experiences my brother went through in Vietnam that hit him the hardest and he carried that guilt for the rest of his life

Served at Danang AFB aka Rocket City. Petrified with fear everyday and especially at night. I can still picture the night sky lite up with fire. The base siren blaring, followed by the words “Rockets Rockets Rockets…Danang is under attack! Then what followed were loud explosions everywhere. You take cover in the spot you are in…hugging the ground and praying the next rocket won’t hit my position. Too many episodes left my mind on guard with every step I’ve taken since. That was Fifty-two years ago. VA says I am only 70% PTSD. I won’t appeal because I’m tired of fighting…The war with the VA.

Well 2.7 million men served in the Vietnam war by the time it ended. My observation is that's how many individual wars took place...one for each man who served,each remarkably similar and equally different. My Vietnam story is my own. I spent 366 days in the war zone. I left without any physical wounds. I did bring home a souvineer courtesy of Monsanto Corp. Agent Orange poisoning and subsequently I've had two forms of cancer from the herbicide and through the grace of God survived both,one originally gave me 6 months to live but I fought it and won. Ive also dealt with PTSD and lost more buddies i kept up with from Agent Orange and suicide than I lost on the battlefield.

These poor guys....war is hell. It tears a man's soul apart. Just want to hug these guys

In 1991 I took a Sociology of War class from Wilbur Scott at Univ of Oklahoma. He did a lot of early work on PTSD & Vietnam Veterans. Although I eventually became a civil engineer & classes like this have nothing to do with civil engineering, his class stayed with me for life. We saw hundreds of cases like these two & this is as heavy as life gets.

I don't know one person that came back from that hell hole untouched from it in some way to this day including my stepbrother. Heartbreaking. Thanks for your service Troops.💔💔

My grandfather was in world War 2 ... my dad Vietnam... Me i cudnt not break the chain i went to Iraq I know the feelings all to well ..

My father graduated in 71 and was drafted but didn’t go due to a vision disability. I’m very glad he didn’t go

This video in less than 8 minutes gave more of a understanding of the Vietnam war and what it did to our Soldiers than 8 years of the Nightly News!😢God Bless our Vets❤️Thank you for sharing these videos in time for Memorial Day!

I deal with severe complex ptsd myself from serving my country. Nobody can ever know what it’s about unless they have been there done that. My service dog is my greatest ally.

War is business and this should be shared to wake people.

I was the Team Sniper and I walked point almost every day of my tour in Vietnam (2/502 Infantry, 101st Airborne). I never saw a village or villager during my tour. Our AO was the A Shaw Valley on the northern DMZ and the boarder along Laos. The enemy I killed were NVA regulars. I was informed my Strike Team spent just over 330 day in the jungle. I was sent for all these medical test in 2017 by the USA VA. After 9 years army I moved to Australia to be a teacher. At one of the specialists, she ran tests over 2 days and said I had extreme PTSD. I was already rated at 100% for my spinal damage ... plus they told me I had Cancer, (I was lucky they caught it early and after radiation and hormone treatments for the past 3 years it's in remission), Peripheral Neuropathy, hypertension, nerve damage, and heart disease (I now have a pace maker as my heart just stops for up to 7 seconds at a time for no reason, they said there is no cholesterol, fat or blockage ... I don't drink, smoke and played sports most of my life, plus my morning 1 hour walks before classes... I've lost all my friends to JFK's Agent Orange (Operation Ranch Hand) started in 1961. I was told by the Colorado VA officer that now over 400,000 Australian and American Vietnam Vets have died AFTER they came home from health issues directly related to agent orange (Dioxin Poison). By the way JFK also started the Peace Corps in that same year ... insane really??? I was also an Infantry Training NCO and I understood the motivations of combatants, not Flag or Country ... no ... many wanted revenge for the loss of their friends. All units and areas of operation were different, so I can only comment on my men.

I just wanted to say I love your videos Mr. David Hoffman! I served in the Marines, I went in bright eyed, naive. I came out burnt out and felt alienated by my community. I didn't experience combat, I was doing funeral services at Arlington, and experienced 9/11 first hand and aftermath in Washington D.C., where in the aftermath I started to question what was really going on. I've been back home now for over 20 years, and I still feel like I've never really became a citizen again. I still feel like an angry young Marine, even though I'm 42 now.

Interesting. Dad always said he didn't bring back anything from Viet Nam except a hatred of the US Military command hierarchy. Everybody handles the war they fought in their own way I would guess.

It’s unbelievable what people have to live through

David Hoffman, thank you, and the more of these kinds of stories you can post, the better. My Lai was not an outlier event.

Thanks Mr. Hoffman, always great contributions

Claimed my father's life over there big like I relate to this a lot thank you for sharing

I watched this after watching the other Vietnam upload you posted (using the link). Thank you for your very apt posts lately. We're living in a hellish time at present and the best you can do is what you're doing: try to educate people by having them look at things from different perspectives. I can't even imagine the horror of being in a war. I'm lucky that, at 58, I was never forced to serve. I think the biggest take away from these uploads is how that war changed these men after the fact. The first was particularly haunting. He went off innocently believing that he was doing what was right (as is natural), but then had the Black Power folk educate him on what he'd actually been doing in Vietnam. I don't think they were wrong in what they did to try and awaken him to the world he lived in, but it must have been hard to hear all of that when you've just returned & much of your country is not proud of the war at all ~ quite the contrary. The second upload was haunting in a different way. Men dealing with immoral acts they were made to perform, or were involved with. The callous lack of empathy about children & unarmed men just trying to get away, etc. Then the ensuing suffering caused by simply doing what you were ordered to do. Just glad to see that most of the comments are respectful & decent. I think your channel attracts open minded people who simply want to learn. You're doing us all a great service. I saw one commenter state that they'd learned more from your uploads than they had from decades of the daily news. Ain't that the truth! That's why we need people to take us under the radar of propaganda so that we can learn to read between the lines. This is a tad lengthy, but I feel that you deserve a tribute that's a bit more than a one-liner. Much respect. I look forward to more in the future. ♥

Bless all the brave❤. My son and father are both Purple Heart; boots on the ground combat veterans. War IS Hell.

This is very gut wrenching piece! our Vietnam Vets the men who served in combat and the women who served as nurses have my up most respect, they got a raw deal from the politicians at the time, sadly the returning Vietnam Vets men and women who served took the blunt of the anger felt by the folks back here in American over the handling of our Vietnam police that divided this great country of ours. Thank you and welcome home to our Vietnan Vets.

I was a door gunner 65-67 and killed a bunch of people. Also picked up a lot of our guys who had been been hit and needed to get to the hospital. Getting back to states in 67 was wierd because a lot had changed.

Thank goodness I grew up during a time of real peace and prosperity during the Reagan era. I did a 3 year stint in the Army stationed in West Germany and it was almost like a vacation. I just couldn't imagine being an 18 year old seeing the horrors of war like these young men did.

Having a watched the testimony’s of many Vietnam vets , no one experience seems to be the same as the others . The war seems to have polarised ppl , triggered powerful emotions political opinions . That war was a hard war to forget , too many wanted to but just couldn’t . For those that went I see and hear the trauma , the death and the relief of getting home .

this is too surreal. man i feel so horrible for the people that had to struggle to fight for our country. I have so much empathy for the people that had to go through killing in vietnam. there is too much to instill nightmares and craziness. thank you for all huge doctumentary.

The end of the last interview was hart breaking. Suffering because you dont have the will to survive is common.

Wow. Thanks David ❤

EMDR therapy helped me a lot with my PTSD from the sandbox. It reduced my angry outbursts to almost none. I have less startle response. They do it at the VA now in the PTSD clinic. Highly recommend.

Love to all who suffered during and continue to suffer after this and every ridiculous war. Violence is so very rarely the answer but so often seen as the solution. War has shown time and again that that isn't the case. May anyone suffering find peace and happiness, live well and live a worthwhile life. X

I feel for these guys ..rip..i hope they found peace now

Both my Dad's brother's served. Uncle Dave went to Korea and Uncle Fred went to guard the 38th parallel in Korea during the Vietnam War. My Dad was rejected by the Army in Korea because of a perforated ear drum. I missed going to Vietnam by about 5 years and I passed on the opportunity to go into Iraq when I was 30 in 1991. Glad I missed on both counts. I am grateful these men and women served our Country though. It is very troubling to know there are so many Vets suffering from PTSD. I thank all of them for their service and have empathy for the suffering they go through on our behalf. The things they have seen and experienced along with the permanent wounds both physical and mental are unimaginable. I pray God comforts them all. I will always look up to those that served with heroic honor, love, admiration, and respect. Welcome home !! Thank you all for your service to our Country !! God Bless !!❤

I did it cost me 1 year in army hospital being put back together after being shot then blown to hell by RPG

War is Hell. Thank you so much to all who have served this country. One thing I would like to add: As a veteran of Afghanistan 02’ and Iraq 03-04’ I have been up against a society that sees ME as a threat. How ironic is that?

Wow. Some people from my hometown served at Vietnam. A guy I know never came back the same many say. He’s kinda alone now and swears like a sailor a lot. But is a great guy. Another guy my dad knew never wanted to talk about it. I don’t know anyone personally in my family that served but in wwii my grandpa was an alcoholic after the war not right away but after my grandma died. He served with a bomber squadron and had to shoot a guy. My other grandpa never wanted to talk about the war. He lost two brothers during the war and had to serve in the pacific. I’m sure he saw some brutal things there. I’ve heard before, if people saw what war is really like war would end tomorrow. Thank you for posting this

Vietnam was one of the craziest and unjustified war of US history.

U live through a war but your spirit dies. Nobody wins.

We cannot go back and undo the mistakes that were made in the past we can only learn from them and honor those who served this great country of ours, on Memorial Day May 29, 2023, let us take time to remember and reflect back on those who gave their life serving our country and the Red White and Blue.🙏

my Vietnam was Afghanistan, as Infantryman ,2008 OEF, i came home and and this Gentleman here " the door gunner" perfectly Described my feelings towards that BS INVASION!

What an amazing interview. Thank you David for sharing this with us.

So heartbreaking for everyone involved

Thank you for posting.

My heart goes out to these and countless fellow humans that endure this misunderstood condition. It's a lonely and isolating thing trying to explain to friends and family that dont understand from firsthand experience of PTSD. Thankfully, MAPS will be administering psychedelic assisted MDMA sessions by next year. Apparently MDMA sessions with preparation and caring therapists, besides the experience itself that somehow allows individuals to observe there suffering in a compassionate way, and so alleviating the suffering, greatly reduces symptoms of PTSD. Look up the trial results from MAPS. Amazingly, Rick Doblin and Co. Have been working at this for so long and the fruits are finally ripening. Regardless of where you are in life, understand that there are those of us that really understand and wish for healing for everyone besides ourselves. The day will come. Good day to you and thank you for this video, Dave.

Incredible documentary. Thank you for sharing this. Such a raw perspective on PTSD.

I served 68-70 C Troop 1/4 Cav. I don’t think there’s a combat arms veteran of any war who doesn’t suffer some type of PTSD. You spend a year, 2,3, seeing death and the horror that goes along with it, to me it’s impossible not to. Obviously some a lot more than others. I’m 73, and there’s not a day that goes by that something doesn’t trigger it. It comes out of nowhere, a sight, a sound, smell. For me it’s roadkill. As crazy as it sounds. I see a dead animal and bam in a flash it’s right there. Doesn’t last long, a minute or two, but it’s there. It’s like 50 years didn’t exist. You just learn to live with it

This is fascinating. It’s so raw

When I was 16 I got my first job, it was at a Longs Drugs as a cashier/stocker. It was and is at a shopping center adjacent to the freeway. In between the freeway and the shopping center there is a divider made of dirt, bushes and trees. There was a group of homeless guys that lived there and they would come into Longs every single day to buy beer and hard alcohol along with snacks. They were lovely men, truly. They were much older, about 60s but super kind, never stole anything they were just there to get their alcohol and sometimes mingle with the "regular" folks. Well one day Frank, (he was sort of the leader of the group and he was huge, at least 6'3 and maybe 250lbs give or take) was causing some kind of commotion right outside the store. His buddy came in and was telling another cashier to call 911 so I went out there to see what was happening. Frank was out there stabbing himself with a pocket knife while screaming "you wont take me alive" at the top of his lungs. it was freaking crazy man and scary. Eventually I came to find out he was having a severe episode of PTSD and from that day on I understood what that meant. Frank was okay, he was gone for a few days but by the following week he was back like nothing happened but I was extra kind to him and made sure he had a few $ in his pocket. The man fought for our country and this was the result. It was the least I could do. Frank I hope you are okay or at least found some peace before you left us. If you meet at Vietnam vet just let them know you are thankful, they deserve it.

How sad for someone to put a gun to ones head for you to shoot a child.....

Always brilliant videos. Thank you 🙏

PTSD is bad there may not be a cure you seek help at the vet hospital 🏥 or a psychiatrist. Thanks for sharing this video David Film maker, I'll read your long story. Lol

And you have kids these days saying 'social media' gave them P.T.S.D..

These short videos are good

Thanks again. For some reason these videos are making me think. I was born in the late 1970s so I have no experience except from my father who never really brings up his time over there. I remember my mom helping mental health patients amputees as a VA social worker when I was a kid in the Hudson Valley. When I was a kid my mother and father had a model fishing boat my Dad brought home from his time as a computer technician in South Vietnam. My siblings and I used to play with the boat and we broke it or it got to a point where my parents took it down from the mantle. My father is kind and good but he is not sentimental. My mom told me years later that it was a parting gift from a woman my father knew in Vietnam, the wife of a South Vietnamese officer who died and who did odd jobs for the signal corps including cleaning and administrative chores. Im not sure if my dad ever knew the man but my mom made it sound like there was a support network for her from the Americans and that my Dad and others got black market cigarettes from her. I think she had been from an established family and was struggling while her country fell part. Who know if she made it out years later when the refugee crisis happened. And now Im thinking of my parish priest was a boat child and whose family maybe fled to the Philippines or Thailand on some version of that boat. He is currently returning to his ancestral country as he does from time to time to say Mass and deliver relief to Catholic charities there. Watching these videos reminds me of him and how lucky I am that his family made it out and wondering about the woman who gave my dad the boat. David, as always, your videos are so good. They are a treasure that bridge generational understanding.

They used to make statues and paintings to convince the public and especially young men that these were glorious victors to adore and admire… when we were able to photograph and film the action people started to realize it was a lie… so now they make video games to glorify war and entice boys to participate, it’s the way to be “thanked for their great duty” by people around them.

David, I highly recommend two documentaries by the late Michael Grigsby, “I was a Soldier” from 1970 and the follow up he did with Rebekah Tolley in 2012, “We Went to War.”

Some heartbreaking stuff here, war is hell and don’t like it.

1970 or 2070….That last soldier’s commander should be court-martialed for ordering the killing of a child…Wish we had the commanders name.

What I would love to see and would be really insightful. And I don't know if you have this filmed But seeing a conversation between a world war two vet and a vietnam vet And them talking about their experiences would be a really interesting thing to see

Both of these men are clearly very cerebral, and I would imagine that made the pain a whole lot worse.

None came back unaffected? Combat wounded 68/69 no you can’t go back for revenge

Oh wow.

My dad got his twenty just before Nam so he got out. He told me after watching what happened in Korea while being a Marine Aviator, how the upper Command and politicians totally missmanaged everything, he KNEW Vietnam was gonna be a Shit Show. None the less. THANK ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

These interviews remind me of Operation Winter Soldier, which are similar interviews & testimony of Iraq vets against the war.

Hard to watch. Still happening today.

True in almost every war: "We went there under an illustion - and now we'd like to say something about it." (3:15)

My dad got drafted but didn't go to war because the war was over the year he graduated highschool or so I was told. Lucky him.

So many comments focus on what happened to others; I, fortunately, have never been exposed to this kind of thing other than on television growing up. But that man who killed the child; what moral annihiliation he must have felt; how could we ever put someone in this position and then say "s'okay bro, you got PTSD, get a pension and try to forget about it." There are no words.

My old man was there. Was in the 9th and 101st divisions. Felt I could never really get close to him. Would sometimes think what type of man he would have been if he hadn’t been there.

So sad. And it is even more sad that it is happening today again.

and it’s because of pieces like this that you are … David Hoffman, Filmmaker

I wonder what happened to the last vet. I hope he was able to find help to deal with that unimaginable trauma. He didn't deserve the torment he experienced. It wasn't his fault.

I wonder if any of the Vietnam Veterans still are uncertain about the real reason they were sent there... When I see that there are now resort hotels in Vietnam and when I see the "Made in Vietnam" labels on footwear and clothing, to me it's completely obvious what the true reason is that our military was sent there

What i learned from my experience. America is the Disneyland of the world. Learned to be reliable under any circumstances. How precious sleep is. To stand with my friends no matter what. What all hell brakes loose do your job. Brotherhood comlaudery

united mankind against warfare

No matter who says it is right to end another human's life, our own hearts know it is wrong. Yes, our consciences do work, no matter who says they don't exist. But God can forgive these people. He can help them gain true peace, knowing He has forgiven them. He is only a prayer away... I hope these men found peace in God.

Man people spoke so well back then, what happened?

There is a real spiritual nature to this world. If it was all just evolution at work, we wouldn't experience such horrible trauma from combat. It would be survival of the fittest with no regret. I was a militant atheist coming home from Afghanistan and dealing with intense suicidal depression. Thankfully, Jesus rescued me from the demons and the darkness. He is there for everyone and will give you evidence of His existents. He will bring peace and healing to even the worst case of PTSD. God bless you all.

These are good dudes that saw something that blew their worlds apart. This can happen and Vietnam was the first time we were using new weaponry. In a jungle, at night. Nothing is scarier. Infrared night goggles were not available yet. If those soldiers on the ground were actually communicating like today, they would have told the guys on the ground in the moment. "No gun, that is a walking stick". No civilian kills. At My Lai, if we had mini drones with infrared cameras, would we have gone in to kill without any soldiers being there? We would have been more effective with technology in Vietnam, but that isn't what made Vietnam bad news. We were supporting a colonial power. A lot of military objections early on. It wasn't just the "Burn out Vet". It was Admirals in the US Navy were saying right off the bat in 1945. They were asking; Why are we supporting France in Indochina? We were fighting Japanese Imperialism and German Fascism, we don't belong supporting a colonial power. We couriered the French soldiers to Indochina delaying the US soldiers on the ship from returning home after WWII. NATO brought us into Vietnam when the French lost their colony to the Viet-Minh in 54'. JFK, LBJ and RFK all tried to stop the Vietnam War. Even Eisenhower had major reservations about Vietnam and the French. It was America's business relationship with the French that ultimately made the war happen. The corporations pushed that war until one day the only thing left was heroin and addicts in our military. They came home dopesick in droves. The French lost natural rubber to synthetic rubber in the 1950's causing agriculturalists to subsidize the loss of the rubber business with opium. That was why Vietnam was one big overgrown rubber plantation that was now useless. We paid the South Vietnamese Army to guard the poppy fields and kill their leader President Diem. Then they shot JFK for trying to pull out. We didn't have the technology, but if you saw "American Sniper" these situations present themselves in war even without the jungle to confuse them. Although, Chris Kyle didn't have the same technology we have now. These events are much mitigated with technology today. Even with all the accuracy, the civilians die. It is so sad and it doesn't seem to have slowed. It is growing.

The internal conflict lingers for some long after physical wounds heal, if those wounds are ever even received. The military in general is a hard career path, fraught with selfless service to selfish leaders. War adds a dimension that, while fulfilling in a sense (we do exist to "defend the US" even if we wage war in far-off countries with little influence over our domestic affairs, after all), ultimately shows us how cheaply life can be wasted.

I know a local painter who served in Veitnam, he was shot in the groin in a rice paddy! Lost his testicles! Spent quite a bit of time in walter reed hospital! When he was released to go home in his uniform, he said someone came up to him and said: HOW MANY BABIES DID YOU KILL??? He said he got right in his face and said: NO MORE THAN I COULD EAT!!!! He said the shock on that guys face was priceless!!!

Wow these soldiers need to put there conscience on a back burner ,and do your job ,if your spared another day ,say a prayer for the fallen

It is unfortunate vets have to experience PTSD. Are there any medical treatments on the horizon that can wipe it out or control it to a much better degree?

Who are they? Any names? Histories?

I think it’s baffling to see all these god bless our vets comments on a video like this. They did nothing to feel good about. That’s why their minds were destroyed. I feel deeply sorry for what they endured, but I feel worse for the innocent people whose lives they took. It’s a complicated issue because so many young men & people in general were & still are brainwashed into thinking they are contributing to a righteous cause only to be sucked into complete hell, all for a government’s desire for profits & power. My own grandfather had his mind destroyed in Vietnam. He came back a changed man, and a complete monster. He terrorized the people in his life. I have empathy for what he endured but at the same time I have no sympathy for what he became, he literally destroyed the lives of his wife & his child. This trauma passed down to me through my mother, who was unfit as a parent due to what he put her through. Every person bears responsibility for their actions in the aftermath, but clearly as they said in these interviews, the war put pressure on people to commit atrocities they never would have dreamed of committing otherwise, & their lives were destroyed as a result. At the same time, I have Vietnamese friends who endured the other side of this history & don’t forgive the Americans for what they did to them, & I don’t blame them for that at all. War is nothing but a deep, lasting physiological scar created on two groups of people together for the gain of the political elite. But never will I say I’m proud of our troops for this. Certainly the men in this video weren’t proud of what they had seen and done, so why should we be? It’s not what they would have wanted. To be clear, this isn’t directed at you, Mr. Hoffman. I appreciate your work greatly. It simply struck a chord with me to see comments that seemed to miss the point of these men’s words.

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🎖🎖🎖🎖🎖🎖