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I knew many veterans from Vietnam because they were my age group. Those that made the transition back home without too many issues had that attitude that they made it and were determined to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. And they did.

I also knew many of the others that could not do that, they told me it was because they could not live with all the things that were in their head. Most of them drank heavily or did a lot of drugs, some committed suicide.

I don’t know how the first group dealt with what they had seen and done but they managed to. The others just couldn’t and I don’t know why they couldn’t.

People process things differently, and that is probably from birth, not sure it can be changed much. Veterans I knew from the 2nd group- some were taught how to cope with things differently and it worked for some, not for others. That is what happens with any treatment.

I think it is all very complicated, not possible to really understand. We all just do what we can to help and it may never be enough.

PTSD is very real but no one really understands it. My husband was blown up by a mine in Vietnam, barely survived and in fact those that witnessed it were sure he didn’t survive. He never claimed PTSD, and went on with his life as much as he could after all his medical issues were addressed as much as they could be. One of the men that witnessed it was diagnosed with PTSD and seeing what happened to my husband was his stressor according to the diagnosis. There is no predicting what each person can deal with and what some cannot.