[Chainmail]

On the other hand, there are combat veterans like me, who sometimes feel compelled to talk about our war and our experiences - sometimes even on this forum.

I remember going through this routine when I was in OCS, after my time in Vietnam, and I was telling my fellow Candidates about a particular experience and one of the Candidates told me that "real combat veterans are silent and don't discuss their experiences - look at that other Candidate (a former sergeant who never said anything to anyone) - he is quiet about his experiences - who knows what he may have seen".

I realized that nobody wanted to hear about my experiences, so I stopped telling them anything.

When we graduated and put our officer's uniforms on for the first time, I got wear my ribbons - which include a Bronze Star with "V" and a Purple Heart - and the silent former sergeant had just one ribbon: the National Defense Service ribbon.

It all depends on who you are and how your experiences affected you.

[Gay State Conservative]

First of all the most dangerous thing I ever did in uniform was to eat Army chow (I was luckier than many,many others) so I most certainly can't speak about combat with any credibility.

IMO it can be argued that for officer candidates like yourself it's actually *important* to converse with fellow candidates and instructors as a worthwhile way to learn.

I guess I should have been more specific in my earlier post: it's my understanding that *WWII vets* refrained from discussing their experiences with *family*...perhaps because they didn't want to re-live it themselves and/or because they didn't want to burden their loved ones with the horrors they experienced.

Of course I could be completely misinformed on that matter.

[elteemike]

There are no rules; there is no book of instructions on how to deal with our experiences once we return to “the real world”...

I have to remind myself the veterans’ traumatic experiences actually occurred in “the real world”, and the world most of us live in daily is the actual fantasy...

You feel the need to tell it, then tell it...Your way...You’re the greatest expert on your story...Like the song said, “...Walk a mile in my shoes...”