[Eva]

Oh, now I get it, these guys are mentally ill. I know I've met some, just like them in Whatcom County. I'm not sure that their mental illness was caused by the war, though. They do migrate here because they could live relatively cheaply and with little interaction with society. Society is closing in, though.

[kcvl]

"And George Gruel, who claimed he was traumatized by the sight of his friend being chopped to pieces by a propeller? Navy records reveal that a propeller accident did take place on the Ticonderoga when Gruel was aboard — but that he wasn't around when it happened. During Gruel's tour, the ship had been converted to an antisubmarine warfare carrier which operated, not on 'secret mission' along the Vietnam coast, but on training missions off the California coastline. Nevertheless, Burkett notes, Gruel receives $1,952 a month from the Veterans Administration for 'psychological trauma' related to an event he only heard about.