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Thanks for helping make people aware of the issue.

I am not a vet, but grew up during the Vietnam era.

My draft numbers were high in ‘72 and ‘73, so I was not drafted.

Although I have watched about every war movie ever made, the one that affected me the most was Forrest Gump.

The combat scene when the rain ends in Vietnam, with the tracer bullets, sounds, people vaporizing with direct artillery blasts, made me very uncomfortable in the theater.

It was no longer a funny movie.

And I am not even a vet.

I can only imagine what a combat vet goes through.

We certainly owe them some courtesy to have space to deal with this.

It stays with you an entire lifetime.

Only now, do I understand why the WW2 vets I knew growing up didn’t brag about their exploits. They were heroes, but they felt the real heroes were the ones that didn’t make it home.

With PTSD sound, sight, and even smells can trigger it. I've sat in sessions with combat Vets that had it. I had it but not from combat. But I was a Navy Machinist Mate and Army NG I was 13-B cannon Infantry. I've been exposed to loud bombardments of just about the entire hearing spectrum. The PTSD can from my life after I got out. Some neurological damage related to sensory and Inner Ear I was born with. One afternoon both decided to hit me at the same time.

It took nearly 5 years therapy for the PTSD and the other part the part where noises set me off like the cartoon cat being barked at that hugs the ceiling is still there. It is a separate issue but it compounded the PTSD. The two together can be miserable and often the sensory damage portion left overlooked or not diagnosed.