Two Vietnam Vets Reveal PTSD & What Gave It To Them. Filmed In 1970
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ค. 2023
- These interviews were recorded in 1970 by local Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania filmmakers and never presented on TV. At the time, hundreds of thousands of veterans were returning from the war in Vietnam and few were speaking about it publicly or even to their families. We now understand so much more about PTSD which both of these vets clearly had.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a serious mental health condition that occurs after a person experiences or witnesses a traumatic event, such as combat, a natural disaster, a car accident or sexual assault. It is characterized by symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety and uncontrollable thoughts about the event.
Estimating the exact number of Vietnam War veterans who suffered from PTSD as a result of their service is difficult due to the stigma associated with mental health issues which lead to underreporting and changes in the understanding and diagnosis of PTSD over time.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, about 15% of Vietnam veterans were diagnosed with PTSD at the time of the most recent study in the late 1980s. It's also estimated that about 30% of Vietnam veterans have had PTSD in their lifetime.
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David Hoffman filmmaker
another haunting interview - Vietnam Vet Oliver Stone -
th-cam.com/video/dQTrTtqW-uk/w-d-xo.html
David, I'm curious if you possibly know what became of these two Vietnam veterans? Thanks for your time and content.
Very good, I watched that one
PTSD is real. So many people suffer from many different reasons
I just tried to donate w my mastercard & couldn't I dond know French, you must be in Canada🇨🇦I my uncle was there pre nam, property, wanted to invite boys up to say f u to draft.
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.
I made a promise to myself in '67, to never, ever, return to that God Damn country!
@@chip9649 Have you ever been to that country?
@@boondocker7964 it’s a shit hole
My Dad did 2 tours in Vietnam. He always wondered why anyone would want to go back to that "shithole"!
@@g.sheppard5270 I did one, figured I could not be that lucky ever again, besides they issued us M-16's, sometimes they would go bang when you pulled the trigger, and sometimes they would not.
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.
That’s a true hero. Props to your Pops!
*and your Mom!
Hats off to your dad. I struggle with ptsd, I’m an iraq vet, and one day hope to be able to foster, too. We only get one shot at this life, as far as I know, and I’d like to be able to do something good like your dad.
Sending my love from California.
I also wake up to my own screams..i was never in nam..but its very taxing to wake up like that
@@sirdjorgostarcopper8735
I have night-terrors and PTSD as well. Sometimes it's sleep paralysis but mostly not. It most certainly isn't fun, but it always reminds me of the sacrifices my foster-father made despite it, and so I keep pushing forward.
I guess I am trying to give advice and say to find something worth that sacrifice, so that each time you overcome it- it becomes an accomplishmemt to reflect on. That you are strong, can handle it, and can make a difference in the world. I genuinely hope things start looking up for you; but moreso you have/can found/find that thing that drives you forward no matter the obstacle. Good luck, and best wishes.
@@sirdjorgostarcopper8735you're weak
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 🇬🇧
Bless you and your Kitties Charlie, pets are healers and love us unconditionally; I have 2 myself.
I hear you!❤
Thank you for your Service & may God heal you from head to toe in the near future💜❤🙏
Cats are amazing companions. Have a good life mate 👍
Bless you and your cats Charlie❤ Hang in there.
Aren’t you angry at your government and politicians? Don’t you want revenge for all the lies they’ve told to get us into wars for multinational corporations and nothing more?
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!
10 PM?
They were showing it during the evening news.
When my dad realized that we were watching it , he would tell us to go to our rooms.
I was able to watch as a child thankful my parents didn’t screen me.
@@RonHelton Yeah, I was probably doing something else during the early news but after dinner it was always tv.
They were trying to protect us from seeing the ugly realities of adulthood.
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.
Stop it. Just stop
@@UnfilteredAmericano he's gotta cry about something he hasn't been in for decades 😂 idk why grown men and women cry about schooling when they were last in school 30 years+ ago
@@Steve.._. I mean our illiteracy rate is the highest its ever been in over 200 years
@@dannysummers4591 Our Literacy rate WAS better from 200 years ago, but I will admit it has gotten worse since COVID
Agree. The man on the street was better-spoken several decades ago. I've seen the decline myself.
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.
Condolences on your loss @malcorub
Enjoy the benefits? At 100% disability you can't afford the $1500 a month rent for a one bedroom apartment or a home in the slums of my own city. I don't live in NYC or San Francisco.
Hi sir, I'm Vietnamese who have many Vietnam veterans here. They all from US. My dad is an soldier who served 10 years as a Vietcong. We welcome all the US veteran here. We hate war but we love veteran and US.
I'm so sorry for your loss. My dad is also a Vietnam veteran and finally got benefits I think it was 2012 or 2013 after receiving nothing for all those years.
@@sassycat6487the USA sucks in so many ways - as do many nations regarding injured and traumatised combatants.
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.
I can relate to that completely. I was in Iraq April 2003- Feb 2004 , Oct 2005-oct 2006 Afghanistan Nov 2010 -jan 2012..... Its a hard life and it left me with no feeling...... Just the dark place... That darkness is the hardest thing to shake. Stay well
@@lordeagle100 Thank you for your service. God bless you!!!✝️🙏👏
@@truthtriumphant thank you. Stay well ✌️
The only female soldiers I'm aware of were Russian soldiers. Was your dad German?
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."
This is true.dont fall out of line.
Iraq, was.just aggrvated murder on a grand scale for the sake of whats to be got, and not for soldiers, we took it up the backside, to be treated like goldbrickers back at the VA , while the oil barons got MORE RICH. There is no good fight to be fought.
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.
"Our innocence helped them heal" wow that is powerful🔥
@@mcfrisko834 And it was true, for all of us. They cherished us, we needed to be cherished. It was tough listening, but even at our young ages, we were helping.
did they tell you the stories of US soldiers cutting the heads off people and children and leaving the heads on the side of the road?
@@bwana-ma-coo-bah425 WTF did you come up with those A-hole stories? In a drug/drunk bender, you dreamed up something to make yourself feel better cuz you were not there? Maybe you went to Canaduh, ay? You must be a half wit.
😑
screw all that fluffy, 'walt disney' bullshit.
if they did the those things, they deserve to be haunted to the grave.
none of US could get away with blowing a baby's head off, could we?
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.
well the US invaded, Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam, The US was not under attack but needed to boost their bank account. when they had enough money, they just packed up and left.
Peaceful times? Are you smoking meth?
What peaceful times ?
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
It’s survivor syndrome, the guilt of coming home alive after seeing so many die. You always think “why did I make it home and so many of my brothers did not”.
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.
I'm so sorry you still bear the wounds of DaNang, one of the worst places to be during Tet. I can only imagine how it felt to be so vulnerable, in a foreign city far from home. I was 18 during that time and we protested the war but didn't burn anything, because it wasn't about that, to us. We were anti-war, not anti-people, naively calling the war "illegal" and I never forgot the vets I saw at the VA Hospital 10 minutes away - I had visited a friend who didn't want to go home because he felt ashamed he got wounded! These boys had to fight all over again - as you know - just to find their place back in the world, out of "country" for good. 20 years in Afghan tells me we didn't learn a thing from Nam. May you find your peace. ☮✌🏻
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.
God bless you. im saying a prayer for you 🙏
Iraq was NOT vietnam
@@knighthawk3559 really, I didn't know that. I never said they were. The only similarity is both failed. My Dad's a two tour Vietnam vet and I've always said that fighting in Vietnam, to me, would've been the worst war to fight in. I was also in Afghanistan and had my left foot blown off when our driver, RIP Brownie, hit an IED. I don't know how long I was unconscious but when I fell out the door as soon as I set up on my knees I got shot in the ear. If you ever seen me you'd be able to tell cause 1/4th of my ear is missing and I wear a prosthetic that's pretty sweet. Did you fight in any wars or are you randomly telling veterans things you have no idea about?
@@26michaeluk thanks for your service
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.”
one hell of a stupid war, I'd even call it a sandbox war, basically just an excuse to dump and experiment all kinds of chemical and explosive shit (agent orange, napalm, white), other than to prepare the army to guerrilla warfare.
One of the hardest things to realize is that oneself is the bad guy in a war, that one's self and comrades are the problem in a broken land
Michele you're very fortunate to have a grandpa who was able to voice his feelings about Nam. I was teen in the 60s and watched my friends get drafted into that criminal war. We protested but no one burned a flag, and anyone who did was ostracized because it wasn't about patriotism to us. It was about the right of any nation to govern themselves, without oppression. LBJ kept talking about "the domino theory" of communist invasion but it always sounded so shallow. I hope your generation can take from history the lessons of that war, which were lost to so many in power. Our 20 years of war in Afghan proved that.
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 dad does too, but he never went to war
@@markpacheco2690your dad's a lame
He knows what he did was wrong and his soul will have to answer for it
@@tzora6462 you are a disgusting person to say that to the child of a veteran. You will also have to answer for your lack of empathy and karma always collects.
@@tzora6462what he did or didn't do wasn't wrong. When 17-18-19yr old kids go to war and spend 300 of 365 days in combat situations finish their 1yr tour and be home on the block the next day. No time to decompress, that's what u get
These poor guys....war is hell. It tears a man's soul apart. Just want to hug these guys
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.
I’m a 17 year old boy eager to learn, can you tell me anything you learned while serving in Vietnam?
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.
Welcome home Rick!
Glad that you have been able to overcome the Agent Orange!
@Rick Daystar... Thanks you for your service and sacrifice during the Vietnam confect and welcome home Sir.
@@RonHelton Thank you Ron it's much appreciated..
@@drewpall2598 Thanks Drew your very kind .
I Respect You and Your Service. I Hate How Badly That War Was Handled!!! So Many Came Back And Could Not Even Talk About What Happened, But You Can Clearly See There Was Some Psychological Issues and A Deep Sadness.
I Am Relieved To Hear You Survived The Poisoning!
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.
We need more people like you
who respect knowledge simply on its own merits.
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.💔💔
why was the US under attack?
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!
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
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.
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.
That is really rough, but thank you for sharing it. Good luck to you.
David Hoffman filmmaker
Wow dude that's awesome. I'm 45 yr male from Canton Ohio. Where are u from. That is so cool u loved to australia. I used to work for a drywall company n I remember working at a guy's house replacing Windows it was in a wheelchair and he told me he was eating up my agent orange she had both of his legs amputated he was in Vietnam nice guy I wanted to move in with the guy and help him but I was young I got to go on with my life you know and just some things you can't do you know I feel so bad for him though he seemed kind of lonely too told me he was fighting the VA what you guys went through
That's a good story!
David Hoffman, thank you, and the more of these kinds of stories you can post, the better.
My Lai was not an outlier event.
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.
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. ♥
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 ..
It’s unbelievable what people have to live through
Claimed my father's life over there big like I relate to this a lot thank you for sharing
I'm so sorry to hear you lost your dad. For me, it was my high school classmates. Way too young to be fighting a war!!😢
Thanks Mr. Hoffman, always great contributions
War is business and this should be shared to wake people.
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.
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.
Wow. Thanks David ❤
The end of the last interview was hart breaking. Suffering because you dont have the will to survive is common.
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
I did it cost me 1 year in army hospital being put back together after being shot then blown to hell by RPG
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.
What an amazing interview. Thank you David for sharing this with us.
Incredible documentary. Thank you for sharing this. Such a raw perspective on PTSD.
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.
you say that as if you are proud you killed people you never met or had done nothing to you and especially when your country was not under attack.
@@bwana-ma-coo-bah425 Where did he say he was proud? Let's be real---this is war, people are going to kill or be killed.
How did that affect you mentally? How do you feel about it?
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
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.
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 !!❤
Thank you for posting.
Bless all the brave❤.
My son and father are both Purple Heart; boots on the ground combat veterans. War IS Hell.
That's what my dad, a WW2 vet, always said, too. He lived into his 70s. After he died I found a pocket diary he carried during battle. Things he never told us. I understood when I read it that war is truly hell.
@@madashell7224always thought mine was in a foxhole in Germany it was in Italy, Army 10th Mountain Division infantry~medic. Cannot imagine my dad being a mountain climber, skier, snow shoeing etc the training alone was arduous the first unit trained in Mountain warfare. I too found out after he passed as he never spoke, I just saw the shrapnel scars. My brother has his medals I have a printed book about the 10th with his name in it. He definitely had untreated trauma passed at 67.
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.
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
These short videos are good
Thank you.
David Hoffman filmmaker
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 fascinating. It’s so raw
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?
U live through a war but your spirit dies. Nobody wins.
Always brilliant videos. Thank you 🙏
So heartbreaking for everyone involved
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!
thank you much Mr. David, for posting all this grate diamonds of Historical info, i saw this on my recommended, and clicked on it, fast, and Iam always very surprised how IDENTICAL< the interviews, feedback, from this Youngman, are, so close to mine, like. The look in their eyes, the sound of their voice describing certain, heartbreaking incidents during their deployment, and he said it better, its a Weird Atmosphere, filled with so much contradiction, and confusion, and when you know you are just another spoke on the wheel, you really can't say or do anything about it, ! but when we all come home, we have a seat down with our selves asking hundreds of question, of " WHY " and at the end, we are very proud of our service, but no solid man, wants to admit ,they were nothing but Pawns, in a global scheme, and unfortunately, that's what we all where, during 9-11, WE AL FOUND A COMON ENEMY ! and the MILITARY INDUSTRIAL Walmart! found their NEW SALES EVENT !! and everyone wanted REVENGE! now i look back, and we didn't do anything, millions of dollars wasted, thousands of soldiers with life lasting physical issues, lots of them hooked on alcohol and drugs, suicide rate sky high, homelessness, and on top of that i see the news or a documentary of what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan and . well! WE LEFT THOSE PLACES WORST THEN BEFORE! more destroyed, more people displaced, more people with less resources, more militias groups terrorizing the public for control, because the puppet we put there, high tail out of there soon as we pulled out of there, this country as a NATION is Done! i really think THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE IN DENIAL ! thank you if you read this, love letter to your video, it helps to educate and makes us remember our Vietnam vets also, and Again, i am so amazed how since Vietnam, ,all our other conflicts are so based on greed and not actually liberating or doing a heroic deed for others that are oppressed, we do it now, for control, to oppressed a sovereign country, that wants nothing to do with us, to sell more arms, to arms other groups, so that group go do, inhumane things to another group, and the U.S. seats back and watch, the new flavor of the day is ISRAEL VS PALESTINE , bottom line is, there's no money to be made in " PEACE"
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.
How sad for someone to put a gun to ones head for you to shoot a child.....
And you have kids these days saying 'social media' gave them P.T.S.D..
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.🙏
was the US under attack?
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.
My dad was just old enough for WW2 and as a lifer, just young enough for Vietnam. He was a monster, should never have been allowed around children. I now see he was an unconscious product of his experiences.
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.
Some heartbreaking stuff here, war is hell and don’t like it.
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
MAPS is on the verge of MDMA psychedelic assisted therapy being legalized. The sessions greatly alleviate PTSD apparently.
@@Knifymoloko ok I see 👍
I’m an Iraq vet, and I have such incredibly mixed feelings. With Viet Nam, I have tremendous sympathy for the guys that were sent over there to fight, while the US government BS’d around with it. The peace movement was I think mostly for selfish reasons, people feared the draft…the protests died down when the draft ended.
Iraq and Afghanistan, so few of us went and most of us went multiple times the brunt of the suffering was on such a small percentage of the population, I don’t think anyone really cared. We didn’t get spit on or anything crazy like the Nam guys, we got “thank you for your service” but it was such a cluster fk of emotions, wanting to be home…then being him and missing the ppl I was serving with, being on autopilot, doing a job that mattered to my team but no one else. It’s a weird feeling coming back from a war.
None came back unaffected? Combat wounded 68/69 no you can’t go back for revenge
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.
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.
Thank you.
David Hoffman Filmmaker
Man people spoke so well back then, what happened?
I noticed too. They enunciated more and their vocabularies seemed larger.
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.
True in almost every war: "We went there under an illustion - and now we'd like to say something about it." (3:15)
Oh wow.
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.”
Hard to watch. Still happening today.
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.
and it’s because of pieces like this that you are … David Hoffman, Filmmaker
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.
I served in the 9th infantry division in 1968 and during heavy combat i seen a very young girl run in between us with a AK style weapon and someone cut her down dead. It didn't bother me until it was time to get some sleep afterwards later that evening.
These interviews remind me of Operation Winter Soldier, which are similar interviews & testimony of Iraq vets against the war.
united mankind against warfare
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.
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.
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
are you saying they should not progress? has the US changed?
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
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.
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
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!!!
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?
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.
Can any of the Vietnam vets help me figure out what happened to my uncle over there? I have a lot of questions and he’s dead now, he drank himself to death