An Emotional Casualty of Vietnam

Those who have not gone into battle can only assume to know what goes on in the head of soldiers facing life's possible finality. The brain is a complex organ with no one thinking the same thoughts in any situation under the same circumstances, but there are compatible emotions which bring us together like anger, fear, hate, and love. This composition of poems and descriptions is intended to demonstrate how complicated emotions affected young boys in the Vietnam era compared to other conflagrations over the years and the difference may have caused more lives to be lost because of those emotions.

What Veterans were dubbed for coming to the aid of their Country was unjustified. It is difficult to understand unless you have faced similar conditions of war. Where the army you were fighting knew not of the Geneva Convention, and if they did then it hadn't made a difference. What took soldiers minds away from their immediate reflexes in battle was the lack of support from home which changed the attitude of these boys, quickly turned to men, into disheartened souls. A reason was desperately needed in order to focus on the trouble at hand and it never came to light.

Every man who fought for his Country loved it without a wavering thought, and were patriots to the end of their lives whether on the battle field or as a retired Veteran. Now, Veterans try hard to stay away from emotions because they bring back memories we try to forget, but can't because of the realism of our nightmares and flashbacks. When emotions come to mind, think of all the suicides that have been reported on Vietnam Veterans and you may realize how these feelings of hopelessness are still there. If it were not for the excuses not to commit this act, speaking of wives, children, and grandchildren, the numbers would increase substantially.

-- George Sterba