Vietnam: A Soldier's Journal

Have you spoken with friends, family, anyone about your war? It's common for us to keep silent, to "protect" our loved ones from our experiences, but that doesn't help anyone, does it? It doesn't help you and it doesn't help them. By sharing your experiences you help rid yourself of the nightmares and guilt, the PTSD and other afflictions. And you help them by preparing them for struggles that they may face. I opened up to the world in a series of weblog postings that I shared on my website and later published in two memoirs: "Infantry School" and "Vietnam". I offered them free of charge to insure the widest possible distribution and have been gratified to find students reporting on them. Recently I received an email: "I am a senior pursuing my Bachelors degree at the University of Florida in Gainesville. I have been researching your memoir for one of my papers in my Vietnam History Seminar, and I just wanted to thank you for your work. Your writing has given me a insight on what it meant to be in the war and the perceptions people had of war veterans at the time is what I found most interesting." If nothing else, I am rebutting the narrative created by anti-war protesters, the one that caused Vietnam Vets so much grief. From this and other letters and comments left on my website as well as emails that I've received, it seems that I have enjoyed some success in my mission.

Maybe you should share your experiences too...