That’s a high percentage, is it not?
Or was this similar during WW2?
If the amount having PTSD issues is unique to Viet-Nam and newer wars, one has to ask why, what made this conflict so horrific.
I just missed the draft by one year. I have a few relatives who came back from Viet-Nam as very different characters than before they enlisted. Many changes were permanent. I also have a few relatives who returned from duty, older and wiser, but the same spirits, the same personalities inside.
It’s an unknowable question.
Many presume war has always caused such reaction in men, but was more closely recorded and more directly treated only in recent decades.
Many presume war has always caused such reaction in men, but was more closely recorded and more directly treated only in recent decades.
And we must remember since 9/11, many of our troops have had multiple deployments into combat zones.
The availability of illicit drugs both during and later would be my conclusion. WWII vets generally had to self-medicate with alcohol. Vietnam folks had more options, some of which caused long term damage. I would like to see the percentage of folks getting PTSD benefits who haven't used illegal drugs.
The army is much smaller today so fewer are doing more. There were 15 million Americans in uniform at the height of WWII in a population half of what it is today. There are are fewer than a million and a half active duty military today.