A war hero returns home, 40 years later
By John Blake, CNN
updated 12:38 AM EDT, Sun March 25, 2012
“-- Karl Marlantes stared at the young man through the sights of an
M-16 rifle and slid his muddy finger over the curve of the trigger.
Turning toward him, the man locked eyes with Marlantes and froze.
"Don't throw it. Don't throw it," Marlantes whispered, hoping
the man would surrender...”
Cassi Creek:
I
haven’t read either of his books. I may
eventually find them and read them. However,
I don’t need to read them to know what he has written in order to know its
merits and its predictions.
The
author is of my generation, as am I, a member of “the club.” We’ve suppressed the memories and flashbacks
that go along with membership’s other dues.
We’ve made every attempt at living the life we believed we could
live. We’ve lived through a bad marriage
and a divorce. We’ve suffered the
long-term effects of adrenaline addiction that is born in battle.
Like
the author, I know the surprise of eject yet another small piece of shrapnel
when we thought there was none left to extrude.
And like the author, I’ve found help for PTSD. I understand it will be with me always. So will it be with everyone who is afflicted
with it. It will shape who we are, who
our offspring are, and who we want to be.
What
this book offers is not only some of the same tales other veterans have already
told, or that I’ve related, but also a new perspective that may help another
veteran learn to deal with it. Each of
us has our own set of experiences, our own war.
Collectively we define PTSD but we deal with it and treat it separately.
So
if you know a veteran of any war who may be trying to defeat his or her
particular box of demons, point him to the book. Watch out, if you do. These books can trigger a lot of repressed
and suppressed memory. It may be a rough
ride over the reefs of ugly memories before they can find a safe anchorage and
a place to peel off the armor they still wear.
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