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Profile of a Vet

How Vietnam Veterans are different in similar ways

Vietnam Vets are less likely to blindly accept the orders and perceptions of others.

They are perhaps more likely to measure others by their reliability, i.e., is this someone with whom I could share a foxhole?

They are less hung up on appearances, less easily fooled, and have had enough bullshit thrown at them that they may see through it a little better than others.

"I think we share sadness and a Brotherhood that is rare," says Catherall. "It may not be an active part of our lives most of the time, but Vietnam Vets are able to connect in a way that goes very deep. Think about the guys hugging each other at  'The Wall.'  This is the same thing that the current men's movement is trying to achieve, and it's no accident that the foremost group has chosen the name 'Warriors.'  I think those of us who were real  Warriors have found Robert Bly's (Iron John) 'Wild Man' in ourselves.

"Many of us have volatile tempers, seek adrenaline-rush-type activities, are workaholics, alcoholics, and are maintaining but still sitting on explosive energy." explains Catherall.

"We know how to take orders and give orders. We have shared our canteens with all classes of people. We've seen death close up. We've experienced big-time loss. We've faced our fears and found our own courage. As a result we are different in a way that the Indians understood and prized, but which our society does not well understand and often fears.

"We have had the experience of being judge, jury and executioner. Many of us were free to take life without having to account for our reasons. We were all affected by having that incredible power of living through an experience in which there was no law - We were the law."

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These are the thoughts of Don R. Catherall, a PH. D. In psychology and cofounder and executive director of the Phoenix Institute in Chicago, which specializes in treating trauma survivors of all ages. He has counseled Vietnam Vets suffering from post-traumatic-stress disorder and has been an adviser to the Dept of Veterans Affairs. He was a combat soldier with the Marine Corps in 1967-68 and authored 'Back from the Brink,' a family guide to overcoming traumatic stress.

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