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Vietnam Drugs and Insanity
So I REALLY REALLY would be grateful for some help on this before I go insane myself.
I am doing a research paper about the Vietnam era and my topic is how war drives people insane. It shouldn't be too hard to find sources to prove that, since people in the 60's were pretty insane and im sure it had something to do with the war and something to do with all those new drugs coming out. Well my teacher says i need to find pictures and songs, not books as sources. I have one picture, but i need other types of media other than books that prove people were crazy because of the war...and the hard part is they HAVE to be printed in the 60's to early 70's. They can be songs, pictures, movies, etc. just no books. and it seems easy enough, but i cant find ANYTHING!!!!
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"just no books" you just shot most of the best sources down, but I can understand where you're coming from. so I'll paraphrase most of my research and personal experience in order to get you the needed data. This is from a book called "On Killing"
according to some studies conducted over the years, the psychological damage associated with killing can be gauged by the sensitivity of the individual, and proximity to the victim. killing another human being with long range weapons is a hell of a lot easier than doing it with a bayonet in the guys face with his hot breath all over you smelling like the curry he ate last night as you slide the eight inch blade across his throat and listen to the gurgled screams slowly patter off. Killing is such an unnatural thing to do that it fucks you up even when you absolutely have to kill that motherfucker.
thats what some former colonel from the 82nd airborne has to say. this is my take, and my experience.
I've lived around vietnam vets for most of my life, they've told me some really dark shit, the ground pounding combat troopers, some of the ones I know back in the states never came back. they're still up in the woods in western mass fighting the war. The opponent back then was a vicious up close and personal one, highly skilled as a jungle fighter. The battles I've had related to me, I can barely relate with, three hundred jihadis attacking me last year has no comparison to the kinds of numbers they talk about. southeast asia had a lot of cheap drugs available, and just like a few of the guys with me in my last deployment, the GIs back then used them to relieve stress and stem the tide of horror. Unlike my experience, they had been betrayed by the nation they were sworn to protect, and thats just plain awful, how would you feel if people were calling you "babykiller" and spitting on your uniform? exactly. The guilt of killing, the drugs they used to relieve the psychological pain, and the guilt the society forced upon them for their courage, determination, and sacrifice, these combined in a lot of these guys to drive them over the edge.
I've got symptoms of PTSD, controlling emotions and drinking to stop the flashbacks are a serious problem for me, but every time I remember what they went through in 'Nam, I feel like a bitch for even complaining. and so I refuse to get the help that I probably need. welcome to the life of a soldier, My unit and my equipment have a higher priority than any problem I have, and besides, my peers view a trip to the mental health clinic as a sign of weakness and malingering. 'Nam vets had no support compared to what we have today, and I'm ashamed for it.
and tell your teacher that he or she is a bloody nitwit. popular culture in the 60s and 70s cannot be relied upon worth a damn. Those pinko scumbags running the show back then made good men out to be monsters, and don't feel shy about printing this off and showing your teacher an example of my utter distatse for the pinko programming they're trying to sling into the heads of kids these days. Go to a VFW, call the post commander(they're in the phone book) have real live veterans tell their story to your class. Being a warrior isn't all about defending The Constitution and The American People. Its also about teaching kids like you the things you need to be a good citizen. Our mistakes, our triumphs, they'll be all for naught if the next generation can't follow through and use our knowledge and experience to make the world a better place. The VFW will be more than happy to help you.
good luck with the project, kid. hope I helped.
-Gunner
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I am a great deal older than most of the advisers on this site, so my advice will be somewhat different from what you have received and may continue to receive from others.
I served in the Air Force during Vietnam and have very vivid memories of walking through San Francisco Airport in uniform. In fact the Airlines changed the requirement that for the military to fly at reduced fare we must fly in uniform, to one where it was optional and even requested that we did not wear our uniforms.
Some of the things I encountered when I returned where; as a veteran I was able to go to College on the GI Bill. I had to pull out of two classes because of protests on campus. Normally you would receive a failing mark. I received a passing grade because I was a returning veteran.
Before leaving for the Air Force I had been a member of my towns volunteer Fire Department. When I returned I notified the Chief I was home and asked to be put back on active status. No one other than the chief knew I was home. Shortly after I returned we had a house fire. Once the fire was out we of course had to put the house back on the engine. I climbed up on the bed of the engine and started to lay the house back in the bed when the driver/operator noticed me. At the top of his lungs he started screaming; “One of our boys is home, one of our boys is home”, over and over again. Next thing I knew every flood light we had was focused on me and everyone who was watching and every firefighter encircled the engine, applauding and welcoming me home.
I tell you this story to show you the disparity of the times. I could not get the education I wanted because of the unrest over the war on College Campuses and neither could I sneak quietly back home.
As for pictures of those times I would go to Life Magazines web site and search their archives. Back in the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s Life magazine was a wonderful picture magazine that I believe was a weekly magazine at the time
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I think you are probably looking using the wrong terminology. I don't think crazy or insane are what you are needing. :)
A lot of people who fought in the Vietnam war suffered from Post traumatic Stress Disorder.
Perhaps because of the long tours of duty and the
attitudes of the people they came home to. Nothing like getting off a plane glad to be home and having people spit on you and call you a baby killer.
Here is search I hope will help you out. Good luck with your assignment.
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