Many codes were broken in the war, lies spoken, cover-ups pursued. The degree to which that occurred set a bad precedent for governance in the United States. So many lives were lost because of a failure of leadership at so many levels. In my view, the United States has not healed from the divisions created during the war, domestically and internationally.
Empathy and Trauma
It is not surprising that medics would experience a deep sense of survivor’s guilt. People who have not witnessed what explosives and automatic weapons do to the human body can only imagine. Serious wounds are horrible—for the casualty, and the medics, nurses and doctors at every level from the field through the evacuation system. It is not just about saving a life. It is about amputations and blindness, paralysis, burns, infections, and pain. Not every wounded body can be put back together. And at the core of every one of them is a human being.
Returning
Instead of being welcomed home, the first Americans I interacted with after deboarding my plane at Travis Air Force Base were screaming obscenities at me and 180 other veterans. Still in our jungle fatigues, we had to walk within a few feet of a chain link fence which separated us from hundreds of angry and jeering protestors. The message was clear; we were not welcome in our homeland.
On writing Poisoned Jungle
In writing Poisoned Jungle, I have attempted to express through the characters the incredible complexity of going to war. Conflicts don’t end with the last shots fired; they send tentacles in numerous directions to twist and fester and entangle themselves into lives beyond the combatants.