Outskirts Press, INC.

The author’s life events lead to guilt, depression and PTSD

At the age of fifteen Mickey loses his older brother who is killed in a car accident; an accident that took split second timing for two cars to come in contact on a remote highway in rural Iowa. At age twenty he arrives in Vietnam as a US Marine Corp Infantryman. The Grass Swale is a section of foot path in Vietnam that changes the lives of six Marines, including the author, who lives with the mental anguish and nightmares caused by post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Walk with Mickey down The Grass Swale.

I have been told by a VA counselor that PTSD can’t be cured. It is a matter of being aware of it, talking about it, with the knowledge that the memories will never go away. But those memories can be dimmed and less traumatic through understanding and professional guidance. Too many veterans feel they must protect their family and friends by not discussing those experiences. What they need to understand is they must open up and share those experiences to take away its power. The writing of this book has been part of my recovery. Even though the events took place over forty years ago they can be as clear as an event that is taking place now. Each event I have described has been replayed in my mind thousands of times whether I was awake or asleep. In most replays I have attempted to make sense of what happened or inserted details that did not occur as a way to improve the outcome; but the outcome remains the same.