Healing Journeys: Study Abroad With Vietnam Veterans (Vietnam Trilogy)

233 Pages·2006·1.5 MB·English

by  Raymond M. Scurfield

H J
EALING OURNEYS
Study Abroad
with
Vietnam Veterans

H J
EALING OURNEYS
Study Abroad
with
Vietnam Veterans
Vol. 2
of A Vietnam Trilogy
Raymond Monsour Scurfield
Algora Publishing
New York
© 2006 by Algora Publishing in the name of Raymond Monsour Scurfield
All Rights Reserved
www.algora.com
No portion of this book (beyond what is permitted by
Sections 107 or 108 of the United States Copyright Act of 1976)
may be reproduced by any process, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without the
express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 0-87586-404-X (softcover)
ISBN: 0-87586-405-8 (hardcover)
ISBN: 0-87586-406-6 (ebook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data —
Scurfield, Raymond M.
Healing journeys: Study abroad with Vietnam veterans: Vol. 2 of a Vietnam
trilogy / Raymond Monsour Scurfield.
p. cm.
Includes index and bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-87586-404-X (trade paper: alk. paper) — ISBN 0-87586-405-8
(hard cover: alk. paper) — ISBN 0-87586-406-6 (ebook) 1. Post-traumatic
stress disorder—Treatment. 2. Veterans—Mental health. 3. Vietnamese
Conflict, 1961-1975—Veterans—Mental health. I. Title.
RC552.P67S374 2006
616.85'21008697—dc22
2006005328
Front Cover: Veterans in a boat on the River Song Trol, which they flew over when they
bombed the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Image: © Les Stone/Sygma/Corbis
Photographer: Les Stone
Date Photographed: March 1, 2000
Printed in the United States

TABLE OF CONTENTS
SOME TERMS AND DEFINITIONS 1
PREFACE 5
CHAPTER 1. VIETNAM, THE GULF WARS, AND BACK TO VIETNAM 11
CHAPTER 2. MEDICAL EVACUATIONS FROM THE BATTLEFIELD TO STATESIDE:
A TRAIL OF TRIBULATION 17
A TELEGRAM FROM UNCLE SAM 24
EMOTIONAL STATES COMMON TO RECENT EVACUEES FOR A WAR ZONE 25
FAMILIES OF MEDICALLY EVACUATED AND HOSPITALIZED
MILITARY PATIENTS 30
THE IRAQ WAR AND MEDICAL EVACUEES 34
DO’S AND DON’TS CONCERNING HOSPITALIZED AND PHYSICALLY
DISABLED VETERAN PATIENTS 35
CHAPTER 3. COLLUSION: SANITIZING AND SILENCING THE TRUTH
ABOUT THE IMPACT OF WAR 41
A DECADES-LONG HISTORY OF SELECTIVE AMNESIA AND DENIAL 42
COLLUSION TO SANITIZE AND DENY THE IMPACT OF WAR:
MYTHS AND REALITY 43
THE PERSIAN GULF WAR: A RESURGENCE OF ACTIVE SANITIZATION
AND DENIAL ABOUT THE IMPACT OF WAR 46
MILITARY AND MEDIA REPORTING THAT SANITIZED AND DENIED
THE IMPACT OF THE PERSIAN GULF WAR 48
THE REALITY OF THE FULL HUMAN COST OF WAR 52
THE IMPACT OF THE PERSIAN GULF WAR ON OTHER VETERANS 53
THE INEVITABLE RESULT OF CONTINUING TO DENY
THE FULL HUMAN COST 54
THE BUREAUCRATIC RESPONSE TO A CONTROVERSIAL AND FLAWED
VA NATIONAL OUTCOME STUDY OF PTSD PROGRAMS 55
ix
Healing Journeys: Study Abroad with Vietnam Veterans
THE IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN WARS: THE FULL HUMAN COST IS
STILL DENIED 58
THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING: FORMER ADVERSARIES MEET 62
CHAPTER 4. RACISM AND WAR 69
RACISM IN BASIC TRAINING 73
Racism in Boot Camp Towards Vietnamese 73
RACISM IN THE VIETNAM WAR TOWARDS THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE 75
RACISM IN THE VIETNAM WAR AMONG AMERICAN MILITARY
PERSONNEL 76
THE MURDER OF MARTIN LUTHER KING: IGNITING A TINDERBOX
IN VIETNAM 78
VICTIMS OF RACE-RELATED ACTS CAN BE WHITE, TOO 79
THREE DIMENSIONS OF EXPOSURE TO RACISM 80
THE CONTINUING IMPACT OF RACISM ON THE RECOVERY OF VETERANS 83
IMPLICATIONS OF RACISM FOR US FORCES 85
THE POSITIVE SIDE OF RACE AND ETHNICITY IN WAR 85
FROM HAWAII TO MISSISSIPPI: VIETNAM BECKONS AGAIN 86
CHAPTER 5. BACK TO VIETNAM: WITH STUDENTS 89
LOGISTICAL PLANNING FOR THE VIETNAM HISTORY STUDY ABROAD
COURSE 90
DUAL PURPOSE OF THE COURSE 91
MAY 2, 2000. THE FIRST PRE-TRIP MEETING 94
MAY 9. SECOND PRE-TRIP MEETING 96
CHAPTER 6. JOURNAL ENTRIES—EXPERIENCES AND OBSERVATIONS BY
(AND FOR) VETERANS AND STUDENTS 99
MAY 13/14. GETTING THERE: AN EXTREMELY LONG WAY TO GO 99
DAY ONE IN VIETNAM. MAY 15. HO CHI MINH CITY AND AN EMOTIONAL
DEBRIEFING 103
OUR FIRST DEBRIEFING IN VIETNAM: EMOTIONAL AND CONTROVERSIAL 107
DAY 2. MAY 16. VETERANS CEMETERIES AND A QUESTION OF RESPECT 109
DAY 3. MAY 17. JOHN’S RETURN TO THE CAN GIOUC BATTLEFIELD 113
DAY 4. MAY 18. VISITING THE FAMILY OF A CATHOLIC PRIEST NOW IN
MISSISSIPPI 120
DAY 5. MAY 19. CU CHI TUNNELS, TAY NINH AND THE CAO DAI TEMPLE 123
DAY 6. MAY 20. VET CHARLES RETURNS TO THE BIEN HOA ARMY BASE 125
DAY 7. MAY 21. CATHOLICISM AND RELIGION IN VIETNAM, RACISM
AMONG US TROOPS, AND MEETING A PROUD FORMER ARVN 129
DAY 8. MAY 22. MEKONG DELTA, CAN THO 135
DAY 9. MAY 23. MORE LESSONS LEARNED 139
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