At the time of the Vietnam war, research into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD) was minimal and as a result the prevalence of depression, alcoholism, and even suicide was common amongst the veterans who served. 

During the height of the cold war in 1960’s and 70’s, the United States was at war with the communist North Vietnamese in what was one of the bloodiest and most unpopular wars in American history. First hand experiences of the war are shown in Jacob Lindy’s "Requiem for Vietnam: Reflections and Countertransferences of a Psychoanalyst.", as interviews with veterans who served on the frontlines help shed light into such a dark time in American history. These interviews provided a first person perspective into the everyday life of a United States Marine fighting in the jungle frontlines of Vietnam. Many of the veterans were involved in medium to heavy combat on a daily basis during the time they served. Some veterans went on to discuss the guilt they felt from to the close combat killings of women and other civilians due to the guerilla style warfare used by the Viet Kong. All these atrocities experienced by veterans left damaging effects on their mental stability resulting in adverse long term symptoms such as alcoholism, depression and insomnia, common traits of PTSD. By focusing more on the psychological effects felt by veterans due to the war, Lindy gives the reader a unique insight on the mental side of the war that many people never knew about. Forty years later these veterans are still feeling the harmful symptoms of the disorder, showing that even after the physical battle is over, the mental war seems to never end.

Furthermore, the symptoms of PTSD seemed to vary between the veterans interviewed. For example, Kurt seemed to have lessening intrusions and a numbing of the content he experienced in Vietnam, however veterans such as Pete mentioned intrusive images in anticipation of the follow up interview and Jeb who has frequent intrusions and struggles with alcoholism. One element that was common amongst the interviews was the agreement that the treatment project put on by the United Sates government was beneficial to all veterans struggling with PTSD. Occurring in 1985, 15 years after the war, the government treatment program was started in order to reach out to veterans suffering from PTSD and proved very helpful for those with symptoms. The program gave the retired marines a safe space to express themselves to an empathetic and non-judgmental listener. Interviewees such as Kurt expressed that “it was what I needed at the time, a time and place to talk, to let my feelings out”, as well as Pete describing how he “...would not be alive today if it were not for the treatment”. 

Although the therapeutic treatment program provided by the United States government proved helpful to those veterans with PTSD, other more spiritual treatments also played a role. In Lawrence Gross’s “Assisting American Indian Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan Cope with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Lessons from Vietnam Veterans and the Writings of Jim Northrup.”, he discusses the American Indian involvement in the war and how some of them dealt with their PTSD. The author presents statistics showing that almost all of the veterans who were involved in heavy combat, medium combat, or were injured in Vietnam, suffered mild to severe PTSD. A shocking fact many Americans are not aware of, mentioned by Gross, is that more veterans died from suicide after the war than actual U.S. casualties resulting from combat during the war in Vietnam. Even today, 40 years after the war in Vietnam took place, about 81% of all veterans who served are currently suffering from either alcoholism, depression, or both.

However, what makes these American Indian veterans different than most ethnic groups who fought in Vietnam is the way they remedied their mental issues. American Indian cultural rituals such as sending warriors off to do battle or for reintegrating them into society upon return, as well as sweat lodge ceremonies, proved to have helped the veterans overcome their PTSD more than traditional forms of treatment such as the government treatment program during the 1980’s. The treatment used by the American Indian veterans could just be the beginning of new, religious forms of treatment for all people suffering from PTSD. Furthermore, some of these American Indian rituals are currently being used on veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, yielding similar results. Yet it seems this form of medicine is only prevalent amongst the American Indian ethnicity given that their culture has a much more religious and spiritual approach towards medicine compared to other cultures. 

The research shown by Lindy and Gross in their articles provide a new point of view into the war in Vietnam as well as a mental disorder that many readers know little about. After learning such troubling information about the long term mental effects of a war as destructive as the one in Vietnam, the reader’s opinion may have changed in terms of how conflict can affect the individuals involved in them, as well as how we can treat the mental wounds of these individuals. A common tone amongst both of the articles carries much respect for the men and women who fought in the Vietnam war because of how they were effected and the sacrifices they made for their country. 
