Jose Benavides

Blood, Sand and Betrayal: Struggles and Triumphs Jose Benavides

Viet Nam took it's toll on those who fought and came home. The realization that something was very wrong came years later . Men turned to drugs and alcahol to numb the paim of reliving the memories that like a movie ran endlessly day in and day out. Night time brought out the demons lodged in our subconcious. Wives and children would suffer, marriages would break up, men lost all respect from the communities where they made and called home. Everybody became a threat an enemy to the Veteran. Trying to sleep knowing that any noice would demand constance vigilence. Post Tramatic Stress Disorder or PTSD was not even heard about after 30 plus years of suffering and humilation disgraced disfuncitional families were created and nobody would pin point the cause of why Veterans were rapidly becoming victums. We were never accepted by our country for doing a job that was called by our own government. We have paid a heavy price trying to bring freedon to a country that cared less. In my book I tried to bring some answers to the fanilies of Veterans who were shut out and suffered at the hands of those who wanted to reach out but who would not yet begun to trust the people around them. Maybe from a Veteran who has gone through the same troubles at home and work and the fear of dying will bring some answers.