Colonel
... Excellent post and advice....

Having been a civilian paramedic as well as former military medic (Gulf), have seen plenty. But usually on the patch-up, scrape up end of the issue. About half of our reenactment unit are combat veterans, Vietnam, Gulf, Iraq as well as two finishing up their fifth tour in Afghanistain. I was one of the primaries with a local WW2 Round Table... whereas each month we had a guest veteran to tell his experiences... I thought I knew and experienced plenty... till I really started to talk to these guys... Looking in the eye of that old Marine that singlehandedly "dispatched" as he called it five of the enemy manning a machine gun nest with nothing more than a shovel to earn that dusty Silver Star sitting on the table.... Its one thing to tickle a trigger and spray and pray... and ponder later if you might have hit something... Entirely different to look the enemy directly in the eye....

One thing I found interesting was to see the simularities as well as the generational differences in the mindset of coping and handling such issues. Back in my days on the crackerbox... The PTSD/CISD as they are now was just emerging into the mainstream of things... Majority I knew balked at it... and declined it... One was viewed to be weak or a non-hacker to go that route.... Most had recieved advice and guidance from the veterans before them.. on how to deal and cope with it... Do your duty the best you can... that day finished... filter it out... dont think or look back... be ready for next mission...

Just an observation but majority of veterans from prior conflicts seem to have been able to handle it better than later generations... whether they were just better at hidding or purging it from memory... or not... Just dont see as much of it as you do now....

During the Civil War similar issues were there... However Medical/Mental treatment for such wasnt well understood. One can find folks that had coping issues be discharged under the collective "debility" diagnosis on certificates. Post-war accounts would sometimes give reference to the "Soldiers Disease".... that frequently would also be along with alcohol and/or drug abuse... remember that in those days much of the "good stuff" one could easily purchase across the counter of the local apothocary....

Just an opinion and observation
Frederick