The Vietnam Veteran

The largest subgroup suffering from PTSD is the combat veteran. In the U.S. the Vietnam War produced the largest number of PTSD cases. The average age of soldiers in world war two was twenty-six. The average age of soldiers entering the Vietnam War was nineteen.
This war was like no other the U.S. had fought in. Soldiers fought more as individuals rather than teams. Nothing was what it appeared to be. There was very little acceptance of new soldiers coming in, and it was hard to identify the enemy or its uniform. Soldiers had to be weary of women and children as potential life threatening enemies. There was also no real frontline. It was a constant back and forth battle for the same pieces of territory. The basic rule of thought was to kill as many enemies as you could and get out alive.
The transition home was also abrupt. A normal soldier coming from the jungles of Vietnam and killing enemies with his M-16 would be shipped back and on his parents steps in forty-eight hours. There was no time to spend with fellow soldiers and work through some of the trauma. Not to mention that many Vietnam veterans were treated as villains rather than heroes.
It is amazing that the military after fighting two world wars did not have a better plan in dealing with the emotional effect of war on their own soldiers. Many great lessons could be learned form that war.