Veterans

but it is a good thing my wife won't let me keep a pistol in the house. I probably wouldn't be alive right now.

However, they are talking about all vets, not just crazy vets like me. I think??

As far as PTSD being a new phenomenon, I read an interesting article a while back. If you look at the way that fronts and units rotated in WWII, the average combat vet saw combat twice a year in WWII. In Korea, it was once every three months and in Vietnam, it averaged once every three weeks. When I was in Iraq, it was probably about once every 2-3 weeks that something happened to my platoon. Just taking into account the frequency that Vietnam (and newer era) guys saw enemy contact really illustrates why us Vietnam and later era vets are stricken more by PTSD than other generations.

I would not be surprised to find analysis stating that much of the "wild west" was made up of crazy Civil War vets. Wasn't the original group of Hell's Angels made up of WWII vets (pilots I think?) that found it impossible to fit back in with the rest of normal society?

It was normal that at least one platoon in my battalion each day encountered something like a couple of rounds of sniper fire, an IED, or a small arms ambush. Just playing the odds, you'd be hit probably once every 2-3 weeks. Most events lasted no more than a couple of minutes. Occasionally, we'd be involved in something big. Most events weren't even noteworthy to in terms of historical impact, but for those involved they can be very traumatic.

Anyways, I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm kind of in a rambling mood right now and I should get back to nursing my saturday afternoon beer