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¿Question #225366?
PolarDad: Have a friend that is a veteran. He struggles with PTSD and was in crisis this morning. Have been texting and talking to him on the phone all day. Hate it for him and his family. Feel so powerless to help. War veterans sacrifice much more than we realize and often carry those burdens the rest of their lives. Do you have any one close to you that served?

Woelf: An uncle served as a combat photographer in Vietnam, until he got hit with a bunch of shrapnel and got sent home. That's the extent of what I know about it, because (last I'd heard) he never talked about what happened or what he saw with anyone, not even his own immediate family. He has always been really kind and friendly whenever I've interacted with him (he was even my godfather), so he either got some sort of help for the PTSD along the line, or just suppressed it so hard that it doesn't (outwardly) affect him.
Woelf: An uncle served as a combat photographer in Vietnam, until he got hit with a bunch of shrapnel and got sent home. That's the extent of what I know about it, because (last I'd heard) he never talked about what happened or what he saw with anyone, not even his own immediate family. He has always been really kind and friendly whenever I've interacted with him (he was even my godfather), so either got some sort of help for the PTSD along the line, or just suppressed it so hard that it doesn't (outwardly) affect him.
imyourskribe: My grandfather served in the US Navy in WW2. He experienced some pretty messed up stuff, including at one point resigning himself to death as he bobbed in the ocean. I never saw any ill effects from PTS, but I do know that he woke up in a panic in the middle of the night more than once. If anything else happened, it wasn't communicated. He never wanted to talk about it much until the end of his life. I never heard the worst of it, but as he realized he had stories that he wouldn't be able to tell forever, he did start opening up about some of it. I never wanted to make him revisit anything he didn't want to revisit, so I didn't ask the really probing questions that I wanted to know. I've read a number of books to see what he might have been exposed to (he was in two of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific Theater), so I can only guess. I doubt I'd have the bravery to do any of it.
rayzg: One person I met through sports recently joined the Navy. My mom's friend's son is also in the army, but I don't know much else. I think you've helped your friend a lot by giving your time.