Senator Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio poses with a model of the proposed Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument and its artist, Duke Sundt (right) as the Senate honors the contributions of Vietnam veterans. Also pictured are Robert Floyd (center), Chair, Board of Directors of the Capitol of Texas Vietnam Veterans Monument, Incorporated, and Terry Burkett, Chair of the Veterans Outreach Committee.
Texas Vietnam Veteran Recognition Day March 29, 2011
Recurring bad dreams and the like are something you see with veterans of just about any conflict. My grandfather was a landing craft pilot in World War II, and while he mostly treats his service in the Atlantic theater as this big adventure he had in his youth, there are some aspects that he simply will not talk about. For that matter, if you watch his face while he recounts certain incidents, you can see where he’s mentally editing out parts that he’d rather not remember. I figure a bit of lingering unease is a natural and inevitable consequence of putting civilized people in the most uncivilized circumstances imaginable. On the other hand, the Vietnam vet who married one of my mom’s old high school friends proves that it’s possible to be both more or less fully functional in normal society and stone psycho. To outward appearances, he’s just a tired, quiet old man, but get a few drinks in him, and the stories that come out of his mouth will freeze your frigging blood.