DaveTatum:
Watching this interview brings back many memories , some were fear . Like how do I get out of this “one”…. I’m in my second year of Art School and my Father was in Viet Nam . He was a “Lifer”, and I was scared ! Thinking for sure this would be over before I graduated . These interviews were real to me .. these soldiers were just like me except they were there and I wasn’t . And very happy for that fact. The interviews brought back those feelings again ; fear / shame / and hatred of what this crazy war was doing to My “Age Of Aquarius , My “Pepsi Generation”. Not now ! Not Now !
Im just getting started and im going to stay where I am .
Guilt was a daily problem … How can I hide when my Father spent his entire life in the Army (WWll /Korea/and Viêt Nam . I didn’t think too
much about then (aside from Walter Cronkite’s nightly “head count”.
But I did ! PTSD comes in many colors …the brutal images of death and bravery in battle , and the calmness of soldiers and nurses doing there job and me drawing and painting with happy young kids back in the states … was not (as I found out) as safe and insulated as I thought.
The “Interviews” were strong with all the pain and. feelings brought forth . I learned that we were people just doing what we had to do .
There was bitterness , but it was an internal struggle that we ALL fought in art schools and on battlefields.
Thank You Ed Buffman and well done to keeping that part of ” Viêt Nam ” alive in all of us.
Pat M.
DaveTatum:
Watching this interview brings back many memories , some were fear . Like how do I get out of this “one”…. I’m in my second year of Art School and my Father was in Viet Nam . He was a “Lifer”, and I was scared ! Thinking for sure this would be over before I graduated . These interviews were real to me .. these soldiers were just like me except they were there and I wasn’t . And very happy for that fact. The interviews brought back those feelings again ; fear / shame / and hatred of what this crazy war was doing to My “Age Of Aquarius , My “Pepsi Generation”. Not now ! Not Now !
Im just getting started and im going to stay where I am .
Guilt was a daily problem … How can I hide when my Father spent his entire life in the Army (WWll /Korea/and Viêt Nam . I didn’t think too
much about then (aside from Walter Cronkite’s nightly “head count”.
But I did ! PTSD comes in many colors …the brutal images of death and bravery in battle , and the calmness of soldiers and nurses doing there job and me drawing and painting with happy young kids back in the states … was not (as I found out) as safe and insulated as I thought.
The “Interviews” were strong with all the pain and. feelings brought forth . I learned that we were people just doing what we had to do .
There was bitterness , but it was an internal struggle that we ALL fought in art schools and on battlefields.
Thank You Ed Buffman and well done to keeping that part of ” Viêt Nam ” alive in all of us.
Pat M.
Pat, Well said. You captured the age of our innocence we all had going into Vietnam. Thank you again for your thoughtful response.
Dave
Your comments we right on target.