Ever get flashbacks?

[Michaelp]

I don't get flashbacks, but memories are tricky.
Buddy of mine and I were BSing a while back and he told a navy story that suddenly reminded me of a really serious bloody incident I had not thought about in years.
Maybe it was a flashback-I didn't mention it, but was lost just thinking about it for a minute or so.

That is one reason you don't hear many real war stories-not pleasant to recall on several levels, and telling things to people who never had the experience is a waste of breath.
I got a buddy who did a hard tour as a Navy Corpsman with Marines. We used to drink too much and talk too much, but at least we could talk to somebody who had a common experience. We got to avoiding each other after a while.
I go to a lot of vet reunions and the SF Conventions. You hear a few war stories, but 99% is just about the fun stuff.

[Guamsst]

That is one reason you don't hear many real war stories-not pleasant to recall on several levels, and telling things to people who never had the experience is a waste of breath.

I go to a lot of vet reunions and the SF Conventions. You hear a few war stories, but 99% is just about the fun stuff.

I had an Airman come back off leave and he couldn't wait to tell me about it. He said I was probably the only one that would care or understand. His grandfather was in the Army in WW2 and that was ALL he ever told anyone in the family about it. When my Airman went home on leave he said his grandfather pulled him aside and said he wanted to talk to him then took him in the den, told the rest of the family to stay out and then shut the door. His father was a Ranger who went up the cliffs at Point Du Hoc on D-day. As he told my Airman, he never said anything to the rest of the family because no one else had even bothered to serve and didn't deserve to get to talk to him about it.....LOL

As to the fun stuff, to me, it is a dead giveaway when someone wants to talk about the bad stuff. When I hear some guy has been telling everyone about what a big hero he is or all the war crimes he carried out, I just assume the guy is full of $#!T. There are a few guys that work the gunshows around here who are supposedly that way. One has his kids convinced he got the MoH. They all know I am military and a history buff and so far not one of them has mentioned any of their heroics to me. One guy who isn't assumed to be full of it, told me a story I was getting ready to call BS on....He was on a hill in Korea and saw a North Korean "Tank looking thing" down in the valley below him. He opened up on it and his buddy ran off. He said he was mad and was thinking what a coward his buddy was. Then he confided in me that when it opened up on him he realized his buddy wasn't a coward, he was just smart enough to know when to run. He said he still has pieces of shrapnel in both inner thighs, but the M2 shielded him so he had a chance to get smart and get gone too. Most of the damage was to his pride...LOL

[Former Cav]

I thank God everyday that HE took away my nightmares.
ONly ptsd I got was from dealing with those commie traitors at the v a !

[Griff Murphey]

Dreams

My military experience in all of its two years' grandeur was in retrospect really a lot more fun than I realized at the time. As I mature (age) I wish more and more for a "wayback machine."

Usually my dreams are that somehow I did not finish and I owe them time and I have to go back.
Then the worries in the dream are about my business but...enh! If ya gotta go, ya gotta go! Bye all!

In REALITY... All I did was take care of a few lightly wounded/injured refugees. The experience of being on deck at night watching a battle on shore but with a relative feeling of safety was uniquely thrilling and frightening at once.

Other vets, even a Brit friend who fought at Suez, report pleasant "veteran" dreams far removed from PTSD issues that get so much press.

By the way, people who DO suffer from PTSD nightmares may benefit from dental jaw anterior positioning devices (Such as the T.A.P.) that open the airway and improve blood oxygen levels. I understand the VA is having good results with these, especially for sleep apnea/PTSD patients who cannot tolerate the CPAP because it reminds them of NBC gear.

[RCK]

Not a "flashback" but a genuine "memory. I was at an outdoor flea market yesterday and picked up a small, OD can of GI bore cleaner. Got it close to my nose and I was back in basic 52 years ago this month at Fort Knox cleaning my MI. That stuff sure did stink!

[Nick Riviezzo]

Guamsst, please reconsider your position on when someone wants to talk about the "bad stuff". When people are making heros of themselves ,yeh, probably fertilizer. However, when people talk about the "bad stuff" without self aggrandisment they are usually trying to "talk out the hurt". Some of us turned to drugs to cope ,some to the bottle, some to abborant behavior and some of us tried to make a game of it all. You have to protect your psyche to maintain your balance. Just my take, Nick

[Michaelp]

Very well put.

[gtodan]

First let me say thank you for all you GI's sharing your stories. You are one of less than 1% of our country who served. And you bear the scars. Thanks!

Flashbacks no.

Diesel. JP4. canned heat. Loud noises. People approaching from behind unexpectedly. Cordite. Semi rigid (huey, cobra) blades smacking the air. I could not gut a deer for a long time. Still bothers me.

Nightmares did not start till my birthday 2003 when we invaded Iraq. I almost ended it for a very sensitive vet psychologist who pulled me out of it. Its funny how we all react differently to stress.

Thanks again.

[swede49]

I don't have flashbacks in a negative sense, but there are many days when I do think about the year in VN and the many other years I spent in USAF. Mostly good thoughts, no night terror.

[Ken The Kanuck]

After reading these posts I have to wonder if it was the combat that is the trigger? Back in the seventies I spent over three years oversea, some of it in S/E Asia and I do not have flash backs. Maybe it was the trauma of combat?

Again thanks to those who have served.

KTK

[blackhawknj]

It often seems to me that flashbacks-like PTSD-are something we are "supposed" to get and use as excuses when the need arises. I'm not saying they don't exist-like the sadistic DI or the NCO who's the bully, the officer who makes LT Fuzz come to life, etc. but they are a lot rarer than we think and usually manufactured when the need arises. There were all the stories about the "Crazed Vietnam Vet" in the 1970s, it was found that so many were rear echelon types, drug users and discipline problems, in many cases received an OTH discharge-seen as an "early out" by too many back then, then they found out there is a stigma, so "PTSD" or what ever became the all purpose excuse.
Often seems to me there is more of a stigma in being a Charlie Askins type, admitting that yes, you have done it, and yes, you DO enjoy it.

[Major Tom]

Loud noises, certain smells and a Huey flying over head reminds me of 'Nam. Years ago my brother-in-law used to come up behind me and yell "bang". Scared the crap outa me. He doesn't do that anymore since I smacked him a good one the last time he did it.