PROFILE OF A VET

How Vietnam Veterans Are Different in Similar Ways.

These are the thoughts of Don R. Catherall, a Ph.D in psychology and cofounder and executive director
of the Phoenix Institute in Chicago, which he specializes in treating trauma survivors. He has counseled
Vietnam Vets suffering from post-traumatic-stress-syndrome and has been an advisor to the Dept. of
Veterans Affairs. He was a combat Marine in 1967/68 and authored "Back from the Brink"(Bantam Books 1992,
a family guide to overcoming traumatic stress....

Catherall believes:

* Vietnam Vets are less likeky to blindly accept the orders and perceptions of others.
* They are perhaps more likely to measure others by their reliability, ie. is this someone
I could share a foxhole with?
* They are less hung up on appearances, less easily fooled and have had enough bullshit
thrown at them that they may see through it a little better than others.

"I think we share a sadness and a brotherhood that is rare," says Catherall. "It may not be an active
part of our lives most of the time, but Vietnam Vets are able to connect in a way
that goes very deep." Think about the guys hugging each other at the Wall.
This is the same thing that the current men's movement is trying to achieve
and it's no accident that the foremost group has chosen the name "Warriors.
" I think those of us who were real warriors have found Robert Bly's {Iron John}
'WILD MAN' in ourselves.
Many of us have volatile tempers, seek adrenaline-rush type activities, are workaholics,
alcoholics and are maintaining but still sitting on explosive energy. We know how to
take orders and give orders. We have shared our canteens with all classes of people.
We've seen death close up. We've experienced big- time loss. We've faced our fears
and found our own courage. As a result we are different in a way that the Indians understood
and prized, but which our society does not well understand and often fears.
We have had the experience of being judge, jury and executioner. Many of us
were free to take life without having to account for our reasons.
We were all affected by having that incredible power of living through an experience
in which there was no law- WE WERE THE LAW!