The boy has been extracted from the war;
the war has not been extracted from the man.

Camp Pendleton - One generation helps another cope with PTSD or combat stress.  Not all wounds suffered in combat are easily seen or understood.  Bill Rider, President and founder of the non-profit organization, American Combat Veterans of War (ACVOW), are part of a growing trend inside and outside the military to treat the mental toll that war takes on its participants.  Their mission involves older combat veterans encouraging recent combat veterans to get help for the psychological effects of war.

Since the end of the Viet Nam War, the Marines, along with other branches of the armed forces, and the VA have learned that combat can effect the brain as dramatically as the rest of the body.

As a result of the military's growing recognition of mental health problems (PTSD, combat stress) arising from combat, the American Combat Veterans of War is welcomed at Camp Pendleton as an important part of the Marine Corps' Warrior Transition program.

Joe Beck - Staff Writer - North County Times, November 10, 2006

Such Good Men

I now know why men who have been to war yearn to reunite.  Not to tell stories or look at old pictures.  Not to laugh or weep.  Comrades gather because they long to with the men who acted at their best; men who suffered and sacrificed, who were stripped of their humanity.  I did not pick these men.  They were delivered by fate and the military.  But, I know them in a way I know no other men.  I have never given anyone such trust.  They were willing to guard something more precious than my life.  They would have carried my reputation, the memory of me.  It was part of the bargain we all made, the reason we were so willing to die for one another.  As long as I have my memory, I will think of them all, every day.  I am sure that when I leave this world, my last thought will be of my family and my comrades...Such good men.

~Author Unknown~

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