The Endless Tour: Vietnam, PTSD, and the Spiritual Void [Paperback]

M.A. Rev. Amy L. Snow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 2006

A heart-to-heart commentary on spirituality after war from a Vietnam Veteran's wife and Community Pastor. To share hope with families, friends, and care-givers who witness daily the challenges facing a combat veteran whose wounds of war extend far deeper than what meets the eye.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rev. Amy L. Snow, M.A., is well qualified to write this book. She lived it! She is the sixth and last wife of Vietnam combat veteran, Dwight N. Snow, who is 100% permanently and totally disabled with PTSD. Through twenty years of observing her veteran husband's rarely verbalized but intensely felt memories of war and those of his veteran friends, she has learned much about the realities of PTSD. She has grown greatly in her appreciation and understanding of its manifestations. She has seen Dwight through some of the worst of his post-Vietnam PSTD struggles and has learned much in the process. She shares that learning with her readers here.

She holds several academic degrees: an Associate in Applied Science Degree in Nursing from North Iowa Area Community College, Mason City, Iowa; a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minnesota; and a Master of Arts degree in Religious Leadership from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, New Brighton, Minnesota. She is also an ordained minister in community-based ministry.

For twenty-five years she was in active practice as a Registered Nurse in hospitals, clinics, and home-care facilities, including the VA Medical Center in Iowa City, Iowa. She is involved in her community through The International Order of the Eastern Star, through Youth work, and through officiating funeral services and providing pastoral care for families without a church-connection.

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing (July 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1553695704
• ISBN-13: 978-1553695707
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,833,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Living with a Vietnam Vet. with PTSD, October 10, 2002

By 

Seymour Epstein "author of Constructive Think... (Amherst, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Endless Tour: Vietnam, PTSD, and the Spiritual Void (Paperback)

How is one to understand the erratic behavior, the sudden overwhelming anxiety and unprovoked angry outbursts, and the general difficulty of living with someone suffering from PTSD? Amy L. Snow, an ordained minister with degrees in nursing, psychology, and religious leadership, ought to know, for she married Dwight, who is 100% totally disabled with PTSD. Amy is a kind and compassionate person who can be gentle when appropriate and firm when necessary. Her secret weapon is love, but not love alone, for her love is combined with understanding and an ability to protect her own integrity. She is also an astute observer of human behavior. She tells her story of what it is to live with Dwight and how she tries to understand and help him. In the process she has acquired a great deal of knowledge about the nature of PTSD, and she has gained wisdom about how to live with someone suffering from it without being overwhelmed herself. Dwight has had five wives before Amy. He and Amy have now lived together for 20 years and they are raising a family together, so it is apparent that she is doing something right, and what she is doing right is well communicated in the book. I enthusiastically recommend this book not only to those who wish to be helpful to loved ones with PTSD, but also to professionals, who will find they have much to learn about the nature of PTSD from someone who has been living day in and day out for many years with someone suffering from it...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The endless Tour, August 26, 2006

By 

Janice Michael - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Endless Tour: Vietnam, PTSD, and the Spiritual Void (Paperback)

I had no idea of the scope of problems that the men in my age group that went to Viet Nam have experienced. It wasn't until I met one of them personally that I began to investigate. PTSD is truly a physical and emotional disorder and this book shows how it has affected many men my age and explains a lot of the problems that we have seen and experienced. Any woman or child involved with a Viet Nam vet should definitely read, explains a lot of things.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars More about Amy Snow than PTSD, May 6, 2005

By 

A. G. LONG (Wyoming) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Endless Tour: Vietnam, PTSD, and the Spiritual Void (Paperback)

As a combat wounded, PTSD disabled Vietnam Vet I would like to point out some misinformation within the book. The war ended in 1975. After 1973 there were very few combat troops left in country. The US started pulling troops in July, 1969. Aproximately 3 million men and women served in Vietnam. During the same time frame over 9 million men and women served in the military. The majority of men and women who served in Vietnam volunteered for that specific duty. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is inscribed with the names of over 58,000 who died while serving in Vietnam. About 48,000 were combat fatalities, and the other 10,000 were deaths caused by accidents, suicides, and illness.
Mrs. Snow is accurate in her difinitions, symtoms and problems encountered by someone who has PTSD. Mrs. Snow paints a rather desolate picture of what help is available. The VA has several in-patient PTSD treatment programs, plus mental health programs, and Vet Centers, all of whom assist the Vet and his family in learning how to live with PTSD. The therapists I have worked with are well aware the lack of spirituality found within veterans. Granted, one may not find the right therapist the first time, but I think these programs should have been mentioned in the book as resources.
I will give the Snows credit for doing something right and staying married, but I believe the book is more about Mrs. Snow's ability to persevere.