Customer Reviews

Home from the War: Learning from Vietnam Veterans

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Not only is this book fascinating and terribly revealing it is the defining work on the impact that the Vietnam war has had in this world. The approach taken explains so much that has always been a mystery to me. I knew it all had real weight and I could see the impact it all had had in my life, the lives of those I love and upon the soul of my nation, but I never really understood why. This book provides the why. The exposure of the My Lai massacre for what it was is the only account that has ever made sense to me and the same applies to so much of what else this book explores. It should be prescribed reading in every school and university in the country; for all health professionals dealing with veterans and for anyone who dons the uniform.

I've recently gone to work for a hospital that has a unit that treats vets who have Post Traumatic Stress. I had read this book several years ago and remembered it as being a good source for information. So I orderd it, but found that in the introduction, Mr. Lifton had turned it into a political diatribe against the war in Iraq. He kept on calling John Kerry a hero for his 90 days of service in Viet Nam. It got so crazy, that I sent the book back. There are other resources like Odysseus in America, by John Shay, that are much better resouces.