Customer Reviews

Home from the War

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I have had this book on my shelf since 1992 when it was re-published. I first saw the book with my friend Robert McLane, who is quoted in the chapter on "Zones of Rage and Violence." Bob was one of my healers during a time of ongoing depression back in the 1980's. We went our seperate ways so hello BOB! I next saw the book with a vet in Phoenix during the winter of 87-88 again with depressions. He helped me along my journey.

I was afraid to open it up. My healing took a long time. I can say that Lifton's advice about encountering the false, counterfiet cliches about that war are essential for healing and now as I am reading it in retrospect, I can see how much work I really did. The reinforcement about not-lying to oneself or others about the heinous dimension of the Vietnam War and the anti-war activity that we were engaged in is of great historical importance, for all time. All wars that may evolve from this great country are encased in a fabric of semi-truths. It is up to us, the citizenry, to interpret reality without blindly following orders.

Lifton has done us a service. We are healers and so he has given us new life. Jim Willingham

Robert Jay Lifton published this work in 1973. He is a psychiatrist who has specialized in the treatment of the survivors of traumatic experiences. His first major work was (Death in Life: Survivors of Hiroshima). He saw parallels with the Japanese who he studied, and the Vietnam veterans returning from the war. As he says, survivors of all wars are somewhat marked as "different" from those who did not go through the experience; but in the case of Vietnam veterans he provided the "differential diagnosis." There was a greater degree of alienation from American contemporary society due to the increased sense of futility involved in that war. Certainly there was no "victory parade"; indeed the final and inevitable denouement, with the NVA tanks on the lawn of the Presidential Palace in Saigon had not occurred when this book was published. But in the Epilogue he does cover the particular rage of the veterans just in relationship to the cease-fire announcement.

Lifton has re-published this book, in 2005, as veterans have started to return from Iraq and Afghanistan. I haven't read the new introduction, which is apparently a reasoned case against the current wars. It is a real pity that the only review of the republication is a 1-star; solely based on that introduction. Dr. Lifton has been a real pioneer in the field, with many valuable insight that are even more needed today.

Lifton quotes Jean-Paul Sartre who said that the special combination of elements are inevitably genocidal: a counterinsurgency war undertaken by an advanced industrial society against a revolutionary movement of an underdeveloped country, in which the revolutionary guerrillas are inseparable from the rest of the population. Lifton was one of the motive forces in having the Veterans' Administration first recognize PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) as a clinical condition. In terms of "treatment," he helped formulate focus groups, called "Rap Groups" at the time, where veterans can "vent" to those who have `been there", and understand the problems.

Today the percentage of returning veterans who have some degree of PTSD seems to be even higher than those returning from Vietnam. I'd suggest my own "differential diagnosis" between those conflicts that might explain the reason: Today, the civilian society in America is even MORE removed from the overseas wars - it really is as though they don't exist at all; and during the Vietnam war there was a very heavy leavening of the troops with reluctant conscripts who were skeptical of the war's purpose from the beginning, whereas now, with all volunteers, they need to be more committed to the purported purposes of the war.

Overall, this remains a most valuable guide for those recovering from the trauma of war. It has he barest minimum of medical jargon. It was nice to hear the very youthful voice of John Kerry in this book. To a large degree, Dr. Lifton lets the troops tell their own stories. He is to be commended, many fold, for his continued concern, and willingness to fight "the good fight." His concluding sentence has withstood the test of time: "I'm going to be a Vietnam veteran against the war for the rest of my life." 5-stars.