Customer Reviews

Strong Hearts, Wounded Souls: Native American Veterans of the Vietnam War

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I had seen a PBS program that the author had been on and they mentioned this book. I really had to search to find this book, but it was worth the trouble. In my opinion, this book reads like somewhere between a textbook and a novel, as far as "ease of reading" goes. I was fascinated by the author's accounts of Native American vets returning from Vietnam and the problems the VA faced in trying to reach all the different "ethnic groups" of vets. Of particular interest were the accounts of Native American "beliefs" about war and warriors (how even though it is often viewed as unavoidable or even necessary - it is still considered as "evil" or as "upsetting the natural balance of things"), how the community would treat warriors retuning from battle and the rituals involved in "returning them to society" (such as having them spend time with the older men who had fought in previous wars and sharing strories and thoughts and feelings about what they'd experienced, and having an official ceremony in which all the people welcomed them back into the community). Overall, I found it a very worthwhile read, and recommend it to anyone interested in the issue of war veterans returning to society.