I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS IN FOR by Jim Markson
I was 19 years old when I arrived in Vietnam.
I joined the United States Air Force to become an Air Traffic Controller, but due to strict vision regulations was put into the Security Police career field. I later volunteered for Vietnam. I was full of bravado and adventure. But after the Tet Offensive in 1968, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I had no idea what I was in for…
Coming home seemed like something I had been waiting for all my life. The thought of being a different person, never entered my mind, but I was. The reception from my Family and close friends was really great. The general community was a far different and an unfortunate story.
My Father-in-law was a WW2 Veteran, 101st Airborne, and participated in D-Day, Bastogne and more, with 2 purple hearts and a Bronze Star medal. The emotions and stories in “Comes a Soldier’s Whisper” were very similar to my own.
My co-author and ex-wife, Jenny LaSala put out a questionnaire on the internet and received the responses that we have included in the book, Vietnam and Beyond. Nothing prepared us for the similar and shared hopes, fears, homesickness, and things that we never expected, soldier after soldier, War after War, male or female from veterans that served in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
PTSD is an insidious situation, the topic would come up from time to time. It wasn’t until 2007 and after the 2nd childhood friend of mine, both Vietnam Veterans, from Sheepshead Bay, took his life. I then sought out psychiatric help from the Brooklyn, VA. There are other things along with night terrors, alcohol consumption, intrusive memories, disturbed sleeping, exaggerated startle reaction, hyper-vigilance, isolation to avoid conflict, and inability to control tears with traumatic reminders. Emphasis on the word “insidious” these things take years to manifest.
Veterans services have improved for the better dramatically since I was discharged in 1970, however there is still tremendous work that needs to be done. The wait times for medical care and benefits is totally unacceptable.
~ Jim Markson, USAF Vietnam Veteran & author of VIETNAM And Beyond
“The core of Markson’s combat experience was surviving the 1968 Tet Offensive as an Air Force security policeman at Tan Son Nhut Air Base. Greatly outnumbered, Markson and his fellow APs kept attackers from overrunning the base long enough for other U.S. forces to join the battle. I was at Tan Son Nhut during Tet and vividly recall the awe everyone felt for the APs’ heroic actions.”
~ Henry Zeybel, Books In Review II Vietnam Veterans of America
The Military Air Police later received the Presidential Unit Citation for protecting the air base during the TET Offensive, January 1968.
Photo: Left to right is Jorge Rosales, Ralph Simon, Jim Markson & Carey Bradley
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The Book: www.VietnamAndBeyond.com
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