For 35 years, Paul Middleton avoided the Cooper River bridges. Fearful of glimpsing the gray warships at Patriots Point, the North Charleston resident took Interstate 526.
Middleton, 57, has post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
On Monday afternoon, the Vietnam veteran sat at a picnic table at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, tapping his fingers. He said his anxiety level was an eight on a scale of one to 10.
Initially, Vietnam era veterans were frequently portrayed as criminals and mentally ill. Watch TV shows from that era. They became the new genre of bad guys. The words “mentally ill” and “Vietnam Veteran” were indelibly paired by the media. Now we are still talking about the PSTD victims. Is anyone really interested in the fact that over one million Vietnam era veterans came through the experience and are living productive lives?
Dcn Dale SP5/E5 PMOS 71H20 SMOS 11B20 Vietnam era veteran
I remember what it was like to be called a “baby killer”…….even though I wasn’t “in country.” The very fact that I was in the Air Force was enough to earn me that appellation. If you were in uniform then, it made no difference whether or not you were in Southeast Asia…….we were all treated the same, no matter what uniform you wore……and it hurt!