Medicine Man and ancient magic

‘Magic Medicine’Vets gather at VA’s National Veterans Creative Arts Festival

By STEVE BROOKS At 57, Michael Cruse looks somewhat like a mountain man. Seated in a wheelchair thanks to a broken ankle he suffered the previous summer, his broad frame hints that if he were to stand up, he’d be well over 6 feet tall. The top of his grayish mane is cropped tight, but his beard, maybe a week short of bushy, extends from ear to ear and down his neck.

Exchange his tie-dyed shirt and blue jeans for buffalo skins and longer hair, and he would be Grizzly Adams. Eight years ago, he was living such a life. Holed up in the mountains of Alma, Ark., Cruse rarely ventured out of his home. Appointments at the Fayetteville VA Medical Center were the only times he braved the outside world. He entered the Navy in 1965 and came out two years later with post-traumatic stress disorder, a seizure disorder, nerve deterioration related to Agent Orange exposure, and major leg, back and neck impairments that put him on the operating table. Day-to-day activities like talking to strangers became a battle for Cruse, who broke out in cold sweats, trembled and heard ringing in his ears at times of external stress. Avoiding the outside world seemed easier.

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