Vietnam Vet's struggle, traffic stop and a fatal ending

40 years of struggling to overcome what happened to him during war, during the time when he served this country and the country, in turn, let him down. We can excuse it anyway we want to but the truth is, what we see happening to our veterans everyday is all tied back to the Vietnam veterans like Clifton Salter.

There was nothing for any of them when they came home from this war with no clear enemy army to fight. The rules of combat were tossed out when the other side decided they would fight with all they had including old women and children. When they came home, they didn't have the support other generations had but no matter how badly we treated them, they never lost faith in us. They knew, somehow, the American people would finally honor their service and try to help them heal. All we see today is because they didn't give up on us.

With all we've learned about PTSD, how far we've come in overcoming the stigma attached to it, the support sites online and shared experiences to eliminate isolation, we still have much work to be done for the newer generation or we will be reading reports like this and the end of their lives 40 years from now. We need to take care of the newer generation but not at the expense of the older generations still trying to heal. If we can't take care of all of them, then we don't deserve any of them.

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Why does peace after combat come only with the end of their lives?

A vet's struggle, traffic stop and a fatal ending
Man shot by trooper, self had history of mental illness, was known to carry a gun
Louis Cooper

"Most of the people I see are, Army aviation, infantry guys, all the Marines, the medics and the corpsmen — those for whom the war is really personal," he said. "There is a burden of war all across your life — the wear and tear, and the grief of losing very dear friends in a bond that we can't really understand, and the moral injury of doing something against all of the values you were raised on."

Cottage Hill resident Clifton Austin Salter returned from combat in Vietnam in 1970, but the last shot of that war for him may have come in a confrontation with a state trooper on Wednesday morning.

Salter, 60, died from gunshot wounds suffered during a traffic stop by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper on Pine Forest Road near Longleaf Drive. Preliminary findings indicate that both Salter and Trooper Michael Black fired their weapons. Salter sustained at least one self-inflicted shot.

The victim's brother, Santa Rosa County Commissioner Don Salter, said his brother suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and was known to keep a gun in his car.

While Clifton Salter never attempted suicide, he had spoken about ending his life, his brother said.

"When he got back from Vietnam in 1970, he was never the same," he said. "As he got older, as a lot of veterans do, they go back in time and dwell on the war. In the last five or six years, he had become more depressed."

Both Don and Clifton Salter served in Vietnam. A third brother died in the war. Clifton Salter served as an Army specialist in 1969 and '70. His duties included serving as helicopter door gunner.
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A vets struggle traffic stop and a fatal ending