"Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk"

Earlier today I was listening to the Diane Rehm's Show on NPR and they were talking about PTSD and suicides along with the disconnect between those who serve and the American public. I was glad to hear Vietnam veterans brought up during the discussion. I get so tired of everything happening today being treated as if it is some kind of new phenomenon. Maybe it is easier to believe no one knew about any of this before but to people like me, it is a constant reminder of what it was like when it was "new" and different while the shoe was on my foot.

Readers' Review: "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" By Ben Fountain
NPR
Diane Rehm Show
Wednesday, November 20, 2013

A deadly firefight with Iraqi insurgents caught on video by Fox News has transformed eight U.S. soldiers into media stars. Nineteen-year-old Billy Lynn is the lead character in a novel about the surviving men of the “Bravo Squad” and their brief return home. As the squad mourns the death of a fellow soldier, they are sent on a two-week nationwide “victory tour” to drum up support for the war. But their painful reality is obscured as they are honored during a Dallas cowboys Thanksgiving Day game. A Readers’ Review discussion of “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” by Ben Fountain.


Guests
Maureen Corrigan critic in residence and lecturer in the English department at Georgetown University.
Tom Tarantino chief policy officer of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and former Army Captain who served in Iraq. He was awarded a Combat Action Badge and Bronze Star.

Louis Bayard novelist and reviewer. His books include "Mr. Timothy," "The Pale Blue Eye," "The Black Tower" and "The School of Night." He teaches fiction writing at The George Washington University.

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I thought it was new over 30 years ago. After all, my Dad, a Korean veteran and my WWII veteran uncles didn't have it, so it had to be new to Vietnam veterans like my husband. The truth is, it wasn't new to them either. It wasn't new to any generation.

They just called by different names in whispers and conversation abruptly stopped when someone else entered the room. They believed they had something to hid as if they should feel ashamed. Maybe it was because Vietnam veterans felt they had nothing else to lose considering how most people felt about them in the first place so they weren't afraid to not only talk about what came home with them, but fought for it to be treated better than they did for any other generation before them.

The result was funding for research started to explode in the 80's all across the country. We learned a lot since then. So why isn't' anyone asking about what worked back then but isn't being done now especially when you consider more money is spent producing more suicides, broken marriages and suicides?