Vietnam Veteran Lt. Gen. Hugh Smith Shares Story His PTSD Battle

General goes to war against PTSD
The Leaf-Chronicle
Philip Grey
February 1, 2015

Together with fellow veterans and PTSD sufferers of Vietnam, and with the help of the Vietnam Veterans of America Tennessee State Council, Smith is taking part in a statewide effort to get the word out and get help to the veterans of his era, and especially to the veterans and family members of the last 14 years of seemingly unending war.

Jan 31, 1968. Captain Hubert G. Smith with 57th Assault Helicopter pilots gathering 122mm Katyusha rocket motor casings the first morning after the Tet Offensive began in Kontum.
(Photo: SUBMITTED BY HUGH SMITH)

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – A pivotal moment in the battle against the stigma of post-traumatic stress afflicting veterans and active-duty service members came in November 2011 when retired Lt. Gen. Hugh Smith came out with the story of his own PTSD issues.

When Smith opened up to The Leaf-Chronicle, he was the highest-ranking veteran ever nationwide to admit suffering from the debilitating illness.

Talking to Smith, it is easy to see how he rose to his position as one of the architects of the massive logistical enterprise that was Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990-91. With 35 years of Army experience, he can recite dates, names, timetables and equipment involved in major operations down to the minutiae of the load in an infantryman's rucksack.

He brought the same talent for organization to Nashville's airport when he was senior vice president and chief operating officer there during the major renovations in the late 1990s until his second retirement in 2004.

But the ability to memorize details is a double-edged sword. On Tuesday over coffee at Silke's on College Street, while discussing his ongoing efforts to raise awareness about PTSD, Smith's hard blue eyes became unfocused, and he was in a place far away and long ago.
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