Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character"The number of books on the Vietnam War is, by now, vast and varied. Until recently, however, there has been very little for the public to read about the psychological effect of that conflict on the men who fought in it. Gradually, it has come to be known that the combat veterans of Vietnam suffer, in appalling numbers, from what is known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Indeed, of the three quarters of a million surviving combat veterans, one quarter of a million suffer from this disorder and the personal costs it imposes. (For a full discussion of PTSD and its symptoms, see the Introduction and Chapter 10.) In Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay casts new, challenging, and irrefutable light on the lives of these men and the ravages of combat trauma on their minds and spirits." "For many years, Dr. Shay has been the psychiatrist for a group of Vietnam veterans. In that time, he has come to see an overwhelming and undeniable similarity between their experiences and those of the soldiers in the Iliad; after all, this centuries-old epic is about soldiers in war and its disastrous consequences for their character. More specifically, the elements of Achilles story - the betrayal by his commander, the shrinking of his moral and social world to a small group of friends, the death of one or more of these comrades, the accompanying feelings of grief, guilt, and numbness followed by a "berserk" rage - are heard over and over in the stories of these men who were once soldiers and are still caught up in that old struggle." "Drawing at length on these men's vivid and heart-rending words, as well as on Dr. Shay's own close, ingenious, and persuasive reading of Homer's classic story, Achilles in Vietnam has already been acclaimed by soldiers, writers, classicists, and psychiatrists. It should transform any and all future discussions of the Vietnam War."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
Contents
Betrayal of Whats Right | 3 |
Shrinkage of the Social and Moral Horizon | 23 |
Grief at the Death of a Special Comrade | 39 |
Copyright | |
14 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character Jonathan Shay No preview available - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
Achilles Agamemnon Aías Akhaians Akhilleus American soldiers ancient armor army Athêna battle berserk betrayal of what's body Carl von Clausewitz chapter character civilian combat PTSD combat soldiers combat trauma commander culture dead death Diomêdês emotion enemy experience feel fight fire fucking gods Gooks Gregory Nagy grief griefwork guilt guys healing Hektor helicopter Homer Homeric warriors honor human Iliad Judith Lewis Herman killed lives luck mean memory Menelaos mental military modern moral moral luck motherfuckers mourning narrative National Vietnam Veterans never NVVRS Odysseus officers pain Pátroklos Pátroklos's Paul Fussell person political Priam psychological injuries PTSD rage revenge Robert Fagles shit social special comrade suffering survival survivor tell terror thémis thing tion trauma Traumatic Stress Troy unit University Press veter Veterans Readjustment Study Vietnam combat veterans Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Vietnam War Vietnamese weapons what's right words wounded Y'know York Zeus