All Comments on 'Rescuing a Snow Angel'

This is a good first chapter.

Enjoyed the story. Glad rachel took Jim's advice

I enjoyed your story, and plan to read more of your work. I hope you continue sharing your talent with us. Thanks!

For all that Jim has encountered, he has a good heart. Looking forward to reading more. Good luck to Rachel, too.

As a combat vet myself and yes I did come home much like your MC in this story line I do hope Jim gets to be as loved and treasured as I have been so lucky to have found in my life.

Great story line sir I want to read a lot more from this line

Looking forward to reading more of your work

While these two stories take place in the 1970s, PTSD doesn’t just “get better”— Jim will be dealing with sequelae for the rest of his life. We know a lot more now than we did 50 years ago, and nowadays the VA would have connected him to groups of vets with similar diagnoses, for mutual support.

The way we deployed soldiers, Marines, and sailors to Vietnam did them no favors. Rather than rotating entire units in and out of the combat zone (as we do now, having learned from our mistakes) the US Government sent them as individuals. The result was that “newbies” came into a unit where they had no friends, and weren’t trusted because of lack of experience. On being rotated out, they had no one with whom they were bonded— no one who understood what they had been through. When back Stateside, they were discharged with no follow up.

That lack of follow up had long been true in the US. Vets returning from Europe at the end of the First World War created their own “support group” when they founded the American Legion; with WWII and Korea the Veterans of Foreign Wars joined the Legion in providing places where combat veterans could spend time with other men who had had similar experiences. The Posts provided places where a vet, troubled by what he might have seen or done, could talk about it safely over a beer or two. They were essentially providers of group therapy, only without the therapist.

The GIs coming back from Vietnam had no such experience. Vietnam, unlike America’s previous wars, was an unpopular conflict, and veterans coming back were discouraged from talking about it. It was also an extremely inequitable war— during those earlier conflicts, the draft swept up American men equally, and so our troops looked much like our nation in terms of race. For Black inductees, this normally meant assignment to a support units. Some nine hundred thousand Blacks were inducted for WWII service, in all branches of the military while some seven million white men were drafted.

With Vietnam, the rules were changed. If you were in college (which in the 1960s-70s meant middle class and white), you could get a deferment. Our troops came from largely poorer families, and the percentage of Blacks and Hispanics was much higher than in the general population— in 1967, 23% of combat troops in Vietnam were Black, despite their only 11% of the population at the time. Race relations within the military were particularly poor as the war continued, with enlisted clubs becoming sites of almost daily violence, particularly following the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King in the US.

On returning from combat, these men (and a few women) discovered that not only did civilians not want to hear about their experiences, neither did the vets of earlier conflicts. Vietnam vets found themselves unwelcome at their local American Legion and VFW posts— not only were their experiences too different, but they were also the wrong color. The posts were made up of conservative, middle-aged, middle class white men who had largely worked through their problems and were there for the social support. They had no use for a bunch of Black and brown men who were angry with their nation for having sent them over to fight and die in a war that seemed to have neither purpose nor end.

Jim Rawlings had it relatively easy, precisely because he’d had it so bad. Because of his POW status he had “the Major”, his Army psychiatrist, and by luck the man was apparently quite competent (which wasn’t always the case, back when they were first trying to understand and deal with what was then called Combat Stress and we now know as PTSD). And it’s good that he found and was able to care for his Snow Angel, utilizing first aid skills he certainly hadn’t picked up in ‘Nam.

She, on the other hand, still has a way to go. It’s nice that she cleans up purdy, that they made love, and that she followed his advice about returning home. It’s not so nice that to get there she chose to rob the man who’d saved her life, vice asking for the money as a gift or loan. She is going to have to give up her street rat’s virtue in exchange for the more mainstream “don’t rob the people who help you”, or even the classic “Thou shalt not steal,” at least if she ever hopes to regain a normal life. [And for what it’s worth, I think Jim could probably benefit from being tested now for syphilis and gonorrhea, because who knows who else she’s been with!]

I sincerely appreciate your support for this story, in particular, to the time and effort to add all of the information on the impact of returning veterans from Vietnam in the comment entitled 'Good luck to them both' by Anonymous user. Leaving Ft. Bragg was exactly as the writer noted; no one seemed to want to know or care about my return to the 'real world.' As to the military medical support, I did embellish the psych support as being better than it was. I had to do that so the storyline had a glimmer of hope for the protagonist. As for Rachel, well, I left her a bit jaded on purpose. She, after all, was on her own from age sixteen living in the streets for four years before meeting Jim. One couldn't expect her to acquire a higher sense of morality over night after surviving in the streets for that long; could you? I anticipate Rachel returning in another episode, reuniting with Jim on a better level. My heart goes out to those connecting so strongly or who have shared my similar situation. Thank you for your support.

I liked your very natural laidback style. Do keep it up.

Thank you for this wonderful story, and Thank you for your service. Really hope we will read more of Jim's return to civilian life, (maybe more than two pages at a time).

RVN '67-'68 Semper Fi.

I enjoyed this as it covered a time I am very familiar with. (Army 1966-1969) Look forward to the next part. Keep these stories coming. Brings back many memories. Thank you.

I like that the war couldn't beat his humanity out of him. Rachel was an interesting segue.

Had something similar happen to me, only without any “services rendered”; she said that if she changed her mind, it would take away from my saying she didn’t have to, and that was more important to her after all the jerks.

Good story— thanks!

Chico (USN-‘73-75, USMC- ‘93-96, USN- ‘96-02, medically retired, ‘02)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Really a story of hope and connection… I would have enjoyed a bit more time with them as they connected… emotions, sensations, and so on. But… excellent writing!

Story did bring back some bad and good memories. I had faced my demons and had my personal "Come to Jesus" decision to put them mostly aside, but two very good friends had not. Pete's guilt for possibly killing some non-combatants, and Johnny's dealing with having caught several AK rounds up one side destroying an arm that he refused to have removed, caused the two of them to have total breakdowns from time to time. I became their anchor and a couple of times a year I would ave to deal with each. It got so bad I actually hated to hear the voice of one of them on my telephone cause it meant they were "back". After finding "Groups" out at the V.A. they each decided I just had to come with them, "since it was only a matter of time until I had my own breakdown". Finally, I told each that I did not need a circle jerk and the only thing driving me crazy was the two of them trying to convince me I might go crazy. Each thought my occasionally getting into bar fights and such indicated that I was on the edge. Finally, Pete found a good woman and she did a lot more to drag him into a real life. A good woman has saved more old Vets than any Psych Doc. (In my opinion) Several years seemed to wear of the edge for John and he came to terms with his. Me, I still tilt windmills but no longer feel the need to beat up some bar bully picking on someone. That took about 30 years and caused a few scars on the face and knuckles but that demon came about way before ever having the good Uncle pay for any "vacations". By the way, the place where all that shit happened really has now become a great place to vacation, according to a bunch of my old Vet buddies!

@JimDiamond

I am glad to learn that you have achieved some balance following your time post-Vietnam. I have beaten most of my demons, though not all. I won't go into those. They bring up evil thoughts and nightmares still.

You have the extra burden of carrying your two buddies in their struggles. It shows you are the best of the best to shoulder and become someone they rely on. Got to think there is a spot in Heaven for guys like you.

I took a different route, isolated, and cut off all contacts. As an orphan going into service, that was pretty easy and seemed an appropriate path. I'm alone today because of that—my choice. I don't know what happened to anyone I came back alive with. Thinking about some of them bothers me at times.

Excellent writing and with a touch of humor. Love it. On to the next part...