Krik? Krak! The Fiction Addiction

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is defined as having flashbacks, upsetting memories, and anxiety following a traumatic event. Soldiers from the Vietnam War first experienced this problem just five years after the war. It wasn't until 1980, that this disorder was first seriously looked at as a mental health problem. The symptoms of PTSD were described under several different names of soldiers, for hundreds of years. However, the Vietnam Veterans whom experienced such symptoms were the first to classify the symptoms as PTSD. For hundreds of years, these symptoms have been described under different names in soldiers from many wars. However, Vietnam Veterans with these symptoms were the first to have the term ‘PTSD’ applied to them. Even though time has passed since the Vietnam War, PTSD is a everyday thing for some Vietnam Veterans.  -TC Works Cited https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/publications/agent-orange/agent-orange-summer-2015/nvvls.asp

During the Vietnam war, there were many terms used that soldiers were expected to know and understand. These acronyms and nicknames were used to talk about everything from different types of weapons to just basic racial slurs. Some terms include: "AWOL"- meaning absent without leave. "Charlie" or "Charles"- this is a basic slur used to refer to the Vietnamese "crispy critters"- burn victims of the napalm (a flammable jelly used for attack) "DMZ"- a demilitarized zone "slope"- a racial slur for any Asian person It was important for all soldiers to know these terms as well as many more, as it was a way for them to communicate with each other on the battlefield. - K.D. sources: the handout that Mr. Gomez gave us in class Google images

A picture of my uncle when he was in the army during the Vietnam War. -NH