Betrayal--The Lethal Injection

I believe the self-inflicted destructive force behind PTSD, is a silent enemy called betrayal. It is so insidious and pervasive, that it has the character of a bounty hunter. Betrayal by one's own government, based on lies to justify going to war, is a form of incest--Political Incest. It totally dismantles the victim's belief system. The word, Trust, sinks to the bottom of the mind. And, well too often, this profound psychological wound leads to suicide.
 
When the survivor returns from years of mental exile, to finally take the witness stand, he or she often speaks with the artless skill of a severely abused child who has just blurted out some blatant fact of honesty. It is the kind of honesty that catches people off guard, leaving them speechless. What the survivor has to say will shock the most vulnerable--the naive. The survivor exposes the truth with such simplistic detail, that it becomes an indictment against all those who had knowledge of its criminal intent. The survivor's testimony can be so compelling, that it reveals the ultimate evidence, that Lying Is The Most Powerful Weapon In War.
 
I was so filled with rage after returning from Vietnam, that for the next twenty years, I wanted to take every political hawk in America, and rub their faces in the reality of the Vietnam War, just like someone would rub a puppy's nose in the carpet after it wet on the floor. The only difference is, the wet area on the carpet would be the blood of American teenage boys. I would be brutally betrayed in Vietnam, and later returned to an unfamiliar home in a coffin draped with deceit, so the corporate Godfathers of our country could fill their greedy coffers with enormous war profits. Once I understood this untouchable truth, I understood the lies of the Vietnam War. I did not serve in Vietnam for the cause of freedom. I served Big Business Banking in America for the cause of profit. Forty years ago, before I entered the U.S. military, if someone had told me what I have just written in three paragraphs, I would have told them they were a damn liar, and unpatriotic. That was forty years ago, before I ever unzipped the truth or a body bag.