A friend of mine went to Viet Nam. I think the violence got to him. He wouldn’t talk much about it, but once he did tell about going back in tunnels armed with a pistol to hunt out the VC and bringing their bodies out of the tunnels. Said he volunteered to do it.
He was a kind hearted soul. And he had a keen sense of humor - when you got to know him. We played some basketball together and hung out some. Good times. But sometimes you could see the pain in his face. You could tell he had some very bad memories that haunted him.
About 20 years ago he drove off to a remote area and blew his brains out, leaving a wife and young child behind.
I'd guess he was really troubled by the things he had to do.