I don't post on here too often as you all are much better educated than me on the Vols, but this subject I have learned a little the past year.
First, I thank my lucky stars I was a lottery kid and one year too young to go (as I was a freshman at UT at the time). Over this past year, I have been working in Vietnam - both in the North and the South. They don't talk about the war, but it's still everywhere - and very haunting. Last week I went to a couple museums in Hanoi that really tore me up and left me wondering many things.
I can also tell you, firsthand, that the veterans there, like here, suffer from the same thing. Specifically, I have gotten to be friends with a number of North Vietnamese in Hanoi who tell me the stories of their own PTSD. This was a horrible period of both of our histories and there are many scars that have not and will not heal anytime soon. The good new though is they don't hate us and actually welcome us as business partners now.
I don't know how to help with the VA, but if he ever wants to talk, I can be there for him. My prayers go out to him and you - good luck