04/19/2012
The lecture today called 'The Warrior's Journey Home' at the Santa Rosa Junior College had a great turnout. Kelly Sturgeon, Oral Historian, once again pulled off a great event.
Old faces were seen. Like Terry McLaughlin, Arden Kremer and Christine Yaeger (sorry I don't have her married name.) And it was great to see Veterans from both Desert Storm and Iraq join the conversation with their experiences. We even had the niece of a Viet Nam Vet attend because she had always looked at and touched the scars on her uncle's body and now she wanted to know about his psychological scars.
Lonny Weissman, Bill White, Al Liner, Randy Fowler and Peter Cameron represented the early founders of Flower of the Dragon on this panel. History Professor Anne Donegan gave a great introduction with a brief history of the Viet Nam War. History Professor Terry Mulcaire and Psychology Professor Marilyn Milligan rounded out the panel with their educated perspectives. Professor Miligan was teaching at the JC when The Flower of the Dragon first began and continues to teach there today. She spoke of the huge impact Viet Nam Vets had on campus in the 70s and how there are many similarities between all the vets, no matter what war they fought.
It was a surprisingly emotional afternoon. What started out as a history lesson, ended with emotional stories of how these Viet Nam Veterans on the panel were still working through the damage that was done to them. That it never goes away, but is a process of uncovering. To find the authentic self which includes their experiences in war.
One thing that was really emphasized today was this: PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) is not a disorder. It's the normal reaction to a traumatic experience. The "disorder" label creates a stigma, as if the normal reaction isn't normal. Let's drop the stigma and just call it PTS.
Professor Mulcaire pointed out that many, if not most, of the books about the Viet Nam experience are oral histories. That Veterans need to be able to talk about their experiences. He concluded with the statement that "veterans need to be heard, so just listen."
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Thanks to Kelly, for all your hard work. To Soneile, Editor and videographer extraordinaire, for your help and focus.
