For many veterans, those who survived the war and returned home are mere shadows of their former selves. Military training doesn't prepare one to shed burdens of combat and find meaning in a peacetime life. Richard A. Price is a Vietnam veteran who recognized this and created his own operations manual on how to manage post-traumatic stress disorder on the road back to normalcy.
From Nam to Normal: Battle of the Demons uses military language to communicate strategies, experiences, expectations, and eventual daily management of the dense jungles and bogs that is PTSD. Chapter titles like, "CORPSMAN, I'M HIT!" describe the importance and process of understanding one's psychological wounds, which is the first step toward healing. "SEARCH AND DESTROY" details the daily ins and outs of attacking PTSD instead of letting it have control. And "CANS ON THE WIRE" immediately provides alarming imagery as a springboard for exploring one's emotional triggers.
Price approaches this complex and sensitive topic with authenticity and heart-from one veteran to another. The journey from Nam to normal is a lifelong quest, but Price's book is sure to be the most important weapon in every recovering veteran's armory.
About the Author: Richard A. Price is a retired university professor and a veteran of the Vietnam War, who lives with his wife in Newark, Ohio. Price enlisted as a surveyor in the US Navy Seabees in 1966 and served two tours in Vietnam.
Once his military service came to an end, he taught drafting and surveying, pursued his PhD in education, and eventually became a professor at The Ohio State University and Kent State University.
For forty-four years and counting, Price has battled the traumatic effects of his experiences in Vietnam. To help others manage their similar emotional scars, Price is active with the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, and Amvets. The Buckeye State Council of Vietnam Veterans of America named him Veteran of the Year, for his children's coloring book on patriotism and US military history.
