Another Vietnam Vet

I am a 1967-68 Vietnam vet from the U.S. that served in Corps III, Bien Hoa province. I now live (retired) in Mexico and have been service connected 100% disabled (70% + 30% unemployable) for 10 years now. The VA didn't really open up the compensation to us dudes until 40+ years after the Vietnam conflict. Sure there were extreme cases where vets received compensation, but it was tough to receive full compensation until around the late 90's to 2000 for the rest of us (from what I understand). They waited for the WWII & Korean vets to mostly die-off before the compensation spotlight reached us. By the time I learned how to spell PTSD and find out it actually was a condition that existed, I had already been through 3 failed marriages (the longest one lasting 4 years, the shortest 3-months). All my exes thinks I'm the worse S.O.B. that ever existed. After the honeymoons were over, then the PTSD shit would kick in and they all blamed themselves for my not loving them, etc., etc., etc.

Once I finally conceited that I had problems and sought help through counseling, I began to learn how messed up I was. I tried marriage #4 after counseling and being awarded compensation and that one lasted 6 years before divorcing in 2008. Now I am 5-months into marriage #5 and she packed up and left me yesterday. God bless her, she doesn't speak English (and my Spanish is a terrible mediocre at best). She thinks she's been thrown into a tornado of whiplash and torment! She came back this morning and expressed how much she loved me and wanted things to get right. My biggest problem with her is my isolation. I will go days without speaking to her. There has been no harmony for her during my bad days.

When I met her 2-years ago, I explained to her I had a mental disorder called PTSD. I copied and pasted an article that basically described PTSD and the symptoms. I translated it to Spanish for her (thru Google Translator). She read it in less than 5-minutes and said, "Okay". I thought, "Oh boy, she's gonna find out there's more to it than that...down the road." Well, this morning I located as few paragraphs about PTSD that I threw together in about 3-minutes and translated it for her. It really struck a note in her and she devoured the info.

That's why I'm here. I found your site tonight and joined. I desperately need to find a thorough, yet condensed article or information that I can translate for her so she can begin to understand more about this condition and what she has been exposed to. We all know there's more than 16-tons of information on the internet about it (and most likely half that much on this site) but it is so laborious for me to wade thru it all and handpick info that will benefit her. Possible some of you on this site can direct me to articles/information on how PTSD effects relationships and I can offer it to her ASAP.

Thanks for any help. (I will copy & paste this over in the Relationships area)

Hey Man. I'd say welcome, but well.... We all have PTSD here, so welcome to a proper nut house.

In the media section there are a number of articles and also there is a book section. I think you may be able to get some of the books in Spanish on Amazon....Not sure. Regardless, plenty of info here on relationships.

I gave the "Stress Cup" article to my wife....soon to be ex. She understood things a bit better and so did I from that one.

This is also a great place to come if you are having one of those days or even if you feel ok. We all try to give each other a "leg up" here. Everyone needs a "leg up" at some point.

Take care and hang tuff.
Good Luck
Wagon

Welcome...............

gonna look around for a good article and ask my dad for some help.. he is a translator english/spanish and vice versa for the oil industry...

Thanks for the responses, I wish I had known this site years ago, but it's a good-thing that I came across it last night.

The problem living in Mexico is they have a really piss-poor postal system here. It's hard to receive any mail or shipments. In fact, folks lose more mail than they receive. including sending. With that in mind, it is better for me to find articles to download in electronic form. That way they can be dropped into Google Translator and instantly translated/printed for her. I don't want to bog her down with huge books. She's new to all this, so little-by-little is probably the best policy. Like, I don't want to run her off!

Ola, BR! This is a great site with some top brothers and sisters. Pull up a chair and join in.

Sarg

Hey BR

I'm a Nam Vet also. There's quite a few of us here so hope you'll feel at home. Glad you found our site.

JarHed