Changed By War

by Den Slattery

War has a very negative effect on people. Den's life was changed by the war in Vietnam. "Changed By War" is his personal story of the battles in combat and back at home. If you have loved one who has been exposed to war, this might be a good book to help you understand them.

Genres: History

95 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 30, 2009

Reviews

[Steve Woods · Rating 2 out of 5]

This man did two tours in Vietnam, one as a combat marine and one in the army in a base area. Like so many his experiences devastated the sense of self and wrecked him. From the text he clearly shows many of the manifestations of ptsd. The story is told in a matter of fact simple style with little emotional content. Like all who suffer from this effect of have gone to war he searches for some way ti make sense of his experience. He turns to religion. Horses for courses I guess. For many of us the experience of war either confirmed organized religion as a nonsense, complicit with the witches brew in which we found ourselves embroiled. For others, those who had a strong religious background the experience just put paid to the lie completely. The research shows that these people often suffer the greatest emotional collapse as everything they have ever believed is trashed by the rarity of combat. The book was clearly published with the intent of furthering the massage, and no doubt has been extensively used for that purpose. While I can agree that the solution is a spiritual one organized Christianity as I have seen it is an anathema to the course that needs to be taken. It is a spiritual problem but there really isn't much in church for me that falls into that category, the journey must by its very nature be a personal one, there is no fairy with a magic wand who will appear at the end of a prayer and deliver the "ting!" that will do the job. More likely to confuse and demoralize and move the person utter form their own solution. The book had some little interest but not much! Not much of substance here.

[Doug DePew · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Changed By War" is Mr. Slattery's story of his two tours in Vietnam. He spent one tour with the Marine Corps as an infantryman and later another with the Army as the war was ending. His descriptions of his time in Vietnam are quite good and he captures the feel of what it was like very well. It was also interesting to hear his experiences and some of his activities after the Marine Corps.

This book is much more than that, though. It is also the story of how Mr. Slattery really was transformed by war. It chronicles his journey to becoming the person he is today. This book has a strong religious overtone. If that turns you off, I would not recommend this book. Personally, I found his story quite interesting and appreciate him sharing it. It is worth reading.

[Missi Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always find books written by marines to be especially interesting. This one is no exception, but I was pleasantly surprised to read about Den's life being transformed by Christ. I don't think I've ever read a Vietnam memoir that ended that way. Awesome!!