Flashback: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide, and the Lessons of War

by Penny Coleman

In the early 1970s, Penny Coleman married Daniel, a young Vietnam veteran and fellow photographer. Soon, Daniel became deeply troubled, falling victim to multiple addictions and becoming strangely insecure. He suffered from what we now call posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After Coleman left him, he committed suicide.

Struggling to understand Daniel’s experience, Coleman began investigating the history of PTSD; she found clear cases of the disorder as far back as the Civil War. In Flashback, Coleman deftly weaves psychology and military, political, oral, and cultural history to trace the experience of PTSD in the military up through the Vietnam War. She then focuses on Vietnam to show why this war in particular led to such a high number of PTSD cases, many of which ended tragically in suicide. Like the soldiers listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall, these men are casualties of war.

With record numbers of American soldiers returning from the Middle East already suffering from PTSD, Flashback provides a necessary lesson on the real tragedy of battle for soldiers and their families, something that continues long after the war ends.

Penny Coleman, the author of Village Elders, teaches photography and photojournalism at the International Center for Photography and at New Jersey City University. She lives with her partner in New York City.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, War

223 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2006

Reviews

[Michaela Crutcher-Lord]

Fantastic read on veterans from the Vietnam era & why their suicide rate is at its high. Analyzes war tactics and mental health advocacy from the beginning of American wartime to modern day. Probably the most heart wrenching part are the letters from spouses, children and parents of the victims. I feel the author could have elaborated more on the VA’s role. That is a hidden component in the system that most do not realize.

[Joshua]

One of the most effective and pointed examinations of wartime PTSD you'll ever find. A difficult, yet necessary book with a critical thesis towards war that everyone should think about.

[Steve Woods]

This book should be required reading for anyone who has ever put on a uniform. The author gives a detailed historical analysis of PTSD among US service personnnel from the the Civil War right through to Vietnam. She shows with a pointed clarity the incompetence, political cynicism and bureaucratic insensitivity of "a grateful nation" toward its veterans. There is a warning here for the mistakes of the past are now repeating themselves. Little has changed.

The Vietnam war was different in so many ways from the conflicts that preceded it. The peculiarities of that conflict, the social context within which it occurred and the omnipresent political more that dictates the efficacy of chewing up the souls of the young "in the nation's interest" and then simply discarding the husks that are left was the epitome of the corruption of what was once great about that country. Neither the society, the culture nor its military have fully recovered. The present crop of "God's on our side" crusaders are just running the same mill with different bells and whistles.

The one consistent element throughout has always been and is now the absolute betrayal of everything that is right. The soldiers pay in the most extreme way while those who are responsible live comfortable retirements, seemingly without a backward glace. Damn them all to hell, they will be entirely at home ther.

[Mary K Russell]

Extensive PTSD study

I came across this study online. I read it because, as a psychotherapist, I have been working with veterans with PTSD. Most of my clients had been deployed to the Middle East war at least once.
The book is a serious study but mostly of Vietnam veterans. However, I was impressed by its depth and application for current vets. Its conclusions are horrifying as far as treatment and suicides are concerned. But the reports from the widows engender empathy.
The physical and mental costs of war are horrific and unaddressed. It is difficult to work with our warriors, to come alongside them as they struggle to integrate into society with their training and experiences. Knowing that the future holds little hope if putting aside those traumatic memories is a cost that I bear with them. Whatever reasons they had for enlisting, the results are lifelong. They need our support.
I thank the author for the hard work that this took and I hope it results in meaningful changes.

[Will]

This is a rumination, well-wrought and a decent companion to Jonothan Shay's 'Achilles In Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character'. Civilians and loved ones of PTSD sufferers would do well to read it. It is not, however, terribly helpful, and should be low on the list for returning vets and relief workers; 'let's not have wars', however noble a sentiment, is not a workable solution.

[Joaquin Martinez]

While the book brings up interesting points, this subject matter should not have been covered by someone who was part of the anti-war movement in the 1969's. Her declaration of the "myth of spat upon Veterans" is beyond insulting and blatantly false. I've interviewed several Veteran Veterans who were in fact spat upon and called baby killers when they returned back to the US.

[Cherish]

This gave a lot of history concerning PTSD. I really enjoyed the personal stories that were included. I would have liked to have read more about having a loved one with ptsd. However I did find this book informative. There is a lot of info

[Kimberly]

I used this book as research to back up my own experiences in writing my own book. I loved how artfully it was rendered. Some parts of the main chapter body dragged. All my love to fellow victims of PTSD including that of loved one's leaving, and loved ones named Daniel.

[Koeeoaddi]

Interesting book on PTSD written by the ex-wife of a vet who committed suicide. The focus of this book is on Vietnam. For a more comprehensive book on the subject, read "War of Nerves," by Ben Shephard.

[Sabra]

best book on ptsd i have read

[R.]

Eye-opening and educational. The personal stories interspersed with the facts were a wonderful touch.

[Marion G]

Eye opener to what these brave Men and Women had to go through, and what still haunts them today.