Odysseus in America : Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming

In this ambitious follow-up to Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay uses the Odyssey, the story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the pitfalls that trap many veterans on the road back to civilian life. Seamlessly combining important psycho- logical work and brilliant literary interpretation with an impassioned plea to renovate American military institutions, Shay deepens our understanding of both the combat veteran's experience and one of the world's greatest classics. Publishers Weekly It's not exactly a secret that those returning from war often have difficulties adjusting to the peaceful life at home. Nor is it a secret that hundreds of thousands of Vietnam veterans have had emotionally rocky homecomings. The main reasons Vietnam veterans have suffered disproportionately have been identified in many books. Shay (Achilles in Vietnam), a Tufts Medical School faculty member, serves as a Veterans Administration psychiatrist administering to emotionally troubled Vietnam veterans and offers his second study engaging the Homeric epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey, in order to describe and explain veterans' plight. Shay presents an amalgam of scholarly Homeric interpretation and case studies of maladjusted Vietnam veterans, arguing that leaders-from top policy makers to drill instructors-hold the key to preventing many psychological problems in the military. He advocates fostering a climate of community at the unit level by training and supporting competent, open-minded, ethical military leaders who have the full support of their superiors. While it's an intriguing argument, the case studies do not contribute to existing literature, and the tone of the book-which contains countless italicized words and phrases-comes off too often as hectoring or stridently didactic. Readers with a working knowledge of The Odyssey and a familiarity with the effects of PTSD among Americans who served in the Vietnam War may get the most out of this book, which could affect policy if it finds its way to upper echelons of command. (Nov.) "The number of books on the Vietnam War is, by now, vast and varied. Until recently, however, there has been very little for the public to read about the psychological effect of that conflict on the men who fought in it. Gradually, it has come to be known that the combat veterans of Vietnam suffer, in appalling numbers, from what is known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Indeed, of the three quarters of a million surviving combat veterans, one quarter of a million suffer from this disorder and the personal costs it imposes. (For a full discussion of PTSD and its symptoms, see the Introduction and Chapter 10.) In Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay casts new, challenging, and irrefutable light on the lives of these men and the ravages of combat trauma on their minds and spirits." "For many years, Dr. Shay has been the psychiatrist for a group of Vietnam veterans. In that time, he has come to see an overwhelming and undeniable similarity between their experiences and those of the soldiers in the Iliad; after all, this centuries-old epic is about soldiers in war and its disastrous consequences for their character. More specifically, the elements of Achilles story - the betrayal by his commander, the shrinking of his moral and social world to a small group of friends, the death of one or more of these comrades, the accompanying feelings of grief, guilt, and numbness followed by a "berserk" rage - are heard over and over in the stories of these men who were once soldiers and are still caught up in that old struggle." "Drawing at length on these men's vivid and heart-rending words, as well as on Dr. Shay's own close, ingenious, and persuasive reading of Homer's classic story, Achilles in Vietnam has already been acclaimed by soldiers, writers, classicists, and psychiatrists. It should transform any and all future discussions of the Vietnam War."--Jacket "After tackling the sensitive issues of race and wealth, author Andrew Hacker now turns his authoritative analysis to a topic on which almost everyone has an opinion: the relationship between the sexes. Skillfully employing a wide range of new and startling statistics, he finds a gender divide that is only getting wider, with devastating consequences for family life and personal happiness.". "Whether measured by quantity or quality, marriages are weaker and briefer than at any time since this nation began. Gone are the days when men and women happily assumed the complementary roles of provider and caretaker. Today's women are unwilling to truncate their goals to make life congenial for men; instead they are competing for - and often winning - places once thought of as solely male preserves. At the same time, fewer men can satisfy the expectations modern women have for their dates and mates. What does this mean for the future of intimate relationships?". "Andrew Hacker probes statistics on divorce and parenthood to explain why more women are initiating divorce and why so many are raising children alone or choosing to forgo motherhood altogether. He notes that more men are skipping college, just as more women are entering and succeeding at careers once dominated by men. But even as women make great strides in the workplace, double standards and glass ceilings persist, suggesting continuing and new forms of hostility and discrimination. Hacker also confronts the troubling question of why, in a civilized nation, rape and assault against women remain widespread and why men and women are opposed on fundamental issues such as gun control and abortion. Perhaps most provocatively, he makes the prediction that the social patterns of white Americans are beginning to mirror those of blacks - yet another result of the growing gender divide."--BOOK JACKET. In his acclaimed book Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay used the Iliad as a prism through which to examine how ancient and modern wars have battered the psychology of the men who fight. Now he turns his attention to the Odyssey, Homer's classic story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the real problems faced by combat veterans reentering civilian society. Drawing on his years of experience working with Vietnam veterans, Shay illustrates how the Odyssey can be read as a metaphor for the pitfalls that trap many veterans on the road back to civilian life. He also explains how veterans recover, and advocates changes to American military practice that will protect future servicemen and servicewomen while increasing their fighting power. The Odyssey, Shay argues, offers explicit portrayals of behavior common among returning soldiers in our own culture -- danger-seeking, womanizing, explosive violence, drug abuse, visitation by the dead, obsession, vagrancy, and homelessness. Supporting his reading with examples from his fifteen-year practice treating Vietnam combat veterans, Shay shows how Odysseus's mistrustfulness, his lies, and his constant need to conceal his thoughts and emotions foreshadow the experiences of many of today's veterans. Throughout, Homer strengthens our understanding of what a combat veteran must overcome to return to and flourish in civilian life, just as the heartbreaking stories of the veterans Shay treats give us a new understanding of one of the world's greatest classics. With a foreword by Vietnam veteran U.S. Senators John McCain and Max Cleland, representing bipartisan support for what Dr. Shay is trying to accomplish, Odysseus in America is an impassioned and cogent plea to renovate American military institutions -- and a brilliant rereading of Homer's epic In this ambitious follow-up to Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay uses the Odyssey, the story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the pitfalls that trap many veterans on the road back to civilian life. Seamlessly combining important psychological work and brilliant literary interpretation with an impassioned plea to renovate American military institutions, Shay deepens our understanding of both the combat veteran's experience and one of the world's greatest classics. In Achilles in Vietnam , Dr. Jonathan Shay used the story of the Iliad as a prism through which to examine how ancient and modern wars have battered the psychology of the men who fight. Now he turns his attention to the Odyssey , the story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the real problems faced by combat veterans reentering civilian society. The Odyssey , Shay argues, offers explicit portrayals of behavior common among returning soldiers in our own culture: danger-seeking, womanizing, explosive violence, drug abuse, visitation by the dead, obsession, vagrancy and homelessness. Supporting his reading with examples from his fifteen-year practice treating Vietnam veterans, Shay shows how Odysseus's mistrustfulness, his lies, and his constant need to conceal his thoughts and emotions foreshadow the experiences of many of today's veterans. He also explains how veterans recover and advocates changes to American military practice that will protect future servicemen and servicewomen while increasing their fighting power. Throughout, Homer strengthens our understanding of what a combat veteran must overcome to return to and flourish in civilian life, just as the heartbreaking stories of the veterans Shay treats give us a new understanding of one of the world's greatest classics. An original and groundbreaking examination of the psychological devastation of war through the lens of Homer's Iliad in this “compassionate book [that] deserves a place in the lasting literature of the Vietnam War” (The New York Times).In this moving and dazzlingly creative book, Dr. Jonathan Shay examines the psychological devastation of war by comparing the soldiers of Homer's Iliad with Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. A classic of war literature that has as much relevance as ever in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Achilles in Vietnam is a “transcendent literary adventure” (The New York Times) and “clearly one of the most original and most important scholarly works to have emerged from the Vietnam War” (Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried). As a Veterans Affairs psychiatrist, Shay encountered devastating stories of unhealed PTSD and uncovered the painful paradox—that fighting for one's country can render one unfit to be a citizen. With a sensitive and compassionate examination of the battles many Vietnam veterans continue to fight, Shay offers readers a greater understanding of PTSD and how to alleviate the potential suffering of soldiers. Although the Iliad was written twenty-seven centuries ago, Shay shows how it has much to teach about combat trauma, as do the more recent, compelling voices and experiences of Vietnam vets. A groundbreaking and provocative monograph, Achilles in Vietnam takes readers on a literary journey that demonstrates how we can learn how war damages the mind and spirit, and work to change those things in our culture that so that we don't continue repeating the same mistakes. The Author Draws Parallels Between The Odyssey And The Experiences Of Vietnam Veterans After Returning To The United States. Introduction -- Odysseus Among The Rich Civilians -- Pirate Raid: Staying In Combat Mode -- Lotus Land: The Flight From Pain -- Cyclops: The Flight From Boredom -- Odysseus Gets A Leg Up-- And Falls On His Face: The Workplace -- A Peaceful Harbor: No Safe Place -- Witches, Goddesses, Queens, Wives-- Dangerous Women -- Among The Dead: Memory And Guilt -- What Was The Sirens' Song?: Truth As Deadly Addiction -- Scylla And Charybdis: Dangers Up, Down, And Sideways -- The Sun God's Beef: The Blame Game -- Above The Whirlpool -- Calypso: Odysseus The Sexaholic -- Odysseus At Home -- Introduction -- From The Clinic To The Wall -- Lew Puller Ain't On The Wall -- Introduction -- Preventing Psychological And Moral Injury In Military Service -- Odysseus As A Military Leader -- Conclusion -- Appendix I: A Pocket Guide To Homer's Odyssey -- Appendix Ii: Information Resources For Vietnam Veterans And Their Families -- Appendix Iii: Some Proposals. Jonathan Shay ; Foreword By Max Cleland And John Mccain. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 303-312) And Index.

In this strikingly original and groundbreaking book, Dr. Shay examines the psychological devastation of war by comparing the soldiers of Homer's Iliad with Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Although the Iliad was written twenty-seven centuries ago it has much to teach about combat trauma, as do the more recent, compelling voices and experiences of Vietnam vets.

Using vivid narratives of Vietnam veterans afflicted with posttraumatic stress disorder, his own discoveries in treating these men, and the profound poetic truths of the Iliad, Shay reveals the devastating effects of catastrophic war experiences on the minds and spirits of soldiers.

An original and groundbreaking book that examines the psychological devastation of war by comparing the soldiers of Homer's Iliad with Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder In this strikingly original and groundbreaking book, Dr. Shay examines the psychological devastation of war by comparing the soldiers of Homer's Iliad with Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Although the Iliad was written twenty-seven centuries ago it has much to teach about combat trauma, as do the more recent, compelling voices and experiences of Vietnam vets From the publisher: In this strikingly original and groundbreaking book, Dr. Shay examines the psychological devastation of war by comparing the soldiers of Homer's Iliad with Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Although the Iliad was written twenty-seven centuries ago it has much to teach about combat trauma, as do the more recent, compelling voices and experiences of Vietnam vets The author of Achilles in Vietnam explores the problems faced by combat veterans when they re-enter American life, using Homer's Odyssey as an allegorical template and advocating changes in American military practice that could help prevent psychological and moral injury to military personnel. Reprint. 10,000 first printing. Identifies a growing dissonance between men and women, citing statistics that identify disparities between the experiences and attitudes of each gender, while noting the pervasiveness of crimes against women Further up the table the accountant has just been explaining how, if only we had held out a bit longer, the war would have been won.... We begin in the moral world of the soldier-what his culture understands to be right-and betrayal of that moral order by a commander.