One of the things I hear the least about when discussing Vietnam service and all of its issues is the fact that unless you had the fortune to be assigned to a unit when it was ordered to Vietnam and returned,the individual went alone and came home alone. Oh he may have had some of his AIT class fly over with him but once they arrived at the repo depot, you were pretty much on your own. Consider for a second that for most servicemen it was their first time in a foreign country…and Vietnam certainly was a hell of a strange cultural environment… “falling down the rabbit hole” is a phrase that comes to mind. And then in the case of most field folks, they left the mud and weirdness and were “home” 48 hours later… ALONE… trying to figure out exactly what was real… no wonder we Vietnam vets have so many issues… by Bud Alley
48 hours later… ALONE…
Published by Jack McCabe
Jack McCabe was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from high school in 1969 at the age of 17 and two days after he turned 18 he joined the Army. He was sent to Vietnam less than a year later in October of 1970. He extended for a second tour and finally came home for good at the end of May 1972. He finished his three-year enlistment at Fort Huachuca, Arizona and returned home to Chicago. After his return from Vietnam, he pursued his education using the G.I. Bill, receiving an associate degree in electronics engineering from DeVry Institute. He eventually continued his education by attending night school and received his bachelor’s degree in business and management from Northeastern Illinois University in 1981, at the age of 30. He owned his own business for 20 years and then sold real estate for 20 more before retiring to North Carolina, where he became a certified Peer Support Specialist with a veteran designation. He has a deep passion for helping veterans doing volunteer work with the YMCA Resource Gateway in Gaston County, NC where he handles all the calls from those with past military service. He helped veterans with PTSD, financial crisis’s, substance abuse, homelessness, and veteran benefits. He received the North Carolina Governors Award for Volunteer Work. Jack believes that the most important thing he can do is to give Vietnam and all veterans a voice. By sharing their stories veterans understand that they are not alone. There are many going through the same struggles as they are. For non-veterans, he hopes they will understand the struggles veterans face when they return home from war. He has since retired and is in the process of writing another book. View all posts by Jack McCabe
