Sam Hermanstorfer: Harsh Treatment Of Vietnam Veterans

An army veteran and a retired Navy pilot that is in the Medina County Veterans Service named Bob Fiest once said, “Vietnam vets were a bit crushed coming home. We were not honored, but were treated as the face of an unpopular war”. The amount of respect the Vietnam veterans experienced when they were coming home was very little to none due to the fact many people saw little heroic actions. This caused many controversies and resulted in much harsh treatment towards the veterans such as Sam Hermanstorfer. Hermanstorfer, a Vietnam veteran, was discouraged when returning back from war even though many soldiers of his kind lacked support which resulted in a difficult time trying to get back into a normal life after a traumatic one. Hermanstorfer

Many of the Vietnam veterans felt intimidated when coming home from the war and many often were treated as if they were a disgrace and didn’t deserve regular rights every citizen should have. Many Vietnam veterans like Hermanstorfer didn’t receive a warm welcome home like most soldiers deserve but instead the harsh treatment of calling out prejudice statements and being approached with little recognition but instead cruel comments. The treatment soldiers got were very similar to what Hermanstorfer remembers, “That was the consideration that we received when we got home… I’d get a lot of looks from people, but my big thing was the cab ride. The cabby would not take me the rest of the way – that little distance, a half a mile or so” (Hermanstorfer). The experience Hermanstorfer went through was one of the few things that happened to veterans when they came home. He was approached poorly with little acknowledgment and even though the distance the cab driver had to go was very little, he still didn’t get what he deserved after going through so many distressing events during the war. A study from Delta College about Vietnam veterans coming home stated, “Perhaps the cruelest aspect of the war was the treatment of the returning soldiers. Unlike the hero status given to the returning soldiers from

The events that happened in the war changes the mental states of many soldiers which stays with them forever. The vulnerability of the soldiers was increased due to the graphic sights soldiers were exposed to during the war. In some cases, the disturbing events become an everyday occurrence from PTSD which happens to many soldiers. A Study of Trauma-Related Risk Factors from a Journal of Epidemiology found that, “A high level of exposure to war zone stress was independently associated with mortality for both male and female theater veterans after adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, PTSD, and physical comorbid conditions” (Schlenger). Vietnam veterans developed these mental images and flashes of gruesome episodes that eventually led to psychological trauma and affected the daily lives of soldiers even after the war. In the interview about Hermanstorfer’s war story experience, he remembered, “I was scared. I was rather ticked off with the way things were going on, because we had areas that they could ambush us from, and we weren’t allowed to fire back at them” (Hermanstorfer). The amount of Hermanstorfer experiencing terrifying ambushes was few of the many life threatening actions soldiers were put in but many were unable to control their