Veteran's Chapter - Chaplin James D. Johnson

Today I got the December issue of Vietnam Magazine. It is always filled with interesting articles. You'd think after over 30 years there wouldn't be much to say on the subject. Wrong.

It's full of everyday men who were hero's everyday in the war.

This months article on James D. Johnson and the war that rages on inside of him was enlightening. James was a chaplain with the 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division for nearly a year beginning in July 1967 through the Tet Offensive. He just wrote a new book: Combat Trauma: A personal Look at Long-Term Consequences. Johnson and 15 of his comrades share their most intimate experiences of the intense combat they witnessed in Vietnam.

We don't think about the Chaplains that for the most part see the death and excruciating injury and pain of the war. He talks about how hard it is for Vets to share their experiences. Some people won't be able to finish the book. He doesn't want to be judgmental, but sometimes he thinks, he lived this and you can't even read about it.