No one, not one person all though out my training ever told me of the effects combat could have on my life after Vietnam. The delayed effects came in 1980, nine years later and they hit me with a vengeance. I felt the only way to end the flashbacks and memories was to end my life and as a funeral director I knew how. This book talks about my daily, weekly, monthly thoughts centered around my Mennonite upbringing, the United State Marine Corps, and Vietnam. I wanted readers to understand life goes on even with PTSD, provided they get help. I respectfully believe anyone suffering with this infliction can be helped, but not until they seek help themselves. I have found peace though solitude, writing, and openly discussing my problems with a VA psychiatrist, my wife, and a few close friends. Getting help in as important as you feel your life is worth. If it's worth nothing, do nothing, but if you truly feel you would like to change for the better; seek help, privately or though the VA.
CRAIG TSCHETTER was born and raised in South Dakota. At age eighteen, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he served as a combat radio operator for twenty months in Vietnam before returning to San Diego to complete his military service as a Drill Instructor. After his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps in 1971, he returned to South Dakota to attend college and start a family.
With a degree in Mortuary Science, he worked for over thirty years in the funeral service industry before retiring in 2005. Today, he lives with his wife of fifty-three years, Della, in Brookings, South Dakota. He continues to write, is actively involved in public speaking, and enjoys retirement. His daughter and granddaughter reside in Florida, and his son and wife live in Oregon.
