Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness

Chapter 16 The Experience of Vulnerability in Geriatric Combat Veterans 331
SUMMARY OF VIETNAM WAR CASUALTIES
Vietnam War (1964 –1975)
Total U.S. Service Members (Worldwide) 8,744,000
Deployed to Southeast Asia 3,403,000
Battle Deaths 47,434
Other Deaths (in Theater) 10,786
Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) 32,000
Non-Mortal Woundings 153,303
Living Veterans 7,125,000
Table 16.3
From “America’s Wars,” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Offi ce of Public
Affairs, 2008.
tory that perhaps opened the door to larger questions about government
policy. This generation grew up in a time of changing values and turmoil
as the rules of society, old values, ideals, and standards were slowly challenged.
They lived in that uncomfortable liminal place between the old
and the yet undefined new. This generation returned and opted in or out
of society. Many sought to do as their fathers, uncles, and grandfathers
had done—pick up where they had left off and attempt to live the life they
had expected to have before going off to war. This generation experienced
entire neighborhoods and zip codes targeted for the draft and found those
neighborhoods dramatically changed upon their return. This generation
returned home to find a different kind of war at home: the awakening of
a country to civil rights for all. The effects of war were experienced more
deeply and dramatically than in previous cohorts partially due to exposure
to war at a younger age, increased exposure to the widespread use of
chemical hazards such as dioxin (Agent Orange), increasing resistance to
the war at home, and a lack of world stability.
Many in all three generations have complex medical profiles. Of these
generations, the Vietnam veterans often are in poorer health compared
with Korean War and WWII veterans during similar ages. The effects of