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There is no right or wrong on soldier drug use
Published Wednesday, December 10, 2008
A story appeared in the Veterans Day issue of the Albert Lea Tribune titled “A Soldier’s Story,” by Elton Mertes. It’s about a 19-year-old Vietnam War soldier dealing with the horrors of war. That soldier is my husband.
Elton is a wonderful father and grandfather, a loving husband to me (for over 38 years) and an accomplished writer. He enjoys sharing his stories with my mom, who also writes. She was so touched by “A Soldier’s Story” that she submitted it to the Albert Lea Tribune — not only to present an especially poignant side of war but as a tribute to her son-in-law, who has overcome overwhelming odds to be the man that he is today.
Elton didn’t write his story for the Tribune. He didn’t intend to have it published or to distribute it as a commentary on war. He writes what he feels when he feels it. Imagine our surprise when the story was almost immediately met with criticism from a fellow Vietnam War veteran, Steve Sorenson of Alden. I asked Elton if I could please respond because it needs to be done — not just for him but for all veterans who have had a hard time coping with war.
Paulette Mertes
Sorenson is upset, apparently, that Elton even wrote the story and equally upset with the Albert Lea Tribune for printing it. I thought our soldiers were fighting to protect the freedoms Americans enjoy — the freedom of speech and expression and the freedom the Tribune has to print stories like Elton’s. Isn’t that what Sorenson fought for?
So what has Sorenson so upset? According to Elton’s story, U.S. soldiers used drugs while serving in Vietnam. Sorenson insists that, in fact, very few did. He claims those who turned to drugs or alcohol to numb the horrors of war “chose an easy way out” while he chose to “do the right thing.”
My husband carries a deep scar on his leg that earned him the Purple Heart, among his other citations. Elton was in a Special Operations force. No one could imagine what he went through over there except the 20 other men in his Army unit. But along with the nightmares, Elton has very dear memories of these men — they were his friends, his brothers, his family — and he had their backs. He performed his duties with honor, which was a challenge for a 19-year-old boy drafted into a seemingly unending hell.
Contrary to Mr. Sorenson’s belief, the simplest research verifies rampant drug use among U.S. soldiers in Vietnam. Our government looked the other way while massive amounts of drugs were distributed throughout the black market in Southeast Asia.
By 1968 drug use by American troops had reached epidemic proportions. Fighting was fierce and casualties were high. The U.S. government knew the troops needed something to calm them.
There’s no difference today, according to Time Magazine and the American Medical Association. Our own government distributes daily doses of sleeping pills, anti-depressants such as Prozac and Zoloft and the anti-anxiety drug Clonazepam to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan to “help them cope.”
Are these soldiers to be condemned as well? I hope not. Are they choosing an “easy way out”? Or are mind-numbing pharmaceuticals somehow more acceptable? These drugs weren’t available during the Vietnam War or the government would have dispensed them then for the same reasons.
Elton never touched drugs before Vietnam. He was a college student with a 4.0 grade-point average when the government drafted him into the Army. When he returned from Vietnam, he was broken. We met shortly after, and for 38 years we’ve been putting the pieces back together. He’s doing fine now, which is more than can be said of many Vietnam War vets.
I’m sorry so many men have seen the horrors of war and carry the horrible memories of death and of friends lost. For Sorenson to suggest that soldiers who turn to drugs in order to cope with war aren’t “doing the right thing” shows a true lack of compassion and understanding for his “Vietnam brothers” and for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
There is no right or wrong here. Our soldiers did, and are doing, the best they can in unimaginable situations. It’s sad we can’t all show a little more compassion for those who struggle to this day to overcome the pain and addictions that are a residue of war.
Paulette Mertes lives in West Hartford, Conn., with her husband, Elton Mertes. They are former Albert Lea residents.
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Comments
Posted by rae_rae (anonymous) on December 10, 2008 at 9:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well written, and I think you are right it needed to be said. Each of us "deals" with things differently, and I for one can only imagion what these men have experienced and are continuing to experience because of the situations they have had to face.
Posted by nisperos (anonymous) on December 10, 2008 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This article made me want to cry, then it made me want to puke, then I felt anger coming on, then I'm up pacing and refilling my coffee, going to the bathroom, washing my hands extra long, and staring into the mirror to see how many more white hairs I have...
Still, I suppose, it had to be written and I'm thankful it was. Let's review:
One soldier’s story (November 10th): http://www.albertleatribune.com/news/200...
Drugs were not needed to make war transition (November 22nd): http://www.albertleatribune.com/news/200...
You know, there is no (expletive deleted) way that two soldiers remember the war in the same way. Furthermore, even if you had similar experiences, there is no way one veteran should be judging another veteran who may very well have served in a different place, a different time, and in a different unit.
Part of the way of coping was to act like others around you; if you weren't doing drugs and others around you weren't either, and your access was limited, what great accomplishment is that? Still if you didn't see it where you were, at the time you were in ,and someone tries to portray it as if all/most veterans used drugs, of course, you'd be ticked off - and rightfully so.
But, how dare you judge another veteran whose circumstances were different? It's just like those veterans who want to say that there were not many nurses around in Vietnam, especially women, and don't want to hear too much about their experiences, or about others' experiences state-side handling the wounded, or the experiences of those who had morgue detail or picked up the wounded or maybe even body-parts. (And in the current armed conflict you are going to be hearing a lot more about sexual assaults of women by their own fellow soldiers and I'm sure, some will claim that that too was a rare occurrence...)
For those who may not relate: What if someone who was in one of the Twin Towers on 9-11, maybe in the second tower, survived because they used their own instincts and left the building after the crash into the 1st tower were to now come out and start to criticise those who followed the order to stay calm and not panic and remain where they were and who died as a consequence?
If you are in an experience outside the range of usual human experience, you do what you have to do; some follow what "leaders" are telling you is good order, others follow their peers, others trust no one but themselves. Under the circumstances, what is right or wrong does indeed becomes very gray.
Thank you again to all who served. To everyone else, don't put all veterans in one group. It's not fair and it's triggering. The reality is far more complex and multi-faceted. The voices are as diverse as was the reality.
Posted by thop (anonymous) on December 10, 2008 at 2:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
As a 21 year veteran of the Army, with one tour in RVN during the Tet Counter Offensive, I can happily report I did not use drugs then and do not use drugs to this day. With regards to some of the facts in the finely crafted article by Ms Mertes, I have a couple questions related to time lines. Ms Mertes states her husband was "19-year-old Vietnam War soldier" but goes on to indicate he had been in college with a 4.0 GPA when he was "drafted". It is my experience from that era that you weren't subject to the draft (deferment) if your grades were that high. Also stated was "...Elton was in a Special Operations force..." It is not beyond possibility that Elton was in Special Forces (Green Berets), but for him to go to college for a year or so, complete basic training (2 mo), Advanced Individual Training (4 mo), Special Forces training (? mo) I would think he would be older than 19. Maybe his facts are a little cloudy after 40 years. I know I don't remember things as well as I used to either. At any rate Elton is one of the success stories. Welcome back.
Posted by Elton (anonymous) on December 12, 2008 at 8:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To thop - wish you had more questions or comments on the issues raised in my story or in the letters that followed, rather than the timeline of my service. I appreciate my wife wanting to come to my defense - she has no reason to stretch the truth - all is as she said. I was drafted in ‘67 straight out of college with a straight A average - true. I was 19 when I was drafted into the Army and 21 when I was honorably discharged. No deferment for me. I lived in Chicago then and the Army needed to fill a quota - it’s that simple. It was pretty hard to get a college deferment at that time - maybe you don’t remember that. Even married men were getting drafted in ‘67. If you were able-bodied, you were fair game. Anyway, the Dean argued on my behalf but it did no good.
I did basic training and AIT stateside and arrived in Nam in time for the Tet Offensive - like you. No, I wasn’t a Green Beret - there were a lot of special forces that weren’t Green Beret. My infantry’s special forces had sustained heavy casualties so upon my arrival, my infantry assigned me to train with the Black Tiger Division from Korea. We spent time in the highlands with the First Air Cav and then back South to the Delta running recon missions. Unfortunately, “thop”, my memory is all to good. Thanks for the welcome home - can’t hear that enough.
Elton
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