Traumatic memories of the battlefield and other less affect-laden combat experiences often play a role in the daytime cognitions of combat veterans.  Frequently, these veterans report replaying especially problematic combat experiences over and over again.  Many search for possible alternative outcomes to what actually happened in Vietnam.  Many castigate themselves for what they might have done to change the situation, suffering subsequent guilt feelings today because they were unable to do so in combat.  The vast majority report that these thoughts are very uncomfortable, yet they are unable to put them to rest.
Many of the obsessive episodes are triggered by common, everyday experiences that remind the veteran of the war zone:  helicopters flying overhead, the smell of urine (corpses have no muscle tone, and the bladder evacuates at the moment of death), the smell of diesel fuel (the commodes and latrines contained diesel fuel and were burned when filled with human excrement), green tree lines (these were searched for any irregularity which often meant the presence of enemy movement), the sound of popcorn popping (the sound is very close to that of small arms gunfire in the distance), any loud discharge, a rainy day (it rains for months during the monsoons in Vietnam) and finally the sight of Vietnamese refugees.
A few combat veterans find the memories invoked by some of these and other stimuli so uncomfortable that they will actually go out of their way to avoid them.  When exposed to one of the above or similar stimuli, a very small number of combat veterans undergo a short period of time in a dissociative-like state in which they actually re-experience past events in Vietnam.  These flashbacks can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours.  One veteran described an episode to me in which he had seen some armed men and felt he was back in Vietnam. The armed men were police officers.  Not having a weapon to protect himself and others, he grabbed a passerby and forcefully sheltered this person in his home to protect him from what he felt were the "gooks".  Needless to say, the passerby screamed, and the police stormed the house.  The veteran was incoherent when they finally reached him, yelling about "the d--- gooks".  He was medicated and hospitalized for a week.
Such experiences among Vietnam veterans are rare, but not as uncommon as many may believe.  Many veterans report flashback episodes that last only a few seconds.  For many, the sound of a helicopter flying overhead is a cute to forget reality for a few seconds and remember Vietnam, re-experiencing feelings they had there.  It is especially troublesome for those veterans who are still" numb" and specifically attempting to avoid thee feelings.  For others, it is just a constant reminder of their time in Vietnam, something they will never forget...

When I returned from Vietnam I was quite different.  I had an experience that has altered my outlook on life and religion.

I seen an "Angel of Death, I had been given another opportunity to live.  I relized here is more to God and life I had to re-learn.

I have attended a seminar for Vietnam Veterans, years ago that really helped me.

I have been married for over 35 years now, grown children, attend and usher at a local church.