The Shadow of a Man

The Vietnam war coincided with much social change: the sexual revolution, the emergence of psychedelic drugs, the erosion of the traditional marriage contracts, and the beginning of the women's movement. Boys from all demographics enlisted or were drafted. Some were wounded spiritually or emotionally before they arrived at boot camp. They were blasted apart by the experience of war. Those who were broken in body were immediately identifiable. Those broken psychologically or spiritually often went unnoticed, stoically hiding their devastation. When their wounds erupted they were judged. They were forced to carry our collective shadow, our national guilt, our denial of culpability. These were the sacrificed; the boys who never grew up; whose lives and deaths broke hearts, maimed families, and left a legacy of national guilt. This is their story.