ABSTRACT
Veterans living with the legacies of war, in particular the aftermath of the Vietnam War, are the subjects of this chapter. Although not specifically mentioned by Fussell, this final postwar stage (aftermath) logically extends his three stages of a soldier’s evolution. It combines considering one’s war experiences, the heart of the third stage, with struggling to live in a civilian world, a new element. Having lost their innocence on the battlefield in a heartof-darkness experience, and having acquired an apocalyptic understanding of war, returning American soldier-authors and their characters complete their literal and spiritual journeys as they and their country grapple with the consequences of Vietnam. It’s a final stage that James Jones labels the “DE-EVOLUTION OF A SOLDIER”: “As the old combat numbness disappeared, and the frozen feet of the soul began to thaw, the pain of the cure became evident” (1975, 256). Bearing physical and psychological scars, exhilaration mixed with guilt at surviving the war, and memories of their war experiences, these Vietnam survivors quickly exit the Vietnam battlefields only to return alone to the United States and another battleground. Once home they often encounter a hostile or indifferent public; endure media images of veterans who are drugcrazed, ticking time-bombs; feel alienated from the civilian world; and inexplicably may long to return to the war.
