Example: I watched a documentary once where a reporter--it may have been Morley Safer, but memory fails me on this point--attended a reunion of Vietnam vets who hadn't seen each other for fifteen years. The wives he interviewed all said their husbands never talked about their war experiences, even after many years... and even though the experience had obviously caused them much emotional grief (as well as nightmares, trouble with substance abuse, symptoms of antisocial behavior and in some cases full-blown PTSD.) Later in the program, Safer talked to some of the men. One man told him about how they'd come across a little village that was supposed to be deserted and only occupied only by VC (the enemy), so when the Americans were fired on, they fired back, lost some of their men, and eventually called in air support, who napalmed the place. Then they saw several young girls and a mother running out of the village toward them, covered with napalm. Safer asked the man what he did, and the man answered immediately, "I shot them." Which was actually the only real, viable option to anyone who actually understands the circumstances; napalm continues to burn the skin and cannot be put out (much like the old 'Greek fire', or phosphorus.) The only way the guy could stop their pain (or do anything for them, for that matter) was to shoot them immediately. I already knew this from fairly exhaustive research. But Safer stood there, incredulous. He couldn't understand why the guy would shoot a mother and children. At that particular point, I realized exactly why those vets don't open up and tell other people what they went through: because it was a different universe, with totally different rules--the primary one being survival at all cost--and different circumstances, and most people who haven't experienced it (except for us few crazies who really, really try to put ourselves in other people's shoes so we can understand why they do what they do) don't have either the capacity or the desire to understand it. A lot of people actually lash out at you for what you try to explain. So you learn pretty quickly to just shut up and keep it to yourself. This, essentially, is Skinner's background as well.

I offer this by way of explanation. I've read too many personal accounts to fault any of these guys for clamming up. One of the biggest tragedies of war is that those who approve wars are rarely willing to face up to the fact that they are sending people into the field who will return--if they return at all--profoundly changed people who may never fit into 'normal' life again. Paul, in *All Quiet on the Western Front, found this out even in going home on leave.

Hope this gives you a little window on what Skinner may be living with.

                                                                                                      
 

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