Vietnam, Part 3

This is the second person who I spoke with about Vietnam.  Remember, I asked for date of birth, where stationed, what year entered the service, and whether enlisted or drafted. 

Please also remember: the stories I created are in my words based entirely on what I was told.  Please also note, all names are fictitious.

Because this affects how I feel and how these veterans feel in their souls, I'm adding it to Elke's theme, Landscapes of the Soul at Art Journal Journey. 
 
This is the story of "Jesse."  Jesse told me he really didn't want to talk about the war, but has learned to deal with it over time.  He was quite honest and up front with me.  He told me he shut down for years, and lived on the streets for awhile.  He eventually got a job as a dishwasher, then worked in a laundry. He finally got a job as a machinist.  He retired from his machinist's job in 2013.  He has never been married, but has lived with various women.

Not only was Jesse returning to a country that hated the war and its returning service men and women, he returned to a racially divided nation, too.   He may have been an angry black man when he went to Vietnam, he came back a disillusioned and weary black man.  Although he wasn't in the thick of battle, I still believe he suffered from post-traumatic stress.

Jesse felt part of the country he saw was beautiful, while other parts he saw had been destroyed by the bombings, especially Napalm and Agent Orange.  Jesse admitted he had unloaded palette after palette of 55 gallon barrels of Agent Orange while he was there.

Since I obviously didn't have any pot lying around (grin), I decided to decorate my page with a poker hand and poker chips.  I found these round two-color discs in my stash, and used them to signify the chips.

I used the insert that was meant for the name on the tag to cover the words "Special Forces" with my handwritten "Army."

Materials include the back of the previous spread (Barry), but this time I used the credit card technique to create the background.  The text was computer generated and outlined using two pigment inks.  The picture from the Mekong Delta came from a travel magazine.  For embellishments, I used five playing cards, three two-color discs, and a faux dog tag.

Thank you for joining me today, as I link to Elke's theme, Landscapes of the Soul at Art Journal Journey.  And thanks for your visit as I explore how the men who survived Vietnam remember that war.  As you have read, "Jesse's" is a very different story from "Barry's."