Homeless Vietnam Veteran So Traumatized By War, Can't Remember Unit, Military Terms
TAMPA, FL - Life can be harsh for those living homeless on the nation's city streets. But for one man, it's even worse -- especially when he deals with the emotional scars of battle.
Polls show that 15 percent of the U.S. homeless population have served in the military. Many suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
"It was definitely rough when I came home from the war in 1978," says Richard McAdams, a veteran who served in the Marines during the Vietnam war. "I got off the plane and they were spitting on me and calling me baby-killer."
McAdams says he served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1978, although the war officially ended three years prior.
"Well I don't exactly remember the year," he says, "but I know that it was really hell over there, especially when the Chosin was so freezing cold. My friend Billy actually lost his fingers to frostbite."
McAdams is of course referring to the Chosin Reservoir, the location of the famous 1950 breakout by Marines of the 1st Marine Division durin…
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