Survivor’s guilt is one of the components of PTSD that is often not appreciated. I was suffering from it after Vietnam, but just stuffed it down and went on. It took 13 years before things got so bad for me that I knew something was wrong and needed to get help. I learned that the best way to deal with it is just as your son is doing. Get in touch with the guilt, do the grieving that needs to be done, understand that the best thing a survivor can do is to live your life in a way that would make your lost comrades proud, and find positive ways to deal with the anger that has its roots in the losses suffered. It is a journey with ups and downs. As time goes on there are more ups, less downs. I wish him well on that journey and am very glad to hear he is on top of it.

He too has turned to art as a form of therapy. He writes poems and paints in his free time. He completed a masters degree in May and is now a counselor at a VA hospital. He is committed to becoming solid and whole and helping other vets. I am so proud of him. He tells me he will never be able to forget his experiences but he is going to be a productive and satisfied person, and he promises me that there will be even more grandchildren. (Grandchildren are my gold standard.) By all means, support vets and support their art, in whatever form it may manifest.