Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
3:41 | It was a hard readjustment. When Bob Tibbitts returned from Vietnam, his anxiety caused him to to be disinterested in working and interacting with people. For 25 years he and his dogs lived a hermit's life in a remote cabin.
Keywords : Bob Tibbitts Vietnam psychiatrist social anxiety disorder Veterans Administration (VA) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Going to college kept Bob Tibbitts out of the draft but when he graduated and couldn't find a job, it was just a matter of time. So he signed up for Army Officer Candidate School.
It was the toughest six months of his life, up to that point. Bob Tibbitts made it through OCS at Fort Benning and it paid off later in Vietnam. He was able to keep it together during firefights because he defaulted to his training and kept his head about him.
You have to listen to your NCOs. Bob Tibbitts was a newly minted Lieutenant in Vietnam and was lucky to learn that lesson before he got into combat. On the one hand, you had to direct less than enthusiastic draftees and, on the other hand, you had to heed commanding officers who may have foolish ideas.
On his first night in the bush, Bob Tibbitts had to go retrieve some Claymore mines in the dark. He was terrified but he made it back. He was a new platoon leader and the first month was so busy that he has almost no memory of what went on. Another one of the platoon leaders in his company would become a life long friend.
There was a large NVA force following them. Platoon leader Bob Tibbitts got the word from a helicopter pilot overhead. It was an awesome sight when the Cobra lit them up. As a platoon leader, you were judged on your body count and he had the best in the company. He had discovered something within himself, the thrill of the chase.
Bob Tibbitts and his platoon of APCs were near the Cambodian border in a bad area. That's why they were there. The NVA thought they had one of the vehicles in a nice ambush but it turned out there were two of them. Let the firepower commence!
The Americans in the armored personnel carriers were looking for the NVA and the NVA were looking for the Americans. Bob Tibbitts developed a healthy respect for them. They were holding their own with the best equipped army on Earth. After seven months of that cat and mouse game, he was transferred to the 101st for a staff job.
Bob Tibbitts was awarded a Bronze Star in Vietnam but he has no idea why. He also picked up a kind of blood lust that caused him, when he got home, to take up deer hunting. The returning veterans were treated so poorly that he didn't tell people he was there.
The way we left Vietnam makes Bob Tibbitts angry. It was another non-resolved war, like they all have been since World War II. He wonders, why would you send people to war without the will to do what it takes to win it?
More help and more resources. That's what Bob Tibbitts wants veterans to get from the rest of us. Far too many of his fellow Vietnam vets returned from that war physically and mentally broken, leading to homelessness and suicide.
