In Their Own Words:
Sheldon Nadler, Navy Hospital Corpsman
Attached to USMC 1/5; 1/7; and 1st Medical Battalion
Vietnam, 1968 – 1969
I served in Vietnam and currently have a 50% disability rating for PTSD, and also have lung cancer and diabetes from Agent Orange. I suffered for thirty-five years while trying to cope with my disabilities.
The government did not offer much in the way of help when I got out in 1969, and I felt that what was happening was somehow my fault.
When I enlisted I thought I had done the right thing, then after my discharge I had many problems. It was not until five years ago that a fellow veteran suggested that I seek help at the VA.
It has been an uphill battle to get my benefits, but they are now coming to me and I realize that I am not alone in this regard. There are many thousands of veterans like me who need help even after forty years of trying to tough it out.
I was a Navy Hospital Corpsman E-3 when I was discharged in 1969. I served with the 5th and 7th Battalions of the 1st Marine Division and the 1st Medical Battalion in 1968 – 1969.
I lost a lot of friends over there, and just like the guys coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, the pain NEVER goes away.
