JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — More than 50 years after serving our country in the Vietnam War as a sniper, the horrors of war are still very much alive for a Florida Army veteran. In this week's Stories of Service, that veteran shares how writing a book has helped him cope with his experiences.
Johnnie Rowe Jr. served in the Army from 1967 to 1996, but it was the first four years of service that has stayed with him the most to this day. Those were the years he served as a sniper. Rowe Jr. says he still has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his time in Vietnam.
"I'm getting over it, but it's there and will never go away, never go away," said Rowe Jr.
When therapy didn't work, Rowe said he began writing down his experiences. His own form of therapy turned into a book.
"It helped a lot, but once you see something like that and do something like that, it's an indentation on your brain," Rowe Jr. told First Coast News.
Rowe's book, The Life of an American Patriot, shares in-depth, firsthand accounts of his experience in combat in Vietnam including a map of battles in which Rowe Jr. took part.
"The rockets and mortars, they would come over your head like this and they'd arm themselves because you could hear the close 'click, click' and it's armed already," said Rowe Jr.
More than 50 years after a young boy stepped onto the ground in Vietnam, writing this book has allowed Rowe Jr. to look back at that chapter of his life from a peaceful distance.
"He did his job, he did his job well," Rowe Jr. said while looking at a picture of himself from his time in Vietnam. "He did what had to be done and did it his way."
More information about Johnnie Rowe Jr.'s book The Life of an American Patriot can be found here.
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