My Tour In Hell

David W. Powell enlisted for a tour of duty in April 1966 with the USMarines after receiving an imminent draft notice. Believing he would beable to leverage his existing skills as a computer programmer, he neverthought all they would see on his resume was his Karate expertise. Evenless that he would wind up serving as a Rocket man in the jungles of DaNang and Chu Lai for a 13 month tour in hell.
David''s journey from naive civilian to battle-hardened combat veteranshows us all how fragile our humanity really is. In addition to killingthe enemy on the field of battle, he was witness to countless crueltiesincluding murder both cold-blooded and casual, cowardice under fire, anda callous disregard for life beyond most people''s imagination. Witheach new insult, he lost a little bit of his soul, clinging to his Bibleas his only solace while equally certain of his own imminent demise.
Upon returning to civilian life after a two year enlistment, he foundhimself with nightmares during sleep, intrusive thoughts while awake, ahypervigilant stance combined with an exaggerated startle reaction, anda seeming inability to control basic emotions like anger and sadness.
The price he paid for what would only be diagnosed decades later asPost-Traumatic Stress Disorder was broken marriages and relationships,inability to hold down jobs leading to bankruptcy, alcohol abuse, andhaving to hide the service he willingly gave to his own country.
In 1989, David eventually recovered through a simple but powerfultechnique known as Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) and is nowsymptom-free. Not just for veterans, TIR has since been successfullyapplied to crime and motor vehicle accident victims, domestic violencesurvivors, and even children. His story shows what is possible foranyone who has suffered traumatic stress and that hope, healing, andrecovery can be theirs too.
What People Are Saying About My Tour In Hell
"His autobiographical work is a must read for veterans who remain stuckbetween two worlds. Healing is not forgetting; healing is making senseof the past in order to live life in the present with a restored hopefor the future. Powell articulates this process very well and has givena tremendous gift to the combat veteran community of any generation."
- Father Philip G. Salois, M.S., National Chaplain, Vietnam Veterans of America
"The connection of David''s problems in his current life and his VietNam experiences is one of the clearest descriptions of how trauma affectsour lives I have ever read. My Tour in Hell is a tribute to David''s unwillingness to give up on himself in the face of great unhappiness."
-Laura W. Groshong, LICSW (Seattle, WA)
"Years in combat zones, group psychotherapy with combat vets diagnosedwith PTSD and TIR training qualifies me to recommend this book.Those in the helping professions will learn how the negativeemotional ''charge'' of trauma can be partially or totally eliminated throughthe adept facilitation of Traumatic Incident Reduction."
-Sister Kateri Koverman, LISW, ICDC
"Powell presents a brutally honest and riveting account of one man''sdescent into the dehumanizing realities of war. However, the journey isworth it to relive his dramatic ascension and redemption from the abyssthrough the life changing, powerful, and therapeutic techniques of TraumaticIncident Reduction."
- Rev. James W. Clifton, LCSW, PhDMore Than A Memoir, My Tour In Hell includes
Photos taken by David''s own camera in 1966 VietnamStudy guide for clinical studentsFAQ from the National Center for PTSDForeword by Tom Joyce outlining the etiology of PTSDSuggested Reading list
Learn more at www.MyTourInHell.com