Their nightmares are so vivid, some say they can smell the burning bodies. Others see mental images of flying over the 'Highway of Death,' a 60-mile stretch of torched Iraqi forces between Kuwait and Iraq that had been strafed by U.S. fighter jets during the Gulf War.
Scores of western Pennsylvania combat veterans have relived troubling images since the Sept. 11 attacks because they suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, said Dan Ziff, clinical coordinator at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Highland Park.
'With the burning of the World Trade Center, many of them have talked about the smells of when the (Vietnamese) villages were burnt and the bodies were burnt as well,' said Ziff, who coordinates the hospital's post-traumatic stress disorder clinic. 'Any of the symptoms they had that were there could be exacerbated by this event.'
'Many times they talk about their anger, about wanting revenge,' he said. 'What's behind the anger is sorrow and grief.'
More than 50 veterans, most from the Vietnam or Gulf wars, have sought treatment at the clinic since the attacks, Ziff said.
'We've definitely seen an increase. Any time there's a war, all combat veterans relive their personal experiences through what they see on TV or read in the newspaper.'
A traumatic event like war can be imprinted on a person's memory, said Dr. Barry Fisher, medical director of the post-traumatic stress disorder clinic.
'If there are images on the TV or otherwise that bear relation to what they saw in combat, they find themselves reliving the original images from combat.'
Veterans taking part in a recent group counseling session said that since the attacks their nightmares have worsened, they're more edgy and agitated and sleep comes in increasingly short stints.
'I'm having some crazy flashbacks. I get up earlier in the morning, sometimes 2 or 3 in the morning,' said Jim, a Plum resident and veteran of both the Vietnam and Gulf wars. 'This Sept. 11 thing just made it worse. I was angry, emotionally disturbed. I want to do something about it.'
Jim, who wouldn't give his last name, has been taking anti-depressants for his post-traumatic stress but had not been going to therapy for more than a year. After the attacks, he contacted Ziff about going back to therapy, just as many others have done.
'My groups that had six or seven veterans all the sudden have 10, 11, 12 men in them,' Ziff said.
In addition to counseling and medical treatment, Fisher recommends that veterans try to avoid the triggers of their memories.
'I've recommended that they get away from the TV,' Fisher said.
One of his patients was so overwhelmed by what he watched on Sept. 11, the veteran took up an old habit he'd kicked 10 years earlier.
'This incident lead him to relapsing into alcohol abuse,' Fisher said. 'He's been drinking consistently since then.'
Larry, an ex-Army intelligence officer from Mercer County, said that since the attacks, he gets less sleep and has nightmares that take him back to 1966-67 Vietnam.
'Every time I see that plane going into that building, I just turn away. It won't leave me. Just like the words 'body bags.' When they say 'body bags,' I can see them packing (soldiers) up and sending them back to the United States,' said Larry, who also did not want his last name used.
In one recent nightmare, Larry is standing outside the compound where he lived in Vietnam, smoking a cigarette.
'I could smell everything. It was unbelievable. It was like I was standing there, you could hear the crickets and everything.'
Marc Lukasiak can be reached at mlukasiak@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7939.
