Healing Journeys: Study Abroad With Vietnam Veterans

Raymond Monsour Scurfield
Algora Publishing (2006)
ISBN 087586404X
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (4/07)

This book is Volume 2 of “A Vietnam Trilogy.” Ray Scurfield, Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast, draws from his own personal experience as a veteran of the Vietnam War and from three decades of working with hundreds of combat veterans of the Vietnam War and of other wars. Dr. Scurfield served as a social work Army officer on a psychiatric team in Vietnam from 1968-69.

The trilogy is to give the general public insights into the impact of war on veterans, their reactions to the stress of combat and postwar readjustment, and to help veterans in the lifelong recovery process.  The book is written in an easy-to-read format, often using the actual words of interviewed war veterans.  Scurfield included material provided in collaboration with Steve Tice, fellow veteran and colleague.

“Healing Journeys: Study Abroad with Vietnam Veterans” included material from a precedent-setting study-abroad course in Vietnam sponsored by the University of Southern Mississippi that integrated university students with combat veterans in a study of Vietnam's history and mental health.. Dr. Scurfield also provides an analysis of the benefits and shortcomings of veterans returning to their former battlefields.

Using stories of veterans, the author's own journals, and his understanding as a mental health professional Scurfield describes their experiences during the war; and the healing process nurtured by innovative return trips to peace-time Vietnam.

Scurfield addresses another three important aspects of war and readjustment: the evacuation experiences of military personnel wounded during battle and ultimately medically evacuated to the United States; the racism that is inculcated during basic training, reinforced in the war zone; and the collusion and denial of the full human impact of war by powerful forces in our society. I was alarmed to learn how racism is infused in the basic training of our recruits through the attitudes and behavior patterns modeled for them by their trainers.

Scurfield’s extensive research is well-documented. “Healing Journeys” is written for physicians, care providers, and counselors.  The book also provides a vicarious "healing journey" for veterans, their families and others.  This is an outstanding book. The entire “Vietnam Trilogy” is an important contribution to the books written on the Vietnam War.

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