Farewell, Darkness: A Veteran's Triumph Over Combat Trauma

"I want to give something back, " the author insisted. His counselor at the Vet Center suggested, "You can give the guys in treatment hope. You know what PTSD looks like from both sides. You can tell these guys what it's like, and what's different when you get beyond it." Ron Zaczek had been a good crewchief. He was "Zack" then: Marine Observation Squadron Three, '66-'68; Phu Bai, Dong Ha, Khe Sanh; 393 missions in Huey medevacs and gunships; 19 Air Medals and a Bronze Star. He'd succeeded in college and in industry. Good marriage, two fine kids. Then things began to fall apart. Too much anger, depression. Thoughts of suicide. So many missions of mercy, and death, returning in nightmare and flashback, out of control: "You gotta get us out, Scarface. We're burning up!" Marine crewchiefs never lost control! Control was survival, and Zack was trained to survive. He entered the Vet Center Outreach Program as a last resort, not believing it could help. Farewell, Darkness is a probing, personal look at war's psychological toll. Told with a vision of healing and hope, Zaczek's story captures the passion and idealism he felt as a 19-year-old Marine new to war, his pride in doing a job well, his fear and perseverance in the face of enemy fire, his grief over the loss of friends, and the anger and sadness of his homecoming. The reader lives Zaczek's brutal, honest journey through war as well as his treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.