MWSA Book Review

My Silent Hurt is Over – The Miserable Experiences of a Combat Infantryman in the Vietnam War

Author:  William “Bill” Butler

Publisher:  Trafford

Reviewer: Bill McDonald – President of the MWSA

"I have a lifetime worth of memories from the Vietnam War. My memories never left me.  It's like it was yesterday - life is a precious, fragile gift.”  This quote from the author, Bill Butler on his book, gives you a sense of where this book will take you.  This is not so much about what happened but how it changed forever the life of one black young man from Huntsville, Texas.  He was a just “grunt” (Infantryman) who found his youth stolen from him on the battlefields and in the jungles of Vietnam.

I followed the journey along with the author from the beginning of his book through what he calls his “life after Vietnam.”  It was religion that found Bill and it changed his life again and brought him down much happier and peaceful roads.

Obviously Bill suffered from PTSD even if it was not recognized as such for most Vietnam veterans until we were trying to live our lives some twenty plus years after our “Tour of Duty.”  The book brings us to the man Bill has become and one who seems much more at peace with himself and his life.  This is a good uplifting story to read. It is a short read as the book is slightly over 140 pages but it will impact you emotionally none the less.