Potato People: Tales from the Trenches of the U.S. Army-1967 to 1970 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781796014501)

Jack Schmitt was honorably discharged in 1970, after having signed an affidavit to remain silent for a number of years under penalty of monetary fine and/or imprisonment. He had been repeatedly sent into Laos at a time when any American presence there was being denied by the U. S. government. He discontinued contact with friends and family, returned to finish college and joined a fraternity, choosing to live on campus rather than at home. His veteran status was known to the frat, and he was immediately elected to the role of House Manager. He was never singled out for the standard birthday hazing by the brotherhood, who were all several years younger, and were possibly afraid of Jack. Their motivation for inviting him into the frat was to have someone old enough to purchase alcohol.

He married after completing his college education, and during a conversation with his wife, was finally able to admit that the opposing victims of warfare were people, not the dehumanized enemy he had been trained to eliminate. He continued to be haunted by nightmares involving blood and terror in the jungle. His wife, whom he had met a year after his discharge from the Army, happened to encounter a PTSD therapist at a seminar. She had endured Jack's nightmares through nearly twenty years of marriage. Jack had honored the intent of the affidavit, never disclosing his whereabouts or his missions across the border into Laos. Meeting with the therapist led to attendance at PTSD sessions in a VA Hospital. One by one the other Vietnam veteran patients committed suicide or were incarcerated, leaving Jack as the only person seeking treatment. A second group was formed, with the same result. Jack could speak to the cause of his nightly waking, but the palpable blue cloud of depression would not leave. Ultimately, a Police Social Worker was able to make sense of his discomfort, leaving Jack with a treatable sleep deprivation disorder.

In 1990, he began to drain his memories, manually writing page after page from Day One of his entry into the Army. He had tried joining the local VFW Post, at the behest of a church member, but withdrew immediately when their first request was for him to march in uniform. He avoided reading books about the war, and was deeply shaken during a visit to the Wall in Washington, D.C.

With a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering and a Master's in Engineering Management, Jack Schmitt spent over four decades designing roads in Illinois. He also served as a part-time instructor for twenty-five years, preparing candidates to take their licensing exam, as well as developing and presenting courses as a faculty member at Midwest College of Engineering. He published a children's book, Toby and the Princess, based upon a story he concocted for his children during bath time. He published an engineering text entitled Plans, Special Provisions and Contract Plan Reviews as well as numerous on-line courses for continuing education. Married for nearly forty-five years, he and his wife, both retired, enjoy traveling and babysitting their grandchildren. Jack has a musical background as a self-taught drummer, is a decorated Viet Nam veteran, and established Red Pencil Ltd., a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business, providing civil engineers with on-line seminars on a variety of roadway fundamentals.