John Wesley Fisher is the director of CORE (Community-Reconciliation Vietnam), an organization that supports veterans on healing journeys back to Vietnam. John served in the Vietnam War  in 1968, out in the front calling in artillery. He returned home and started a 40-year chiropractic career. Today, he lives with his wife in Maine and is the author of five books. He has returned to Vietnam on eight occasions before departing on a six-week solo adventure to Saigon, the Mekong Delta, Pleiku, the central highlands, and Dak To, where John served during the Vietnam war. Dak To was the scene of massive battles during the Tet Offensive, and this return trip forms the basis for the book DAK TO Rx: A Veteran Returns to the Land of His Nightmares.

John joins me today to describe his new book, its healing story, and Vietnam's beauty and culture. He discusses how Vietnam veterans brought the war home in their souls and minds and how this differs from the Vietnamese soldiers who leave the war in the past and live in today. He shares the Tet holiday traditions and the philosophy that the Vietnamese people live by, which helps them project love and forgiveness to American vets. John shares a My Lai massacre survivor’s story that demonstrates the teachings of Confucius philosophy and discusses how you can heal your mind, being, and soul. John also shares why American veterans need to remember the health of their families.

"The past was a long time ago. We live today. That is their motto.” - John Wesley Fisher

This week on the Stigma Free Vet Zone Podcast:

How the culture of philosophy and acceptance brought Viet Cong soldiers back into the community without the war trauma experienced by American soldiersHow John has found nothing but forgiveness in VietnamHow returning to Vietnam and making new memories can lessen the impact of your nightmaresThe beauty of the caves, mountains, and monasteries of Marble MountainThe traditions of the Tet national holiday and why the 1968 offensive became known as the Tet OffensiveA survivor’s story of the My Lai massacre and belief in helping American soldiers with the dishonor of this eventHow the accepting and forgiving nature of the Vietnamese has helped John and returning veteransHow Confucius philosophy teaches the Vietnamese people to be mindful and live in the momentHow to treat your mind, soul, and being and why you should recognize that this is not a mental illnessWhy veterans need to recognize the health of the family

Resources Mentioned:

COREDAK TO Rx: A Veteran Returns to the Land of His Nightmares

This episode is brought to you by…

The Orban Foundation for Veterans is dedicated to bringing greater hope, understanding, resolution, and togetherness on issues of civilian readjustment for all military veterans and their families. Orban Foundation for Veterans promotes the importance of education, identification, understanding, acceptance, and resolution of many of the complex and severe responses to war and military life.

Visit our website to learn more about the Orban Foundation for Veterans and to support our mission.

Helping Veterans & Their Families Transition to Civilian Life

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