The Newspaper for Veterans and All Who Love Them.

VOLUME 6 NUMBER 3						MARCH/APRIL 2016						DICKEYCHAPELLEUNDERFIRE
Photographs bythe First AmericanFemale War
Correspondent
Killed in Action

L ED— SPECIAI T ION —FENSEE
DNI
WOMENAMERICAOF“The worst nightmare I ever had aboutVietnam was that I had to go back. I woke up
in a sweat, in total terror.” — Oliver Stone
By John H. Tidyman, editor

P

TSD. What a terrible casualty ofwar. It is silent and relentless.
One of its worst symptoms is theinability to sleep.
Drugs can induce sleep. Samewith booze. Neither eliminates thesymptoms, and both can be detrimental to health.
We can be sympathetic, but sympathy can’t help our wounded warriors. Their nights are not blessedwith deep sleep; many know thatgoing to sleep means going to theland of nightmares they can hardly
describe.
There is nothing new about PTSD.
In America, some troops come homefrom war confused and frightened.
They are unable to live normal lives.
A tragic number of those veteranscommit suicide. Many more will.
It is the wound that hides, thewound that never heals.
The rest of the country, notably
the VA and the health community,
didn’t officially recognize or attacha diagnosis of PTSD until 1980.
On August 3, 1943, Lt. Gen.
George S. Patton slapped a soldier
who was hospitalized for psychoneurosis, accusing him of cowardice.
Patton understood war, but hedidn’t understand the many wounds
suffered by his troops.
PTSD is not completely curable,

but the symptoms can be alleviated. Transcendental meditation has
had notable success and appears aworthwhile treatment.
So does a normal sleep, whenbodies and brains are recharged.
When Scott Armbruster called,
we were interested. His company,
Armbruster Enterprises, Inc., de-signed Sound Pillow. He said hispatented Sound Pillow goes a longways to helping veterans sleep
better.
Oh, yeah, Scott? Tell us more.
The more he talked and answeredquestions, the more interested webecame. When he asked if he could
send a sample, our thoughts went
immediately to a close friend whosuffers PTSD. He was a medic in
Vietnam, attached to the 101st Airborne Division. Being twenty years
old and having to stuff the guts backinto the stomach of a comrade ... I
can’t imagine the horror.
By all means, we said, send it.
You might not believe our friend— whom we’ll call Doc — suffers
PTSD. He is articulate, kind, generous, and retired. A loving fatherand grandfather.
That’s Doc’s sunny side. He hopesthat is the only side you see.
His shadowy side is marked
with alcoholism, a fear of travelling

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across county lines, only moderate success with psychotherapy,
fears, both natural and unnatural.
So Scott Armbruster sent us a Sound Pillow.
talked about Doc, of course, but we also talked about her andIt’s not easy.
She didn’t hesitate when we told her what the Sound Pillow was designed to do. She said, “What the hell, we’ve tried
everything else.”
Her remark reminded us the pain and confusion is not lim-more brief. We told him the pillow was not a magic pill, butsomething that might help. Talk about your easy sale.
Inside the box were the pillow and the player, which is a small,sound tracks, and raise or lower the volume. Very nice pillow,
too, designed so the user can’t feel the speakers inside.
Doc didn’t know it until he read the accompanying literature, but it turns out the pillow has been used by lot of troops
cessful in what it seeks to do: Provide a device that promotes
healthy sleep.
He said he would try it that night.
Another folder in the box had results and ratings from troops
demic research, but they are noteworthy.
Tampa, San Antonio, and Minneapolis. Couldn’t ask for better
test subjects than Marines.
In each test, volunteers used the pillow for two weeks, followed by detailed interviews. In one review, consisting of 19reviewers, more than 20 percent rated the overall experience asexcellent. Another 50 percent-plus thought it was good. Twenty percent thought it was satisfactory and rest thought it wasunsatisfactory.
More than 70 percent said they would recommend it to others.
Back to Doc. He tried it for ten days before we stopped by
and asked him for his review.
much. Instead of throwing it out, he kept at it. By the sixthnight, he was convinced.
One of the best features is, he said, “I’m not afraid to go tobed.”
Doc sleeps six to seven hours every night. He is freed from“I have nothing to offer
but blood, toil, tears
and sweat. You ask,
what is our policy? I
say it is to wage war byland, sea, and air. Warwith all our might andwith all the strength
God has given us, andto wage war against a
monstrous tyranny neversurpassed in the dark andlamentable catalogue ofhuman crime. That is ourpolicy. You ask, what isour aim? I can answer in
one word. It is victory.
Victory at all costs - Victoryin spite of all terrors Victory, however long andhard the road may be, forwithout victory there is nosurvival.”

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hours for a cigaret and glass of cheap whiskey. Today, the only
reason he gets up in the middle of night is to take a leak.
He hopes he’ll be able to enjoy uninterrupted sleep for an
But coming from an old combat medic, it makes perfect sense.
R. Scott Armbruster - CEOSound Pillow®
1123 Patricia
San Antonio, Texas 78213
Phone: 877-846-6488
Fax: 210-798-2210

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DD 214 Chronicle March/April 201615