Welcome Home from Vietnam, Finally

Welcome Home from Vietnam, Finally Gus witnessed the Vietnam war's devastating effects on the body, mind and soul. "Welcome Home" defines his year at the 85th Evacuation Hospital. Wrong!

"Letters To Helene" relates his descent into PTSD, hitting bottom and his salvation. Gus Kappler decided as a sophomore at Port Jefferson High School on Long Island, New York, in 1955 to become a surgeon. The treadmill of excelling academically then began and lasted seventeen years. Gus and Robin Viverito started their life together with a first date on Friday, April 13, 1957, and are still going strong. In 1970, at the completion of the surgical residency at the Medical College of Virginia, one major previously unanticipated hurdle, loomed ahead of Robin and Gus-Vietnam. The army drafted me as an intern in 1965, and I was given a five-year deferment. We thought the Vietnam War would have ended by then. Robin and I had two children: Kim, four, and Chris, six months of age. We had planned our survival strategy, and I departed for a year's duty as a trauma surgeon at the 85th Evacuation Hospital, Phu Bai, Vietnam, arriving there on September 7, 1970. Upon my return, we were not the same thirty-year-old kids who had said good-bye in Dallas, Texas, one year earlier. We had lived two disparate lives, literally worlds apart with only short contacts interspersed. I was still trying to rationalize my actions in Vietnam, some of which were immoral by the stateside moral code of peace, and to overcome my training of hatred and dehumanization of the Vietnamese. Time did soften my war-zone feelings. A chance meeting a few years ago with a brilliant Vietnamese medical student completed my exoneration. Today, I'm finally home. Not welcomed by our ungrateful citizens but by the steadfastness of Robin's support and my self-generated efforts to become resurrected from my mental morass.

Please participate.
10/31/2025

Please participate.

Reading the Kindle book will allow you to open the informative links that supplement each chapter.
10/27/2025

Reading the Kindle book will allow you to open the informative links that supplement each chapter.

My new book "Letters" hits Amazon in 2 weeks! Want a FREE sneak peek? Send your name & email to guskappler@yahoo.com and...
10/24/2025

My new book "Letters" hits Amazon in 2 weeks!
Want a FREE sneak peek?
Send your name & email to guskappler@yahoo.com and get a PDF copy before anyone else!
Leave an honest review on Amazon, and you'll be helping me out big time! I'll send you the link.

Visit www.guskappler.com, my new author website.The three books are based on Gus's experience as an Army trauma surgeon ...
10/15/2025

Visit www.guskappler.com, my new author website.
The three books are based on Gus's experience as an Army trauma surgeon during the Vietnam War. The website introduces each book with a synopsis. Videos and references supporting his writing are a click away. Positive reviews are presented.
"Letters To Helene From Vietnam" will soon be available on Amazon. This book exposes Gus's personal change and his descent into PTSD. The culprit being his witnessing the mutilation of teenaged and barely twenty-year solders. Their psyches traumatized and their souls shattered.
Gus felt helpless, for he could not stop the carnage. He became angry, drank excessively to bury his distress, and returned home a forever changed Gus with PTSD. Sharing with others who served in Vietnam was his salvation.
His message is that no one is immune to PTSD and it does not discriminate. The disorder is a predictable result when traumatized. Once accepting the label of PTSD and its stigmatization is eliminated, one may be rehabilitated. Of great importance, PTSD is preventable if the soldiers are not discharged to "sink or swim."

In writing and reviewing "Letters," my sadness about the Vietnam War has resurfaced. I consider the spraying of the herb...
10/06/2025

In writing and reviewing "Letters," my sadness about the Vietnam War has resurfaced. I consider the spraying of the herbicide/defoliant, Agent Orange, a war crime.
Dave: Prostate Cancer and Parkinsonism, Roger: Prostate Cancer, Bob: Progressive Heart Failure, Fred: Metastatic Basal Cell Cancer.

Hi,I’m excited to share that my book, Letters To Helene From Vietnam, is almost ready for launch. I’d be pleased for you...
08/30/2025

Hi,

I’m excited to share that my book, Letters To Helene From Vietnam, is almost ready for launch. I’d be pleased for you to be part of my launch team.

Here’s what it means:

In about six weeks when the book is published on Amazon, I’ll send you a free PDF copy.

All I ask in return is that you read it and leave an honest review on Amazon. A few words would be adequate and I will send you the link. (You don’t have to purchase the book to leave a review.)

Early reviews are a huge help in spreading the word, especially a book like this that addresses the challenges of PTSD.

To give you a sense of the story, I’ve included the synopsis below.

Thank you so much for considering being part of this journey. Your support
will give my message a good start.

If you wish to participate, please email me with your name at guskappler@yahoo.com.

Much appreciated,
Gus

Klick below to read the Synopsis

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bKLfrB6P36J2mzMFGiSWaSmRns6YMDgx/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112807946959475180736&rtpof=true&sd=true

If you are willing to participate in my new book's Launch Process please email me with you name at guskappler@yahoo.com....
08/30/2025

If you are willing to participate in my new book's Launch Process please email me with you name at guskappler@yahoo.com.
I'm grateful for your consideration.
Please see the post below.

Hi,I’m excited to share that my book, Letters To Helene From Vietnam, is almost ready for launch. I’d be pleased for you...
08/25/2025

Hi,

I’m excited to share that my book, Letters To Helene From Vietnam, is almost ready for launch. I’d be pleased for you to be part of my launch team.

Here’s what it means:

In about six weeks when the book is published on Amazon, I’ll send you a free PDF copy.

All I ask in return is that you read it and leave an honest review on Amazon. A few words would be adequate and I will send you the link. (You don’t have to purchase the book to leave a review.)

Early reviews are a huge help in spreading the word, especially a book like this that addresses the challenges of PTSD.

To give you a sense of the story, I’ve included the synopsis below.

Thank you so much for considering being part of this journey. Your support
will give my message a good start.

Much appreciated,
Gus

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bKLfrB6P36J2mzMFGiSWaSmRns6YMDgx/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112807946959475180736&rtpof=true&sd=true

That's me operating on a wounded grunt at the 85th Evac in Vietnam ~ Fall of 1970. Maybe it was Sue's brother Craig she ...
07/19/2025

That's me operating on a wounded grunt at the 85th Evac in Vietnam ~ Fall of 1970. Maybe it was Sue's brother Craig she referenced in this email from a few days ago. I teared up when reading it. The photo to the right is the cover for my soon to published book - details to follow.
"Hello,
My name is Susan Wightman. My brother, Craig Owens, died in December 2023. He was 74 and served in Vietnam when he was 18. Since his death, I have worked hard to get all of his medical records and history, sending many requests to different government agencies. This took about a year but I finally received them by certified mail on a CD - all 1790 pages of them.
I was very young (about 5 years old) when he was drafted. Reading through the records, I saw your name many times. I googled your name to see if I could get some info on you and I found your web page. I ordered your book, "Welcome Home From Vietnam, Finally". It gave me some really good insight into what it was like when he was injured. I appreciated your straightforward descriptions about your experiences.
He was shot during friendly fire by a M16 while sleeping. He was injured on 10/16/1970 near Firebase Tomahawk and taken to the 85th Evac. He then went to Valley Forge on or around 11/25/1970. His injuries were pretty severe and he suffered from circulation issues his entire life but was able to do most things he wanted to do and lived a full and happy life. I'm sure this was because of the great work that you and many other physicians did in Vietnam.
I'm not sure why I'm writing this email but just wanted to let you know that I am very glad that you were there to help my brother when he needed it most. My sister told me that he talked about a physician that took care of him and how he held you in high regard - you made an impact on him even in his condition. Thanks for taking care of him...Sue"

Is the Pentagon blind? Look at the Task&Purpose headlines.“Weʼre looking at 156,000 of our brothers and sisters that hav...
06/07/2025

Is the Pentagon blind? Look at the Task&Purpose headlines.
“Weʼre looking at 156,000 of our brothers and sisters that have taken their lives over the last 20 years,” Tim Jensen, president of Grunt Style Foundation, told Task & Purpose “That is just frankly unacceptable.”
Please watch my solution: https://youtu.be/T9EMz23LBZk?si=ym2_Rs_8YGVgRkC7

A shout out to Rick at Ruby&Quiri and Gloversville Seniors for recognizing a true warrior, Gary Stoller, a US Army veter...
06/03/2025

A shout out to Rick at Ruby&Quiri and Gloversville Seniors for recognizing a true warrior, Gary Stoller, a US Army veteran. He experienced the horrors of jungle combat, was wounded twice (two Purple Hearts), spent six months in Walter Reed recovering, and returned home. He rehabilitated and reintergrated himself back into his community - as an active participant and leader.
All without the support of the country that sent him at age nineteen into combat. This "sink or swim" approach at discharge is still the standard of our country. For a solution please visit: https://youtu.be/T9EMz23LBZk?si=ym2_Rs_8YGVgRkC7

For those who read my Welcome Home From Vietnam, Finally memoir, I revealed how Mia, a Vietnamese medical student I was ...
05/27/2025

For those who read my Welcome Home From Vietnam, Finally memoir, I revealed how Mia, a Vietnamese medical student I was teaching at Weill Cornell Medicine, healed me. She neutralized my generalized anger and is the "Finally" in the book's title. Twelve years later on this Memorial Day weekend Anfei, Mia, and Aaron visited Robin and me in Amsterdam. In a few weeks, Anfei, a Glaucoma specialist and Mia, a dermatologist, will begin a new chapter practicing medicine in Philadelphia. I introduced Aaron, a city kid, to deer food plots, my tractor, planting herbs and flowers, and reading deer sign.

Address

Amsterdam, NY
12010

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Welcome Home from Vietnam, Finally posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Welcome Home from Vietnam, Finally:

Shortcuts

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share via Email
Share on WhatsApp Share on Instagram Share on Telegram

Category