If You Suffer From PTSD, U_R_Not Alone!

Book Review
By Ed Evans

“I Can Still Hear Their Cries – Even In My Sleep; A Journey Into PTSD," By E. Everett McFall. Published by Outskirts Press, Inc. 60 pages. Softcover.

Having been on the receiving end of the marvels of Naval medicine, by "Corpsman" in the Republic of South Vietnam, the title of “Doc” is sacred to me, as it is to so many Marines.

The first thing you need to know about his book of mixed narrative and poetry... you will know from the subtitle, “Even In My Sleep – A Journey Into PTSD.” For many of us Marines, it’s important you know that before you start reading. As I got into the book, I could feel myself drifting toward the edge of the cliff. It doesn't take much to put many of us right back into yesterday; sights, sounds, the whistle of incoming mortars, the crunch as they hit, the cold sweats.

There’s an old joke about two Marines talking about Vietnam. One asks the other, “When you were you there?” The other responds, “Last night.” Yeah.

This book is Doc McFall’s journey, as the title says, into PTSD. The liner info on him reads, in part, “After 40 years, over 44 jobs, three failed marriages, and five years of psychological therapy, E. Everett McFall is now a full time student at the Indiana University Northwest.”
His book is a series of bread crumbs showing the way back out. With the help of many others, he found a way, and the book shares that. If you suffer from PTSD, if you think you’ve learned how to handle it, if you have friends or family members who are “still on their way home,” this might be the book that lets them know they aren’t alone.

Dr. Regina V. Jones, a professor at Indiana University Northwest, has said of this book, “…a cathartic work that takes a reader into the torment and pain of a Vietnam War veteran who, through poetry and prose, provides a reader with a shocking sensory insight into life as a Marine Corpsman and a surviving veteran.”
What she writes is valid, but civilians will never get to the level of understanding that this book will bring to any Marine who reads it. Below that level you can’t explain it. At that level, you don’t need to. Rated as FiveStars.


Ed Evans served the Marine Corps from 1959 to 1986 as a Marine Combat Correspondent and Photojournalist. At his home in Nashville, Tennessee, he is involved in a number of Marine and veterans organizations. He is also Pastor of Donelson Christian Church.

Ed EvansMGySgt., USMC (Ret.)Not as lean, not as mean, but still a Marine. http://community.webshots.com/user/photo8069 http://donelsonchristianchurch.orgPUT AMERICA FIRST! Stop being a good Democrat. Stop being a good Republican. Start being a good American.”