My grandpa was drafted into the Vietnam a few years after he got out of high school. He never speaks in detail about his experience in the war, but he mentioned a few things in the interview I did with him. One of the main things being the agent orange that was dropped on him multiple times during battle. Agent Orange is a toxic mix of herbicides that the US dropped on Vietnam to clear vegetation on the battlefield. However, it dropped on many US servicemen, including my grandpa. He has had many health effects that arose from it including heart and lung problems. He has gotten a lot of compensation from this health effects from the VA, but they still cause his everyday life to be affected. He is very prone to ulcers and other health problems. He has mentioned before that he can't sleep sometimes because his skin feels like its stinging. Not only has he been affected physically, but mentally too. He was very traumatized by the war and rarely talks about it, even with his own son. He has said before that he has bad dreams and PTSD effects from his exposure to the war environment.

Historically, I think his time in war is significant because it relates to the way he deals with things and how I grew up knowing him. Growing up, I always was told to not listen to anything that grandpa says. Not because they were wrong statements, just because he made inappropriate jokes and he didn't seem to take anything serious. Looking back on this, it makes me realize that he was coping with the pain by suppressing it and trying to focus on the positive. While he has many other tragedies in his life, I think his PTSD from the war made him not want to talk about things. My dad said that he has always known his dad to not talk about serious things, unless explicitly asked, which makes me think it was related to the war since his other tragedies happened after the fact. From being around other family members who had war experience, it seems to correlate. While each person is different, I think those in war tend to deal with their pain in different ways, which is still relevant today.

While my grandpa didn't enjoy anything about his war experience and is still carrying the burden of it in his own special way, he did have some honors from the war. He was awarded many medals and badges. One metal is for recognition of faithful and efficient performance of duty. Another was for his service in Vietnam, and one was for good conduct. There was also a bronze star that he got for heroic achievements. Even though he was in the war, when he would rather be anywhere else, he did his duty for his country and worked hard. He took this terrible situation and tried to make the best of it, which is a very Rogers/Holland trait.

Sources:

Agent Orange | Definition, Effects, & Victims | Britannica