Unlikely that other soldiers' post traumatic stress affected him. Army psychiatrists mainly give out medication and usually do very little listening to soldiers talk about traumas of war because soldiers don't easily open up in these short interviews with army psychiatrists unless they are angling for disability or discharge.

Soldiers who see one or more tours are extremely tough individuals and rarely reveal the impact of war horrors to anyone. It takes most soldiers a long time to open up about war horrors and most do it in groups with other soldiers whom they trust more than shrinks if they do it at all.