When I first went into the Air Force, there were a lot of Vietnam vets still in. Most of those with obvious problems were out - at least I never met anybody I would think of as hair-trigger dangerous. I've know some that did end up like that, but they were very, very few. People react to horrible situations according to their own personalities, and every person's experience is different. Some dwell on the horrors constantly, and some can remember but still let it fade into the past, and some will say things weren't so bad and those who say they were are just a bunch of whiners.

The really damaged folks who go off and kill people is a commonly-believed stereotype primarily because those guys make the news. Your mechanic, your banker, your bartender, taxi driver, doctor or shop owner don't fit the psycho vet stereotype. Fact is, you may not even know they're vets.