Higgins: You had mentioned since you brought up PTSD, I just wanted to ask, were there particular incidents that created that post traumatic stress or was it more of a culmination of your participation in the war?
Magnusen: I think it had to be a culmination. I couldn't pinpoint any one thing. There was just a lot of stuff that happened. I have dreams at night where I wake up screaming. I hit my wife. She has to sleep with her face the other way.
Before Kathy and I got together, the incidences of PTSD, dreams and stuff like that, was much higher. When she found me and we got together, things dissipated quite a bit, but still just last night, I had an issue.
Higgins: Do you have counseling services available to you in the case that talking about your experiences in Vietnam causes any issues like that?
Magnusen: No. I had a counselor . . . That's when I shifted to the VA for care, and I'd go see him once a month, maybe sooner, I don't remember. But he would just ask me what the date is. Other than that, he just listens and copies down what I say. I actually think he's there to be used against me because stuff that I was saying there would show up later on in VA denial claims. I think he was just there to gather information for the VA.
Higgins: It sounds like there's a lot of mistrust between yourself and the government and the VA.