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Warriors for Peace in the Classroom

By Aaron Davis

Vietnam Vet Rick Miller brings his experience as a company commander of B Company 4/39th Infantry Brigade, 9th Infantry Division in the Delta, and his peace activism as a member of VVAW and Veterans For Peace into college classrooms. Rick and fellow vets for peace Dr. Robert Littlehale (Patrobas) and Larry Chadwick have spoken on the human costs of war 25 times in the past two years in history, human development, humanities and psychology classes at Salt Lake City Community College and Utah Valley State College

Vietnam vet and VVAW member Rick Miller makes a point in a psychology of good and evil class while Vietnam vets Larry Chadwick and Dr. Robert Littlehale (Patrobas) await their turn.

Miller got to Vietnam in December 1967, just before Tet. "After our first major action, we dug up a grave with half a body in it, and the sight and smell of it are with me today," he exclaimed. He has documented his experiences in a book called Vietnam Screaming in My Head. His writing, speaking and working as a peace activist and Buddhist practitioner have helped him heal the pain of PTSD and alcohol addiction. "Hardly a day goes by without some recall of the war. Flashbacks occur frequently. At times they are cued by sights or sounds or smells. Vietnam is just there. It is in my head, forever," he concluded.

Rick carries a picture of a young Vietcong he killed on an ambush in his wallet. "I want to expose to others the horrific mental and physical stress that war is to the people who fight it. I want to share all of these thoughts, and I am tired of holding them inside me. I have forgotten 90% of my experiences, but it comes back in my sleep" he concluded. Miller came back to Pomona, California, tried to be normal, and was admitted to USC medical school, until his PTSD hit full force in 1970. His PTSD has led to his 100% disability and peace activism.

Rick and second wife Sara have adopted two children and are currently living in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Larry Chadwick was an RTO in the 1st Air Cav in January 1968. "Killing another human being is hard. I hate helicopters, and don't answer the phone. I came home with a $100 a day heroin addiction, drank, stole and robbed a bank," he emphatically stated. Larry spent time at Rykers Island prison in New York. "I talk in my sleep 'kill 'em all,' get up early and walk the perimeter in my house," he stated. Larry works at the VARMC Salt Lake City, and is in his second marriage after being in many 12 step programs. "A lady asked me the other day 'Will we ever be safe?' I replied welcome to my world," he concluded.

Dr. Robert Littlehale (Patrobas) served as a medical doctor in Vietnam. He saw first hand the carnage of war in a MASH unit. "I came around a corner, and saw about 20 soldiers on litters mangled and blood soaked just waiting to die. I cried for five hours, and then got drunk. I was a mess," he stated. Although Patrobas came home "angry," he had a distinguished career as a faculty member of Harvard Medical School. He has been divorced twice, and fought the demons of PTSD with alcohol. "War is futile," he concluded.

Miller, Patrobas and Chadwick are members of the Nikko Schoch Chapter 118 Veterans For Peace in Salt Lake City, Utah.