The next book to be considered is in some ways the darkest. Because of the time I spent on the battlefield in Vietnam and elsewhere in the years following the fall of Saigon, I suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Injury (PTSI), a mental disorder that results from experiences so harrowing that they damage the soul. I endure PTSI because of the unspeakable things I observed and participated in during combat. Because I had top-secret-codeword-plus security clearances, I was not permitted to go for therapy to help me cope. I had to do it on my own. I learned early on that I had to bring the unbearable memories into my conscious mind and train myself to react more calmly. The best way for me to force myself to face the memories was to write them down. That led to my books about Vietnam, and especially to The Trion Syndrome.
Trion is about a Vietnam vet, Dave Bell, suffering from PTSI and how it very nearly destroys his life. It tells of his panic attacks, nightmares, flashbacks, and depression as he tries to recall something he knows resulted in death. When he finally does remember, he goes to pieces.
The rest of the book details his struggle to come to terms with his memories. He runs away to the country in Maine, becomes a bum, then attempts suicide. Then one day, someone new shows up at his door. His life is permanently changed.
Tom Glenn, Writer 