Over a million soldiers were left with “battle fatigue”—what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD—after World War II (“The Mental Toll.” The Perilous Fight: America’s WWII in Color. KCTS, 2003). PTSD is characterized by repeatedly reliving aspects of a horrific, life-threatening episode, such as wartime violence. Stimuli that recall the event/experience can trigger a PTSD flashback. For example, a loud noise might remind a war veteran with PTSD of a grenade or explosion and set off a traumatic response. Tayo’s collapse, triggered by the sight of Japanese women and the sound of Japanese, is a result of his PTSD.

In WWII, over one third of discharges of military personnel were due to psychological conditions, while battle fatigue on the front lines cost tens of thousands of lives (“The Mental Toll”). Many veterans with PTSD turned to alcohol after the war, in part because alcohol was frequently distributed on the front line to keep exhausted and demoralized soldiers fighting. Upon returning to civilian life, many veterans therefore already had addictions to alcohol.

Systemic racism compounded the effects of Alienation and Isolation in Post-WWII America for Indigenous American veterans, whose experience of the war was unique.