When Paul Henderson volunteered for the draft in 1968, he had no idea how deeply Vietnam would shape the rest of his life. As a young artillery sergeant, Paul found himself leading a 105mm howitzer crew on remote mountain firebases, firing night after night in support of infantry units operating deep in hostile territory. Rocket attacks, artillery raids, and constant tension were part of daily life. The danger was real, the responsibility immense, and the fear never fully went away.
Paul’s service nearly ended when a tragic accident in the gun pit killed a fellow soldier and left Paul seriously wounded. Medevac’d out of Vietnam just weeks before his tour ended, he returned home physically injured and emotionally carrying far more than anyone could see. Like many Vietnam veterans, Paul came home to a country that didn’t want to hear about the war. So he stayed quiet and tried to move on.
Years later, the war caught up with him. Nightmares, rage, flashbacks, alcoholism, and suicidal thoughts slowly took over his life. For a long time, Paul refused to believe he had PTSD, seeing it as weakness rather than injury. It wasn’t until he was forced into treatment, and heard another veteran tell a story just like his, that the truth finally broke through.
What makes Paul’s story so powerful isn’t just what he survived, but what he believes now. Rather than seeing veterans as broken, Paul advocates for recognizing them as “elder warriors”- people with hard-earned wisdom, strength, and purpose. Healing, he believes, begins when veterans are empowered to tell their stories, be heard, and bring their experience back to their communities. His journey is a reminder that survival is only the first step, and that meaning, connection, and purpose are possible, even after war.