HOMECOMING SAGA

Battle bonds fray for our disbanded brothers; farm-to-table limps out to pasture; Orson Welles crosses his critics; and more

As the son of a W.W. II P.O.W. survivor, and someone with direct experience with the effects of PTSD, I was deeply impressed and moved by "The Bonds of Battle" [by Sebastian Junger, June]. We will be dealing with the effects of these recent, ruinous wars for many years to come, and at least we could make an effort to understand what's happening with these soldiers and their families. I have suggested to my friends and family that they all read this important article. I feel that it is a major paradigm shift.

FRANK KILMER

Santa Fe, New Mexico

'The Bonds of Battle" was excellent and informative—especially the argument that the stress of combat per se is not necessarily the only cause of PTSD. Far more subtle sources are at work.

For many years, I have wondered about the effects of stress on the millions of parents and spouses whose loved ones are in harm's way. During W.W. II, my older brother and I were in the service—he a quartermaster on a carrier in the Seventh Fleet in the Pacific, and I a troop-carrier pilot in the First Alliance Army in Europe. Certainly we both had moments of stress, but they were infrequent and relatively brief.

But what of our parents and the millions like them who were under unremitting daily stress for years, dreading the arrival of 'the telegram" and relieved only by letters written days earlier. Now, that is real stress! How did they bear up so well? And if they came through psychologically unimpaired, why did they? I know of no writings that address this phenomenon.

The cause of PTSD is still not fully understood, but writings such as Junger's are superb and do much to help us understand a very complex problem.

RICHARD C. DINMORE

Castle Pines North, Colorado

I deeply appreciate the eyes-open and broad scope of Junger's article, as it decompartmentalizes mental health, familiar/tribal factors, and society's role in war and in homecoming. I am a three-time veteran of combat deployments, one of which was relatively dangerous. I went into the military with psychological "stress fractures" that didn't keep me from living a normal life before deploying but, as Mr. Junger smartly connects, have left me less resilient in my re-integration.

I periodically join in talks and training sessions regarding my war experiences and post-traumatic stress. And this article has encouraged me to go one step further in my self-disclosure, to explain that I did not enter the military with much resilience, and to share without feeling ashamed that I was already partly broken. I hope this will help my audience to understand me, other veterans, and themselves, and to forgive us for being imperfect and having these "problems" with re-adjustment or just with existence in a society like ours.

PABLO RAVIZZOLI

North Granby, Connecticut

Sebastian Junger's article about the incidence of PTSD in American troops seems to indicate that a lack of feeling of connectedness and community in our modern society factors large. I wonder if the subconscious yearning for connection is partly behind the increase in the fanaticism among sports fans today. Where else can so many people all agree about the same thing, loudly and publicly? There are rituals, uniforms, rules of engagement, and field generals (coaches).

In college football in particular, the stadiums grow larger every year. The money for concessions, sponsorships, and naming rights grows exponentially—just like defense budgets. And, as with the military, most of the money goes to everyone but the people doing the actual work.

TERESA HORSTMAN

Galloway, Ohio

I have subscribed to Vanity Fair for many years, but this is the first time I've written, to say how thought-provoking Sebastian lunger's article was. We as a society think we have done our bit when we say, "Thanks for your service and sacrifice." I have often thought how different we would feel if we did actually listen to the meaning of war. As a little girl in Scotland, I well remember listening to my grandfather say that he was more afraid of the giant rats that feasted on dead-body parts than he was of the Germans.

Everyone should read this article and ask himself: Is it really our returning warriors who are sick, or is it the society they're returning to?

ELAINE YOUNGMAN

Orlando, Florida

As an army wife and a navy mom, I have deep experience with the military, dealing with the separations and the homecomings. I was astounded at the depth of Mr. Junger's understanding of what our military men and women endure in our name, and what they face when they return home.

The last section of the article sums it up so well and should be required reading for every politician and citizen. Thank you, Sebastian Junger, for your insights and truth.

ELAINE MONTGOMERY

Reston, Virginia

Junger's discussion of the level of disconnection in our modern culture is something that has been widely observed by many native elders, as well as other luminaries such as Mother Teresa. We are gorging ourselves on material goods (or at least a lucky few of us are; much of the world is still mired in terrible poverty) at a rate that is bringing us to the brink of environmental catastrophe. At the same time, our spirits are severely malnourished.

Veterans, like anyone on the fringe of our existence, are the canaries in the coal mine. Their suffering demonstrates the imbalance and destructiveness of the prevailing culture. A life that is truly sustainable will mean more than just efficient use of resources— we need more connection and heart. Otherwise, we will continue to be haunted by a gnawing hunger that no amount of consumption can satisfy.

LAWRENCE MESSERMAN

Bend, Oregon

'The Bonds of Battle" was of special interest to me. I am a long-term survivor of AIDS (26th year, thank you), Junger's observation about PTSD and AIDS ("the war that is missed doesn't even have to be a shooting war") led me to a deeper understanding of self.

LARRY O. DOSS

San Francisco, California

In "The Bonds of Battle," Sebastian Junger writes, "Suicide by combat veterans is often seen as an extreme expression of PTSD, but currently there is no statistical relationship between suicide and combat, according to a study published in April in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry. Combat veterans are no more likely to kill themselves than veterans who were never under fire."

However, this study's authors clearly state that they did not measure the effect of combat on suicides but rather the effect of deployment. As Junger himself notes, not every deployed service member sees combat; in fact, very few in our modem military history do.

Junger's assertion, with the certainty of a study attached to it, that there is no correlation between combat and suicide is both wrong and dangerous.

MATTHEW HOH

Senior fellow

Center for International Policy

Raleigh, North Carolina

SEBASTIAN JUNGER REPLIES: In the Los Angeles Times on December 20, 2013, Alan Zarembo cited a study by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs that found that almost 69 percent of veteran suicides are people over 50. That means that at the very least, suicide is not a near-term reaction to combat and very possibly not a reaction to combat at all.

More generally, the demographically matched civilian suicide rate remained higher than the veteran rate until 2008—another indication that other life stresses figure heavily into a person's decision to take his or her own life, regardless of whether that individual had military or combat experience.

And in 2013, The American Journal of Medicine published a research paper thatconcluded: "The findings from this study are not consistent with the assumption that specific deployment-related characteristics, such as length of deployment, number of deployments, or combat experiences, are directly associated with suicide risk." (Emphasis added.)

If Mr. Hoh has doubts about the accuracy of these studies, I suggest lie take that up with the researchers themselves.

ebastian Junger's article should be compulsory reading for all clinicians Streating vets with PTSD problems, and for members of all branches of U.S. military professional education. His empathetic and perceptive analysis of tribal culture, its positive effects on brain chemistry, and the closer-than-blood ties formed by those under fire did more to substantiate my own experience with combat-zone pressure than any homecoming accolade or recognition for my service—and explains why I'll miss it for the rest of my life. Being deployed is hard. Coming home is even harder.

DAWN A. M. LOISEL

Aurora, Colorado

WEAK MYTHOLOGY

Anyone who would call Lake Charles a "mean little oil city" ["Detective Story," by Rich Cohen, July] has never been there. And if True Detective s Nic Pizzolatto descends from a "tough lot," what exactly was tough about his schoolteacher and attorney parents?

By insisting on hardship as the spark and sustenance for Pizzolatto's creative impulse, you minimize the considerable power and scope of his imagination.

CRAIG CASHIO

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Gentlemen, I thought I would take a moment to mention that Cary Fukunaga brilliantly directed all the episodes of the first season of True Detective, Had Nic Pizzolatto or Rich Cohen chosen to do so, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble.

MARTIN DAVIDSONLos Angeles, California

A STREAMLINED FORD

On my first rush to look through the June issue, I stopped at the picture of Eileen Ford on the telephone, surrounded by family and clients ["The Call of Beauty," by Robert Lacey], thinking this was a Norman Rockwell!

Loved the photo and the article!

KATHERINE SMITH

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

As a former Ford top model, I really enjoyed "The Call of Beauty." I entered 949 Second Avenue in June 1952, after having worked the summer before with the John Robert Powers Agency and having lost 5 to 10 pounds. Eileen greeted me by saying that she was happy to see me. I said I wanted high fashion. She measured me. Five feet six inches (she said she would call it five feet seven inches) in stocking feet, five feet nine inches in heels. Oops.

I adored Eileen. She had it all: family and career.

GLORIA BARNES HARPER

New York, New York

One summer day in the late 60s, I was standing in the cashier's line at the A&P in Westhampton, New York. The woman ahead of me started unloading her groceries, and I couldn't help but notice a very disciplined array of fresh fish and chicken, fruits and vegetables, nuts and grains—and, oddly, tons of lemons. "My, you certainly have a healthy basket," I said. Then, as she turned to face me, I blurted out, "But of course—you're Eileen Ford!" I'd remembered reading that her beautiful, impossibly thin models were encouraged to stay at the Ford house in the Hamptons, where Eileen would cluck over them like a mother hen.

ANN MCKEE

Monmouth Beach, New Jersey

LA VIDA LOCAVORE

I got a great kick out of reading Corby Kummer's piece in the June issue of Vanity Fair ["Time to Table Farm-to-Table?"]. He's such a good writer—and, for me, entirely wrong. For 40 years, a lot of us have been begging for a greater focus on authentic, delicious, wholesome, and beautiful food. One logical path is foods more directly from the farm (to the kitchen, I might add). Why complain when it's becoming popular? Why not just call out the liars and the cheats?

The Olive Garden had an artisanal-ravioli promotion. When I stopped laughing, I wrote and called its P.R. people to ask about the chefs (artisans) and ingredients. I believe others made pithy comments on this disingenuous promotion. They dumped the whole thing— including millions on TV advertisements.

Let's not worry about buzzword abuse. Farm-to-table, or rather the movement in the culture to know and care more about where food comes from, how it's raised or grown, and then prepared and offered, includes so many good elements and opportunities. Let's celebrate the successes and write funny, smart, mean pieces about the charlatans.

And maybe take a farmer to lunch.

CLARK WOLF

Sonoma County, California

Living, as we do, so close to Chez Panisse and Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto, we are always delighted to impress our dinner guests with the news that their meal is "locally sourced."

We have a Trader Joe's, Safeway, and Costco all within a mile!

GORDON KELSEY

El Cerrito, California

ALL WELLES THAT ENDS WELL

I worked one day in Orson Welles's The Other Side of the Wind ["Orson's Last Stand," by Josh Karp, May], I played a studio soundman, a glorified-extra role. Welles had sneaked into Hollywood to shoot for a weekend at Producers Studio. If he stayed longer he would have been liable for additional U.S. taxes.

Performers included Edmond O'Brien, Mercedes McCambridge, and Peter Bogdanovich. The pivotal role of the director had not yet been cast. Welles said it would be either Peter O'Toole or John Huston. (It became the latter.)

I have never seen anybody have more fun than Welles did that day—a kid in a playpen with his favorite toys. The shooting was complicated. Three different cameras were running simultaneously: one shooting the staged action, a camera representing the director's eye (a director not yet cast!), and a documentary camera following the missing director around. One didn't know where to look, but Welles had it all in his talented head.

He grabbed a white wood parking sign that resembled a cross and stuck it in the scene. "Let Pauline Kael figure out the meaning of this!" he said, laughing.

Oh, he was having a grand old time.

TERRY KINGSLEY-SMITH

Carmel, California

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More from the V.F. MAILBAG

So (you're wondering), was there much mail regarding the Caitlyn Jenner cover? Let's just say the Mailbag is writing this from a supine position, having made the mistake of reaching for the stack of letters (many of them handwritten) without the aid of a winch or possibly a backhoe. Another week of this, the doctors say. And no sudden movements.

Anyway, here's a mere sampling: "Tasteless and appalling." "You gotta admit she looks amazing." "If I didn't love Vanity Fair so much, I'd cancel my subscription!" "The pictures by Ms. Leibovitz were BREATHTAKING and once again a female personality looks so much younger and prettier than I do at the approximate same age."

"I am happy that Caitlyn has found happiness. But from the photos, I hope that she doesn't think that this is a normal woman's life." "I fully support L.G.B.T. rights and have nothing but compassion in my heart for Ms. Jenner. I'm just sorry you all (including Ms. Jenner) chose to show her as an aging caricature of a bimbette." "[A] cover shot of a woman's cleavage again[?] Time for a cover of a man wearing a tux with an open collar." "It smacks of cheap, sensationalistic journalism."

"Thank you so much for the beautiful photos of such a beautiful soul!" "You have just succeeded in pushing back the women's movement about 60 years." "Kudos on your spread on Ms. Caitlyn! What a WONDERFUL way to come out of the darkness!!" "I will be praying for the staff of Vanity Fair."

"How come it takes THIS to get you to feature a 65-year-old woman on your cover?" "Caitlyn Jenner is older than I am. She used to be a man. But she is still betterlooking than I am. That is not, repeat not, fair!" "I'm just a guy in a skirt in L.A. trying to make it through the daily grind like everyone else, but the outrageous antics of Jenner and RuPaul have cast VERY NEGATIVE feelings toward me, and made it impossible for ME to live peacefully and calmly in MY OWN PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS!"

And finally, one that perhaps captures it all: "I can't say that I fully understand or can answer all the questions about why a person feels the need and desire to change gender, but at least this article has opened a new door for all of [us] to walk through. Much thanks."