David’s journey from naive civilian to battle-hardened combat veteran shows us all how fragile our humanity really is. In addition to killing the enemy on the field of battle, he was witness to countless cruelties including murder both cold-blooded and casual, cowardice under fire, and a callous disregard for life beyond most people’s imagination. With each new insult, he lost a little bit of his soul, clinging to his Bible as his only solace while equally certain of his own demise.

Upon returning to civilian life after a two year enlistment, he found himself with nightmares during sleep, intrusive thoughts while awake, a hypervigilant stance combined with an exaggerated startle reaction, and a seeming inability to control basic emotions like anger and sadness. The price he paid for what would only be diagnosed decades later as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was broken marriages and relationships, inability to hold down jobs leading to bankruptcy, alcohol abuse, and having to hide the service he willingly gave to his own country.

In 1989, David eventually recovered through a simple but powerful technique known as Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) and is now symptom-free. Not just for veterans, TIR has since been successfully applied to crime and motor vehicle accident victims, domestic violence survivors, and even children. His story shows what is possible for anyone who has suffered traumatic stress and that hope, healing, and recovery can be theirs too.

"Years in combat zones, group psychotherapy with combat vets diagnosed with PTSD and TIR training qualifies me to recommend this book. My Tour in Hell attests to David's journey from the boundary of a marine grunt's PTSD despair to the horizon of integration, risk, and new meaning. Those in the helping professions will learn how the negative emotional 'charge' of trauma can be partially or totally eliminated through the adept facilitation of Traumatic Incident Reduction."
      --Sister Kateri Koverman, LISW, ICDC

"The connection of David's problems in his current life and his Viet Nam experiences is one of the clearest descriptions of how trauma affects our lives I have ever read. My Tour in Hell is a tribute to David's unwillingness to give up on himself in the face of great unhappiness."
      --Laura W. Groshong, LICSW (Seattle, WA)

"Powell begins and ends with hope, and with a method that helped him to finally, and fully, resolve the many traumas he endured. He gives the reader a litany of incidents of trauma, and shows how the whole con-text of the battlefields, surrounding regions, and finally even home comes under the cloud of a hell many men and women shared with him, a hell that is being created many thousands of times in modern times. The book deserves to be read by therapists, veterans, and their loved ones."
      --Rene Ely, M.Div., LMFT

"My Tour in Hell is an insightful insider's view of the traumatic events that occurred during the Vietnam war and the devastating after-effects that can follow. For those not familiar with the symptoms of PTSD, this was a vivid and clear view of how this disorder disrupts the lives of those who suffer from it untreated. Definitely a valuable read for anyone who works with this population or who have family or friends who are strug-gling with PTSD."
      -Kirsten Krohn, MFT

"Powell presents a brutally honest and riveting account of one man's descent into the dehumanizing realities of war. However, the journey is worth it to relive his dramatic ascension and redemption from the abyss through the life changing, powerful, and therapeutic techniques of Trau-matic Incident Reduction."
      --Rev. James W. Clifton, LCSW, PhD

"Your story demonstrating how possible it is for anyone who has suffered traumatic stress to have healing and recovery vis-à-vis Traumatic Incident Reduction shows how our Faith Based Programs for Veterans Incarcerated and Homeless can work. We plan to start 'Adopt a Veteran' program so any Vet who wants a copy of your book can have same."
Mary Murphy, MA, NHA
Former VA and Prison Chaplain
Marshal Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals
www.veteransvillage.com

"David Powell's book held my interest throughout the entire read. As thera-pist working with US military, I was particularly intrigued by the therapeutic technique utilized and would love to have the opportunity for training. I was most impressed that the Writer did not present himself as totally recovered, but as functionally recovered with a new quality of life. I will definitely use the book with soldiers and family members."
       -Sally Wright, LMFT (Baumholder, Germany)

Reflections of History from Modern History Press

My Tour In Hell is Book #1 in the Reflections Of History Series. This new series provides a venue for contemporary authors who have lived through signficant times in recent history to reflect on the impact of events and lessons learned. The timeless words George Santayana wrote in "Life of Reason" (1905) still ring true more than a century later: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."