America 's involvement in the war in South Vietnam ended in 1975. However, for the thousands of teenagers who did the fighting in that war, the battles live on as vividly today as they were more than three decades ago. Vietnam Veterans were especially vulnerable to this conflict because the average age of these veterans was 19 years old. This meant that many young men were exposed to constant violence and trauma during a critical period in the formation of a developmental period in their adult personalities.

While in Vietnam , military personnel of many ethnicities served with distinction. However, the 1988 National Vietnam Readjustment Study (NVVRS) demonstrated that Black (African American) and Hispanic veterans who served in Vietnam experienced signigicantly greater readjustment problems and a higher level of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) than did European American Veterans.

In 1990 and 1991 many studies were conducted referencing veterans preparing themselves for the challenges ahead through psychological, social, economic and political renewal. It was while conducting these studies and during the 1996 Congressional Black Caucus Veterans Braintrust Symposium, the horrific effects of PTSD on African Americans and other ethnic minority Veterans were first revealed. It was learned that many minority Veterans, as a result of this period of military service, had great difficulty in establishing a coherent positive sense of identity. Even though many Veterans suffered from PTSD in previous wars (World War I, World War II and Korea) it was not well understood until these studies of Vietnam Veterans clarified the problem. The study, in its comparisons of military personnel by population indicated the military was composed of 13% African Americans during the Vietnam era. Thirty percent (30%) of that African American military population was assigned to combat units during the Vietnam era. Twenty-eight percent (28%) of all casualties of the Vietnam War were African Americans. One in three African Americans who served in the country of Vietnam currently has full or partial PTSD. Minorities, having had a higher level of exposure to war zone stress and other military dangers were placed more at risk for PTSD.