CPT Shad Meshad: Psychiatric Teams in Vietnam Part I

Warning, this episode mentions violence, racism, sex, and self-harm. Listener discretion is advised.

After earning his masters in psychiatric social work and completing basic training, Shad Meshad worked at Fort Leavenworth Military Prison as a mental health officer. Most of the prisoners were Vietnam veterans, and he provided them with treatment and a means to reintegrate into society.

Meshad heard countless stories of Vietnam from the vets there, and decided he had to serve himself. He volunteered to serve in a KO team, which were the first psychiatric teams in American warfare. For five years, Captain Meshad was flown all around Vietnam to help evaluate and assist soldiers dealing with mental health issues.

When he returned home, Meshad founded and directed the Vietnam Veterans Re-Socialization Unit at the VA Hospital in Los Angeles, California. It was his job to reshape the VA in a way that better served Vietnam vets. It was during this time that CPT Meshad would become one of the first people to study the disorder now known as PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). 

In 1979, Meshad founded the Vet Center Outreach Program, which created satellite centers that provide social and psychological services to any Veteran in order to help them transition back into civilian life.  

Now, Meshad is the president of the National Veterans Foundation, which he founded in 1985. The NVF helps veterans that are unable to reach a Vet Center with financial problems, mental health issues, VA benefits, employment, housing, and more. 

To learn more about Captain Shad Meshad, check out his memoir, Captain for Dark Mornings. You can also watch a short documentary about his work after Vietnam titled The Mad Man.

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