The flickering left eye twitched since he was a child, and it didn't matter at all. The memory tossing under the baseball cap, marking his military service in the distant jungle, is still disturbing.

Parnell Jackson’s Veterans’ Day is a day to commemorate everything he likes to forget. It's not that the disturbing memories of fighting, worry and terror, and somehow surviving 18 months in the Vietnam War are far away. It was just to commemorate the anniversary of those who served in the army, and all his good memories ignited disturbing bad things.

"Veterans Day needs to be recognized by everyone, I understand that," said Jackson, a 76-year-old former Army soldier, who tapped his thick fingers on the cold coffee cup because people flocked to Starbucks to pick up the goods. "Important. It’s to remember that people like me went like us. Not only in my wars, but in all wars. I was born in the year when the Great War (World War II) ended. My father and I One of my mother’s brothers served there. Dad was in the army, like me, and Uncle Tom was in the navy.

"But when the annual Veterans Day comes, I think more about where I am, what I see, things. Even after so long, I can't erase them from my mind. More than 50 years have passed. , But it’s still like what happened yesterday. Days like this bring everything back—I talked to you, all the events you saw on TV—not that it really left me.”

Jackson turned to his girlfriend Pat. They nodded knowingly.

"You handle it," he said.

A few years ago, Jackson grew up and lived in Findlay, Ohio, and moved to Furlong, where he watched an older kid play quarterback for high school: Ben Roslisberg, two-time for the Steelers Super Bowl champion. "He only played quarterback for us in his senior year, but you can see that he will become a star one day," he said. "I will never forget how good he is."

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Other not-so-pleasant memories have not been forgotten. Jackson made a general statement about his visit to Vietnam in the mid-1960s: a 20-year-old man was terrified by his boots; relying on friends and faith; turning his head; checking the day; hoping to see the sun. The details that often keep him awake at night are still below the military ceiling.

"I can't talk about more than me," he said, shaking his head to emphasize.

Jackson reminds me of my Uncle Cam, who served in the Italian army during World War II. When I was young, I often asked him to tell me about being in the army. I'm still a child and don't fully understand the ravages of war. He participated in the Battle of Anzio, the bloodiest of the war, in which 7,000 Americans were killed and 36,000 wounded. Like Jackson, he also told some non-specific facts: I spent a few years in the army; made some friends; visited another country; left the hospital and went home. Then he would ask me about school or my new bicycle.

As I matured, my father told me why Uncle Kam didn't talk much about war.

"He doesn't talk about it with anyone, not even me," he said. "He told me he wouldn't, because he tried to forget everything he saw."

Jackson too. He is one of 46% of Vietnam War veterans serving in the country or in theaters. According to PubMed from the National Institutes of Health, approximately 271,000 of these veterans suffer from complete post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. One-third of people suffer from major depression decades after being discharged from the hospital. These veterans face unique threats to their mental health and well-being, which stem from the nature of combat in war, without a clear ending and anti-war sentiment.

Jackson said: "After I got home, my life has never been like now." "I get help from time to time, which is very helpful. I just try to live and deal with things day by day. I have my own moments, but I am better than Many people are lucky. I am here."

Columnist Phil Gianficaro can be reached at 215-345-3078, pgianficaro@theintell.com and @philgianficaro on Twitter.