Undesirable

The powerful true story of a parent's unflagging battle on behalf of a beloved son struggling with PTSD, mental illness, and addiction and a family who bore the burdens of war for decades.In January 1969, angry after a fight with his father, nineteen-year-old Doug Johnsonin what will be a fateful choicedecides to enlist in the Army. Once in Vietnam as a point man, Doug becomes addicted to speed and heroin, goes AWOL multiple times, and is court martialed and imprisoned. In order to avoid a second court martial, he agrees to accept an ';undesirable' discharge that denies him veterans' benefits and any recognition of his wartime service. In late August 1970, drugged, malnourished, and clutching the sandal of a dead Viet Cong, Doug staggers off a plane into the arms of his father. But Doug's return home is only the beginning of this story. The core of Undesirable recounts another war: Doug's father against the US Army. For three years, he fights to have his son's ';undesirable' discharge changed to ';honorable.' Half a century later Laura Kalpakiandevoted daughter and sisterexhumes the evidence her father collected. From this trove of documents she assembles a heartbreaking story of a father's love for his son and a son's experience at war. Undesirable: The Vietnam War and a Father's Battle for Justice demands that we ask what weand our governmentowe to our veterans for the physical, psychological, and emotional sacrifices they and their families make.