What haunts war veterans the most?

For nearly 30 years I've worked with a Viet Nam war veteran. He seldom talks about the war, but on rare occasion the subject comes up. I asked him recently what kind of nightmares do veterans have when they wake up in the night sweating and shaking? Are they being pursued or attacked by the enemy? Watching their buddies die? What? He told me that what haunts many of them is the memory of things they did in the war. Things that had to be done to stay alive. Things they would never want their wives and children to know, because sometimes the threat at the moment was a woman or a child, and they did what they had to do. I've heard stories about children being used to walk in the road to slow down convoys in the war in the Middle East so the convoy is more vulnerable to attack, and that the convoys are prone to drive over the children, if necessary, to avoid slowing down or stopping. My heart goes out to all the innocent victims of war, which includes the vast majority of the service men and women who are thrust into an impossible situation where there are very few rules. Mostly they just have to "wing it" on a moment by moment basis, and try to stay alive. Your comments are welcome.