Were returning Vietnam soldiers debriefed after fighting in the war?

Answer 1

Returning GI's arrived home aboard a "freedom bird" (chartered civilian airliner). The men usually were all strangers to each other aboard the airliner; when landing in the US, they sometimes processed thru a military installation, received a steak dinner, there last pay-check, then went their own ways from there.

In the early and mid sixties, the US Army sent their men to Vietnam by the UNIT. By 1967, 1968, and 1969, men arrived individually as individual REPLACEMENTS. When they departed Vietnam...they departed the same way...as individuals. In the steaming jungle one day, walking the concrete sidewalks of Los Angeles or New York City the next day. The "freedom bird" was like a time machine; in a world of jungle, wild animals, blood and killing...24 hours (or so) later, back into a world of sleek shiny new automobiles and traffic signals...with people all around wearing colorful clothing instead of drab green and not carrying weapons. With men and women all around you, instead of just men...none of them notice you...no one knows what you've seen, nor where you've been. It was like waking up from a one year coma, or dream, or nightmare, depending upon your experience...and luck.