Surviving Vietnam

One of seven siblings born and raised in California's San Joaquin and Central Valley, Dennis Nickell lived a life that was anything but boring. Whether joyriding in stolen cars, hanging out with Hells Angels, or reveling in street fights, what he experienced in his youth turned out to be fun and games compared to the horrors that awaited him in the jungles of Vietnam. The war had already claimed the life of a high school friend - and an impulsive, revenge driven decision to join the Army would result in a lifetime of consequences.

In Surviving Vietnam, Dennis tells not only his war stories, but also the seldom-shared reality that combat veterans experience trying to go back to living a "normal" life. A crippling drug addiction carried over from Vietnam, coupled with alcoholism as a coping mechanism to deal with the horrific PTSD from combat, formed the thin foundation that would barely allow this extremely angry violent man to survive.

Literally escaping from a psych ward of a California hospital and a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia from doctors who didn't yet understand at the time what PTSD was, Dennis found himself constantly in and out of homelessness, getting into fights, the drugs and alcohol not providing the relief he desperately needed. While staying at his mother's house, he hit rock bottom and finally gave in to the suicidal thoughts. A gun barrel pressed to his head, finger on the trigger, his mother arrived home early and unknowingly saved his life. Hearing her car in the driveway, he wasn't able to go through with it knowing she would find him that way.

Soon after this he would meet his future wife Diana and the course of his life would change dramatically. From a hopeless, homeless, drug addicted alcoholic to a married man with a beautiful wife and children that would give him something to fight for other than himself. Breaking free from those terrible addictions, he would go on to live a life full of actual miracles, carried by a faith stronger than anything he had ever experienced in his life. In his last few years, he would dedicate his time and energy to sharing his story on YouTube in his original series "Surviving Vietnam" - with the sole purpose of stopping his brothers and sisters in arms from committing suicide.

Dennis believed that we all have the potential for a future so much greater than anything we can ever see at any given moment - a future that is always worth fighting for - regardless of our circumstances or how low we've fallen. He desperately wanted his fellow veterans to choose life and experience the unexpected joy and rewards that God is always ready to give.