Vietnam Soldier & San Francisco Cop Got PTSD In 1968
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Published 2022-09-24
Bowman served as an infantryman from September 1967 through September 1968, with Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, and 1st Cavalry Division (Airborne)—the highest-decorated unit in the Vietnam War. When he returned home, he joined the San Francisco police in the late 1960s as a street cop with a beat.
I got the chance to interview David Bowman in 1989 as part of my 1990 television series on the 1960s. my team and I interviewed more than 200 individuals and ask each to describe what he witnessed and what effect it had on them. Bowman's experience was quite unique because after his time as a warrior in Vietnam, he took a job in San Francisco during the late 1960s when there was tension in America evidenced in San Francisco and Berkeley and Oakland by constant protests against the war and other forms of rebellion.
He describes the similarities between protecting his base in Vietnam and protecting the police department facility in Golden Gate Park. He describes hippie families and confronting political radicals. He remembers a time when radicals planted a bomb that killed several of his colleagues.
Of course every story is unique and my channel presents various experiences at that time for and against the Vietnam War and what the American government was doing and saying. I appreciate David not only for his service as a soldier and as a police officer but for his ability to articulate his experiences with such intensity.
If this interview has meaning for you, please click the super thanks button on the right side below the video screen and support my efforts to present more clips from my personal archive.
Thank you
David Hoffman filmmaker
All Comments (21)
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This guy doesn't seem like a malicious dude he just seems like a good guy who lived and worked with trauma. Thank you🇺🇸
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I read the other day that Punks are good people pretending to be mean, hippies are mean people pretending to be nice. It really struck a chord.
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I’m also Vietnam Vet served in a long range patrol Ranger company, from 1970 to 71. When I came home I went to school for a while and then I also became a San Francisco; police officer and did 28 years before I retired. My PTSD was magnified from being a cop. the stress of the job was intense. I can identify totally with this veteran who you interviewed. When he spoke about the Vietnam memorial it hit home. It’s very sacred place to me.
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I didn’t find this vet intense but all the things he went through were intense. I found him to be intelligent, articulate and morally upright and sensitive. A great man indeed.
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I know Dave. He and I served at Park Station together when we were young cops. I was also there when the station was bombed. Dave was an excellent cop. We both served in the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam but in different regiments and different years. We sometimes spoke to each other about our experiences. I
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"And there I was, back in Vietnam, guarding another base camp" Jeez when he said that you could hear pain in his voice.
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The being "weaned off war" self analysis is very insightful. I'm impressed by this man's ability to articulate his experience.
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Thank you for your service brother . My uncle died in Vietnam in JUNE 1966 fighting on hill 488 first marine from our county to die in Vietnam. His name was ALCADIO MASCARENAS . his 18 man recon team was surrounded by a battalion of dinks and nva .
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My Father served two tours in Vietnam. Midway through his second term he was injured severely and almost didn’t survive. He would never talk about it much. When I’d ask questions he would answer very direct and to the point . One day I found his collection of pictures from his time there. He looked through them with me. All in black and white. There was this one picture of him and about 20-25 soldiers, on R&R. They all took this one picture together, all of them. He started pointing to guys in the picture and saying: “ He didn’t make it. He didn’t make it. He didn’t make it.” He must’ve pointed to about 8-10 guys who he said didn’t make it. I will never forget the sound in his voice when he said those words over and over. It made me hurt for him and all the soldiers who experienced that war. My Uncle was killed about a month shy of his time being up in Vietnam. My cousin was only a couple months old when his dad died. He never got to meet him. God bless the Men and women who served during that war, never forget.
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This gentleman gets emotional on several occasions, most notably the story about the deceased baby. That was a real punch in the gut.
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You can hear the emotion in his voice. He's giving a lifetime of worldview in this interview. Its heavy.
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This is hand's down the best Vietnam vet interview i have ever seen
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God bless this man. You can feel the horror in his voice, and see it in his eyes.
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Yep this old Marine survived all this, finally sober for 12 years. Thanks you Lord. Thanks from my hill top in Sc
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I was just starting high school in San Francisco when he was starting his career as a cop. I was terrified that my older brother would be drafted. I remember crying at night thinking about it. My dad was a pretty quiet guy, but we knew he didn't support the draft. He had been drafted and fought in the Korean War. Thankfully, the Vietnam War ended before my brother could be drafted. I did work with many Vietnam vets over the years, and most of them were great guys. Have known a few women who were nurses in Vietnam. They were also exceptional people.
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My Grandpa is a US Marine who was wounded in combat in Vietnam. He didn’t get drafted he enlisted. After he got injured and sent home he became an undercover cop in Indiana in the late 60s-1970s. I’ve heard some wild stories from the undercover cop days, 1970 Midwest was wilder than you may think. Then he became a State Trooper. Super intense guy. God bless this man and the men like him.
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He's part of a generation we try to cast off, and from two professions often vilified (soldier and cop), but his words ooze with humanity. I'm so glad these stories are being listened to, because all the modern outrage that appeals to emotion and nothing else would see people like this completely dehumanized.
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You can tell this guy is a deep thinker. He is trying his best to make sense of this mess.
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I came in ready to hear hate and bigotry, I left awe struck to his wisdom, his social intelligence, and care for others around him
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I am in my early 30s and just wanted to say thank you for documenting these things! Without people like you, these things would be lost to history
