THE PATH

About the Book

The year is 2007 and I’m just now completing the writing of this book, which I began during the spring of 1999.  I can be a procrastinator, but there were also other reasons for taking so long.  My father past away in 2000 and this had a profound affect my disorder and eventually I ended up in a VA Hospital in Kansas for about six months. 

From what I understand, my manic episodes were much like those of others, except that one psychiatrist has told me that mine were mostly in a manic state.  Please understand that anyone with this disorder will also experience periods of depression and I most certainly have done that.  I would gradually find myself going into a euphoric state of mind, which was a “great high” at first.

I would suffer my first manic episode during my first tour of duty in Vietnam while serving with the 173d (Abn) BDE.  I was diagnosed with having Battle fatigue.  Little was known about Manic Depression in 1967 or at least in Vietnam.  I was so ashamed of myself for allowing this to happen to me, that I would volunteer two more times to go back to Vietnam. I felt I needed to prove myself to be brave.

I would not have another episode for sixteen years, but I’m confident that as I look back to some of the bazaar behavior pattern demonstrated throughout the years both in Vietnam and also during the years leading up to my retirement from the Army, I have had minor type episodes.

About the Author

James Wendell Allen was born April 11, 1943, in Caro, Michigan, the youngest of five children. He entered the U.S. Army in 1961, and remained in the military service for nearly 24 years. While in the Army, the author attended numerous leadership schools, including the Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg, N.C. He served three and a half tours of duty in Vietnam, earning several citations for bravery, including three Bronze Stars and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

The author was promoted to the Army's highest enlisted pay grade after graduation from the prestigious U.S. Army Sergeant Major Academy at El Paso, Texas. He completed the basic Recruiter/Guidance Counselor School, the Senior Guidance course, and numerous college courses.

Upon retirement from the Army, he spent the next 14 years working for a hotel/motel franchise company where he was promoted to the position of vice president.

James has been married to his wife, Cathy, for 39 years.  He has five daughters, twelve grandchildren, two dogs, one cat and two fish.