Besides what others have said about this story, there is another truth that no one has mentioned. Somehow, knowingly or not, @Mark Arbour has subtlety wound that truth in this tale.
War changes you. Whether you were a veteran or a civilian. It changes you. Combat changes you even more. For all the bravado we use, combat veterans were changed for the worse.
Many who went to war, whether as combat troops or not, have come back seemingly unscathed. Others come home but have left a part of themselves back where they were. Most of the time, merely looking at them, you will never know which ones they are.