Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Vietnam Vet Turns from stress expert to AARP model



Stress Expert Among AARP's Top Models
USF stress expert Michael Rank is one of the winners of AARP The Magazine’s Faces of 50+ Real People Model Search.


By CLOE CABRERA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 27, 2008

TAMPA - Vietnam War veteran Michael Garnet Rank witnessed firsthand the horrific psychological effects the war had on his fellow soldiers.

He saw severe depression, drug and alcohol dependency, problems with memory and cognition, and other mental health issues. And it had a profound impact on his career.

Today, as director of trauma stress studies at the University of South Florida, Rank, 60, trains and educates others and researches issues related to post-traumatic stress and trauma.

"Although I was experienced in combat, the question I had when I came back was, why didn't I suffer the emotional problems of the war the way my peers had?" said Rank, a former Army infantryman. "In the early 1970s, there was no such thing as post-traumatic stress disorder as we know it. The VA Veterans Administration wasn't paying attention to it that decade. It was a very difficult time for veterans returning home with mental illness."

Rank's story - not to mention his character, sense of style and healthy lifestyle - won him a spot in AARP The Magazine's Faces of 50+ Real People Model Search.


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