For Hugee, table tennis more than just a game
Competition, camaraderie provide therapeutic boost for Vietnam War vet
By JEFF NATIONS/Journal sports editor
MARTINSBURG - Robert Hugee didn't bring home a gold medal following his latest trip to compete in the National Veterans Golden Age Games.
Hugee's hardware for taking second in table tennis at this year's Games (June 1-June 5) came in a silver shade, not exactly the accustomed finish for a player described as "the man with the Midas touch." But for Hugee, a seven-time gold medalist in the sport, the reward for competing comes much earlier and lasts much longer than the awards ceremony. The 62-year-old Falling Waters resident and Vietnam War veteran finds a refuge in the game, and a sense of camaraderie in the Golden Age Games that helps him maintain a fulfilling, active life despite the long-term lingering effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"I found the sport late," said Hugee, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native who moved to the Eastern Panhandle in 1994 to participate in the Martinsburg Veteran Administration Hospital's PTSD program. "A lot of people remember playing table tennis as a basement game. I found the sport when I was recovering from my addiction to cocaine and crack cocaine. So I found it late, but I loved it."
An Army infantry sergeant and squad leader in Vietnam from 1967-1968, Hugee returned to the United States determined to resume his civilian life. Despite receiving no treatment for his PTSD - which wasn't diagnosed until years after his military service ended - Hugee maintained a "normal" life.
"The VA had no way of dealing with PTSD at that point," Hugee said. "So they misdiagnosed a lot of people at that time. I had relatives who were on Thorazine and really got wacked out on that stuff."
But in the early 1980s, he began a substance abuse-fueled downward spiral that haunted Hugee for most of a decade.
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