The Chris Voss Show - The Chris Voss Show Podcast – From Brokenness to Atonement, Faith, Hope, and Love: A Vietnam War Sniper’s Journey and a Psychiatrist’s Bibliotherapy by Hani Raoul Khouzam Mph Fapa MD

Episode Date: April 2, 2026

From Brokenness to Atonement, Faith, Hope, and Love: A Vietnam War Sniper’s Journey and a Psychiatrist’s Bibliotherapy by Hani Raoul Khouzam Mph Fapa MD https://www.amazon.com/Brokenness-Atonement-Faith-Hope-Love/dp/B0CC3X7Y6T This is a story of Mr. L, an orphan who was raised and nurtured by a devoted Carmelite nun, then drafted to serve as a skilled sniper during the Vietnam War. A journey of learning and mastering of the French language, excelling in the Little League baseball, discovering the art of hunting, and of an uttermost devotion to assigned military missions. A tale of grief, depression, anxiety, intermixed with bitterness, rage, fear, and delayed onset posttraumatic stress disorder with its most devastating aftermath of survivor’s guilt. Witnessing the emergence of innate talents, the gifts of left-handedness, and astounding suddenness of action in each and every providential and self-inflicted circumstances. Travelling through life in orphanages with boyish freedom, self-consciousness, and then an adulthood of giving of oneself and sacrificing of own needs to fulfill a patriotic mission, an acceptance of a higher calling to serve the poor and the disfranchised. Biographies are woven in the tapestry of the therapeutic alliance of a patient-and-physician relationship. As a reader, you will be invited to introspect and reflect on the wonder of the human brain, the bubbling joy of loving, and the gift of living. Will Mr. L descend into the abyss of ending his God-given gift of a well-deserved and joyful life or will he survive his heartbreaking sorrows and insurmountable guilt? Can brokenness be restored through faith, hope, love, and forgiveness? The answers could be revealed by reading this personal journey–a portrait of faith, grace, and the joy that rises from giving and loving.

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Because you're about to go on a monster education role. rollercoaster with your brain. Now, here's your host, Chris Voss. I'm O'S Voss here from the Chris Voss Show.com. Laius. The earliest things that that makes official. Welcome to 16 years of the Chris Voss show. Over 2,800 episodes, almost 3,000 will hit this year.

And we just keep bringing you the most amazing authors in our journey and people that will inspire you, teach you lessons, and entertain you as well. Go to goodreads.com, Fortress, Chris Voss. LinkedIn.com, Fortresschastchrisvass, YouTube.com for chestchischrisvoss, and Facebook.com fordstschrischfoss. Opinions expressed by guests on the podcast are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the host or the Chris Voss show. Some guests of the show may be advertising on the podcast, but it's not an endorsement or review of any kind. Today's featured author comes to comes to us from books to lifemarketing.co.uk. With expert publishing to

strategic marketing, they help authors reach their audience and maximize their book's success. Today, we're an amazing young man on the show, and we're going to talk about his book called From Brokenness to Atonement, Faith, Hope, and Love, the Vietnam War, Sniper's Journey, and Psychiatrist's Bibliography Out May 30th, 2023 by Hanny Raoul Kuzam. We're going to get into with him and talk about his deeds and some of his experience and what he brings to light with this book. The doctor received his medical degree from Cairo University facility of medicine in Cairo, Egypt, and then obtained his master's degree in public health

from Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans. We also completed a fellowship in cross-cultural psychiatry, International Health is a Fulbright scholar of the Hubert H. Humphrey International Fellowship. He completed his residency in psychiatry at the University of Oklahoma,

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in Oklahoma City. He's board certified in psychiatry and geriatric. in geriatric psychiatry and is a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association during his tenure from 1992 to 2000 at the VA in Manchester. He was the director of consultant consultation liaison psychiatry and the psychiatrist of substance abuse program they had there. He's an adjunct professor of psychiatry.

He participated in the training of Dartmouth Medical School psychiatry students. During that period, also super and trade addiction medicine fellows at clinical instructor of medicine with Harvard Medical School. Welcome to the show. How are you, sir? Oh, thank you, sir. I'm fine. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you. You've offered many books and articles and chapters in the psychiatric and medical literature. And we're going to get into some of the deeds on this. Hanny, do you want me to refer to you as doctor or Haney during the show? Oh, yes, sir. Whatever is preferable for you, sir. Okay. I might just call you a doctor because, you know, in case I have a heart attack during the show, you'll be able to revive me. I want people to know. So anyway, give us your dot coms, websites, emails, wherever you want people to find you on social media, maybe, to find out more about you and your book.

They can look at some book review on Amazon under my name, Annie, or just if they put my name on the internet, they'll find all the publication and the books I've written. So give us a overview of what's inside this book. So this book described a journey of a Vietnam War veteran who was a sniper during the Vietnam War. But it goes through his life since he was an orphan and was raised in an orphanage run by a carmelant nuns in New Hampshire. And then that was a very important experience for him. It shaped his life to be a caring person. Ah, was he a caring person when he'd gone to Vietnam, or did that kind of experience harden him?

He was a very caring and diligent person, and he went to Vietnam to serve his duty as a patriot, where a tragedy occurred during his service that turned his life into a dark place that he wished he can end his life. Oh, wow. However, he did not believe in suicide, so he put himself in harm's way, hoping to die passively. Really?

But this did not work. Wow. Until he found a light, and the light was, I can turn my suffering and brokenness into an opportunity to install hope, face and love in the life of other people who suffer. Ah, what an amazing thing and journey that he went through. You know, we go through those times in life where it's kind of all about us and we, you know, we go through dark times, but sometimes we can be a little selfish about it where we think poor is me, you know, the world hates me, this never happens to anyone else. And, you know, I just, the world has it out for me. I should just give up. And then they find gratitude and gratefulness

and they realize that maybe there's a higher purpose they can serve others and helping others go through and survive the experiences maybe they've survived or maybe their experiences. I mean, the thing I've always found in my life

is the best time to help other people and spend time serving other people and giving the charity is usually when I need the money, the money, the most and I really don't have time to help people where I'm trying to scramble to survive. But I've always found

that those are the moments that I need to go back to my core, my base and find what's important and restart again. So I'm glad he shared that. Now, did you, was this a patient possibly of your? Yes, so that's a patient

that I was called to consult on because he had a severe motorcycle accident that injured his left eye. Oh, wow. So they did emergency surgery and they saved his left eye. He was very disappointed because he wished that he would go blind in that eye because that's the eye he used as a sniper to shoot.

And left eye dominance in sniper is considered a gift. Oh, really? But he hated his left eye and his left hand because they are the one who triggered that boy. that shot innocent people. Did he shoot some innocent people in Vietnam? Was that his experience? Yeah, he did not want to shoot them, but other sniper who were jealous of him

because he was the best sniper tricked him to believe that these bicycle rider were going to disseminate a bomb to kill lots of American GI. But these were innocent biker. They just tricked him in. doing it and after after he did that they saw him how we wanted to celebrate your birthday and you killed three bicycle rider but they are innocent man wow they were not carrying any weapons so the guilt

and the agony of doing this hunted him all his life wow and so he was resentful of his You know, there's a lot of people that did come back for Vietnam that were haunted by their experience there, war as hell. And certainly the people that fight for our country as veterans and to serve, they have to deal with sometimes the very ugliness of society or the world or, you know, war that we don't have to face. And some of the images and experiences they have of what happens to people's bodies in war and the ugliness of war and the fog of war. you know, sometimes haunts them. And, you know, veteran suicides are very huge and everything else. When you came across this person, why did, I imagine you counsel a lot of people during your massive career we do tell in your bio. What was about this story that stuck out and made you want to write a book about it? So since I'm a psychiatrist and when we see veterans who suffer from the

condition that this gentleman has, which is called post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, I came across him because he was involuntary committed for treatment. Oh, wow. Because after he survived the eye surgery, he didn't want to receive any psychiatric treatment, but the people thought he is at a danger of himself. So they said he has to receive treatment. Oh, wow. He mentioned that he doesn't need any psychiatric treatment,

but since he was committed to treatment, he agreed to meet with me. So when I met with him for the first time, he said, I don't need a shrink, I don't need medication, I'm not crazy. But if I have to meet with you, I like every time I meet with you once a month to read a book. You read the book that I will recommend. The patient said you read that book that I recommend. And then when we meet, we'll discuss that. book. These are the books that he read when he was an orphan. And he wanted me to know how these books help him survive as an orphan. Yeah. Being an orphan's heart, was he, did he ever get a doctor?

He delivered his whole early life as an orphan. No, his parent abandoned him. And initially, he was in a state orphanage, which was very harsh on him. But then they trained. transferred him to this orphanish run by the Carmelite nun and the Carmelite nun that you see on the cover of the book. Ah. Made him discover that life is not about anger and resentment and revenge, but life is about acceptance and forgiveness. Acceptance and forgiveness. What a great lesson. What a great lesson.

And when does the, you know, I don't want to blow the book because people got to order the book. to read it to find out, you know, how it works and what the story ends up being. During that care, did you have that moment with him of clarity that he had where he decided that he was going to use his life skills to help other people? Or had he already predetermined that when he was going into therapy? So we met once a month for eight and a half years. And each month we discussed a book that he read. The discussion was the book, helped him reflect on the meaning of life, but also he challenged me and challenged what everything I do is about, which make me reflect on my own life. So the book is a parallel story of how he reached redemption,

hopeful, and loved, and also a reflection on my career as a psychiatrist. Yeah. Do you think he was one of your best patients maybe that are most interesting maybe? I see all my patients. as teacher and when I listen to their life story, this can get to discover the value of the human condition. So I see all my patient as teacher as opposed to seeing them as people who have mental illness that I need to cure. That's a really interesting perspective, probably a more healthy one maybe. You see them as the human beings. They are instead of, this is a condition I have to diagnose, maybe. Is that a good analysis?

Yeah, I mean, the diagnosis may be important, but the most important is to know who is that person that is presenting with symptoms. What is their sufferings and what is their meaning of life? And how can they live a good life despite having pain and suffering? So eventually, if we cannot cure an illness and we cannot remove the suffering and agony, how can we live life having these problems and consider them as an opportunity to grow and help others who suffer? Yeah, I mean, suffering, there seems to be a lot of that goes on in a world, right? The, you know, lots of suffering, lots of challenges.

I mean, I don't think anyone goes through life having everything perfect and fall into place. They may seem like that when you see them from the outside, but, you know, there's all sorts of challenges. And that's why we tell stories. That's why we have authors on the show. That's why we talk about these things. And, you know, the nun kept expiring him, inspiring him to do better and be better. And did I imagine somewhere in the book we find there's a lot of great stories of how he went and helped other people maybe? I don't want to give it too much away again.

One important thing is that when he was sent to Vietnam as a sniper, he discovered that there was an orphanage in Vietnam, which has lots of very poor Vietnamese children, and it was also run by a nun. Oh, really? Yeah, so he decided some of his free time in Vietnam, he will go help and serve these orphans. But when this tragic event occurred, where he killed innocent people, that changed his life completely and he became angry, resentful, and actually wanted to retaliate against these people who tricked him, but this did not work. So he decided to put himself in a harm way after he ended the service.

in Vietnam by going to Laos to try to be removing mines that were saying, hoping that a mine will explode and kill him. Oh, wow. That's all the gamble. Yeah, because then he found lots of people have lost their limbs due to the mines. So he changed his mind and decide to open a prosthetic shop to make prosthetic limbs. for victims of minds. That's all.

But then he still wants to die because of the survival guilt. The survival guilt. Wow. So there were lots of event in his life where he tried to put himself in a harm way hoping to die. It did not work.

But then he was discovered love. Somebody love him. Wow. reach out to him. And that person who reached out to him, she was a nurse that lost both her limbs in Vietnam. Oh, wow. And he noticed that her prosthetic limb was not fitting right.

So due to his experience in making prosthetic limbs, he outfitted her limb and became less painful for her. Oh, wow. But her name was Grace. So he says, face, hope, and love, and grace is what make you carry on despite suffering. Yeah. What a wonderful thing. What a wonderful gift to share with people.

There are other things that he and Grace eventually married, and they decided to devote their life to help people who suffer. So any income they made, they donated to help people who live in orphans. And he hated his left eye and he hated his left hand because they are the one that triggered the bullet. He started to accept them and was left-handed and always wanted to play the guitar. He learned how to play the guitar and he along with his wife, Grace, also. formed a musical group. The tour of the country and any donation given to this concert

were given to orphans all over. In other words, he turned his life, pain and suffering into an opportunity to help others. Wow. So he understood that the joy of giving overcome any resentment, anger, or suffering.

Wow. That's wonderful. What an inspiring thing to take and do for other people. Did you come across anybody? You know, you've probably had a lot of patience. Have you come across other people who, you know, were able to turn their life around in that same way? Or does this one really stand out for you in the experience you had with this gentleman? This gentleman changed my perspective on suffering.

So indirectly, he helped hundreds and hundreds of veterans that I've seen after him, who were in the same dilemma of wanting to die because they have survivor guilt or wanting to get retaliation against the people who hurt them although I did not divulge his identity to him. I use his life as an example

to share with other veterans. This gentleman, in addition to changing my perspective on how to help people, he indirectly helped hundreds and hundreds of veterans that I've seen after him. Wow. To change their perspective on life. You know, you're bringing a good lesson because we talk about this a lot on the

Chris Vos show. And we talk about how basically, basically what you have is, you know, we go through these crises and sometimes we can get caught in our own pity pools and, oh, the world hates us, blah, blah. And the bigger thing, like I say, is to go find gratitude and reset your base and take in basically go help other people. And, you know, when you go help and you serve other people, you find out a lot about yourself. You find out a lot about other people. And you realize that, you know, there's other folks that have problems too.

And they need help. And that can be really important in trying to change the world. And sometimes we can be a little selfish where we're. just think the world world's about us and pours me and all that kind of silliness. But in reality, you know, going and helping, serving other people and trying to do the work there, I think it's so much more better use of one's time than it is to do something else. I don't know.

Would you agree? Yeah, but it's important to mention that this journey doesn't have a deadline. and a person may not be ready to serve others because they have lots of issue inside their heart against other. Very gentle how to help them on this journey. So they don't think we minimize their suffering or criticize them. In other words, we have to be very patient, accepting, and not put a deadline because we don't want them also to feel guilty.

We want to tell them your suffering is true, but you have an option. Do you want to use the suffering as a tool for resentment, anger, vengeance, which in a way deprive you from your freedom? Yeah. Because you're going to be stuck. Or do you want to explore gently, slowly without that line? Is this another journey where my life can be used as an opportunity to help others and to change the world to the best?

And I don't know if lots of people during this time of the year celebrate Easter, although it's a religious festivity, but the message of Easter is not just the bunny and the eggs. It's a mention of hope because if Jesus was crucified and died and suffered, his resurrection means you can never lose hope no matter what. so whether hope can be allowed and not losing even if there is no cure or reversal of your condition hope is the great thing that makes everything

works so much better and it's just the great way to go there what other books do you want to plug is there any plugs that you want to do of maybe other books you're written or talk about there is a book I wrote that described about 19 story of several people who had severe medical or psychiatric condition and they were totally

hopeless and didn't want to change and they hope to die soon. The book is called medical tales and stories of healing and recovery. That book, medical tales and stories of healing and recovery describe 19 stories that people's life was totally shattered and they were in a dark place. But they turned around these suffering into amazing opportunities. Oh, wow. Wow. So let's see here. As we go out, give people a final pitch out to order up your book, where they can find you on the interwebs and all that good stuff. My books are posted on Amazon and on Barnes and Noble, so they can find them there.

They don't have to buy the books. They can read the review about the books. It can help them. The books are also on Kindle. So my goal is not to promote my book. My goal is to let people know there is hope. Any place you wear so dark and you don't see any light. out there is joy it comes through hope face love redemption and joy are possible no matter what joy it's really

important to have joy because if you know joy you have to put up with her sister margaret anyway very insightful very wonderful to have you on sir and what a great job you doing Any social media, websites, emails, you want people to contact you on? If they just look my name on the world wide, they'll see lots of articles I published about this topic. And they can read my biography. They can read the summary of these books. I don't want people to think that I want them to buy my books. I didn't write them to make money.

I wrote them to install hope and joy in people's life. people's life. Oh, okay. That's a great wonderful thing, right? Yeah, and they can look me on YouTube. I have a YouTube interview and a YouTube

show if they want to get more inside that anything that happened to us is not the end of life. We have a journey and we don't need to leave this life prematurely. Let's take this journey as a gift

to help others and get joy. Yes, and get joy. A lot of people need some damn joy because they don't, they need more. Let's put it that way. So thank you very much for coming the show. We certainly really appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir, for your time. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. And thanks, Your Honor us for tuning in. Order up the doctor's book, wherever fine books are sold. You can find it on Amazon or other given places and all that good stuff. From brokenness to a Honement, Faith, Hope, and Love, a Vietnam war sniper's journey and psychiatrist, Bibliot Therapy. Out May 30th, 2023.

Thanks for us for tuning in. Go to Goodreads.com, Fortresschristch, Chris Foss, LinkedIn.com, Fortress, Chris Foss, 1 on the TikTok, and all those crazy places in it. Be good to each other. Stay safe. We'll see you next. You've been listening to the most amazing, intelligent podcast ever made to improve your brain and your life. Assuming too much of the Chris Walsh Show podcast can lead to people thinking you're smarter, younger, and irresistible sexy.

Consume in regularly moderated amounts. Consult the doctor for any resulting brain bleed. All right, Doc, there you go.