UK: Paratrooper Fell to His Death Waiting For Help For PTSD

Paratrooper who saw 'very severe action' in Afghanistan fell to his death from a hotel rooftop in Vietnam while waiting for a psychiatrist to decide whether he had PTSD, inquest hears
Daily Mail
By RORY TINGLE FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 15:21 EST, 25 November 2016

Peter O'Sullivan was assessed by a nurse who felt he might of had PTSD.
Nurse decided to refer him to psychiatrist but was a 4 month waiting list.
Former soldier did not survive until then, falling to his death in Vietnam.

Peter O'Sullivan, who had seen 'very severe military activity' in Afghanistan during ten years in the Parachute Regiment, had been assessed by a mental health nurse

A former paratrooper fell to his death from a hotel rooftop while waiting for a psychiatrist to decide whether he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, an inquest heard yesterday.

Peter O'Sullivan, who had seen 'very severe military activity' in Afghanistan during ten years in the Parachute Regiment, had been assessed by a mental health nurse from the Combat Stress charity who felt he might have PTSD.

The nurse decided to refer him to a consultant psychiatrist - but there was a four month waiting list for an appointment and Mr O'Sullivan did not survive until then.

Two months before the appointment he took crystal meth while on holiday in Vietnam and fell to his death from the top of the Liberty Hotel in Ho Ch Minh City on Feb 13th this year, the Gloucester inquest was told.

His family, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, are now hoping the authorities will recognise Mr O'Sullivan's death as a direct consequence of PTSD resulting from his service in the elite Pathfinder platoon of the Parachute Regiment.
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Return to Vietnam Healing Vietnam Veterans Souls

A healing journey
Salina Journal
By Tim Unruh
July 3, 2016

“For 48 years at night in my dreams, I see the eyes of my enemy,” said Sammy Davis, who received a Medal of Honor for his heroism in Vietnam. “Now I still see eyes, but they’re the eyes of the gentlemen I broke bread with. They’re not mean eyes, but they’re friendly eyes, and they’re helping to sooth my soul.”

Emotions peaked leading up to the day two old soldiers returned to the scene of a horrific battle, this time with their wives.

But a calm settled over Salinans Jim and Rita Deister and Sammy and Dixie Davis, of Freedom, Ind., once they found the spot at Fire Base Cudgel in the Mekong Delta, South Vietnam, where Sammy had pulled a near-dead Jim to safety. Healing occurred where their blood had spilled nearly 49 years ago.

“I looked out to the east, over the rice paddies, and I could almost visualize the North Vietnamese army and Viet Cong charging across them,” Jim Deister recalled. Because he is severely hearing impaired from his injuries, the interview was conducted by email. “That night in November (1967), they looked like an ant pile that had been disturbed. It almost sent shivers up my back.”

The U.S. Army veterans met face to face with some of their former North Vietnamese enemy and eventually bonded.

Old wounds did open, Sammy Davis said, “but I think they’ll heal instead of just scab over.” As a busy speaker who is on the road more than 200 days a year, who also counsels young war veterans, the experience with former foes was priceless.
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If you want to know about what Sammy went through, I interviewed him back in 2012.

At the Orlando Nam Knights fundraiser for Homes For Our Troops, Vietnam Veteran and Medal of Honor hero Sammy Davis talked to me about what it was like coming home after all he'd been through. It is a story few have heard before. As Sammy put it, it is one of the reasons no other veteran will ever come home treated like that again.

Sammy and Dixie also had a message for families living with PTSD.

Vietnam Medal of Honor Sammy Davis has a message to all the troops coming home. Talk about it! Don't try to forget it but you can make peace with it. Dixie Davis has a message for the spouses too. Help them to talk about it with you or with someone else.

Survivor of Vietnam War thanks Vietnam Veterans

Orlando Nam Knights Bike Week Party Huge Success

There has been plenty of speeches given about the Vietnam War and what veterans did. This one is from a survivor from South Vietnam and he wanted to thank Vietnam veterans for what they did for his people. He talked about them risking their lives for the freedom of his people. "Vietnam veterans never lost a single battle but politicians lost the war." This was at the Nam Knights Bike Week party yesterday.

The Escapes and My Journey to Freedom Hardcover by Du Hua