Veteran Warrior Writings

Warrior writings

Desert Storm ¾/1991
By John Fisher
Author: Angels in Vietnam

Ben was loaded onto the rescue flight, which then continued to look for another body. After an hour of ineffective search, the medic convinced the pilot to get their passenger to the hospital. Ben was hysterical. ‘What about Jeremy? Don’t worry about me. Jeremy . . .’ Ben cried himself into a cataleptic state. At the hospital, he slowly regained his consciousness, but not his confusion. He insisted that Jeremy was still out in the wilderness. Another search was organized, but called off when Ben’s mother came and reported that Jeremy was in the Persian Gulf.

Ben was treated at Denver General Hospital. He had a nine-inch spiral fracture of his distal left tibia, a four-inch spiral fracture of his proximal left fibula, and two fingers and six toes partially amputated from frostbite. Those conditions, however, were the least of his worries. Because of his hysterical delusions a psychiatrist was assigned to his case. He was immediately diagnosed as a psychotic schizophrenic and placed on thorisine and haldoll. Instead of going home to recuperate, he was admitted into the psychiatric ward. There he was to remain indefinitely, until Dr. Frank Piazza found him.

Dr. Piazza, a psychologist, noticed Ben while doing his rounds. He stopped and asked the orderly who that was, pointing towards Ben. ‘That’s Ben West. He’s been here since they found him up on the mountain.’ ‘What mountain?’ asked Dr. Piazza. ‘What I’ve heard is that he was found in the Vasquez Mountains, on the other side of the divide from Berthoud Pass. His car was found at the pass after his mother called in a missing persons report. A helicopter found him in that condition.’ The orderly pointed to Ben lying with his hands and feet bandaged, his left leg in a cast. Ben was listening to the conversation, but was too numb from medication to offer any information.

The doctor went to Ben’s bedside and read his medical chart. When he discovered that Ben was a Vietnam Veteran, he quickly hustled out of the ward. An hour later he was back, this time with Ben’s mother present. In front of Ben, Dr. Piazza explained that Ben was probably not a psychotic schizophrenic. Instead, he was most likely suffering from Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder (PTSD.) ‘I’ve been seeing a lot of veterans since Desert Storm started,’ he had said. ‘Has it seemed like Ben was having trouble with the war in the Persian Gulf?’