David Catterall will be remembering friends passed this Remembrance Day. 72963 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By Vanessa Chircop
FOR Vietnam War veteran, David Catterall, his war may be over, but for many soldiers who returned the fight has just begun.
As the State President of the Totally and Permanently Incapacitated Ex-Servicemen and Women of Victoria (TPI), David knows all too well what it’s like to be an injured soldier home from war.
David was a Logistics Support Officer during the Vietnam War and deployed at 21. The young husband left for Vietnam in December 1967.
He admits as a Logistics Support Officer, his experiences in Vietnam weren’t as bad as some because he wasn’t exposed to direct combat.
David said he had volunteered to Officer Cadet School, but said he felt for those who were conscripted.
“They weren’t expecting to be confronted with the horrific side of war.”
While serving in Vietnam, David suffered a crippling back injury.
“I jumped off a burning tank and landed hard on my coccyx,” he said.
Despite the injury, it took the army 16 years to recognise it.
Today, David fights for the rights of returned soldiers injured during war because he knows all too well what the real cost of neglect is.
His first marriage broke down after his return, and so did his relationship with two of his three daughters.
“It’s one of the penalties of war,” he said.
“The Vietnam experience caused problems we didn’t understand.”
David believes it wasn’t only his experiences in Vietnam that caused him problems upon his return, but also the army’s neglect by not recognising his injuries and the frustrations he bottled up as a result.
In 1998, David received counselling and worked through many of his issues and has been happily married now for 17 years.
Despite understanding the need for war, the Newport resident believes it’s futile.
“Despite the objectives (of war), it is still at a cost and for me that cost is futile.”
David will spend Remembrance Day not just remembering his fallen friends, but also those who became seriously neglected post war, those who died prematurely and those who took their own lives.
“We remember them all,” he said.
