THE VETERANS' PRESS: The VA saved my life
REFER: September Veteran's Press inside today/A4-A6
Andrew Whipple of St. Maries knows too well the price of war on our veterans.
Andrew graduated from the University of Idaho in 1991 with a teaching degree and an ROTC Commission. He took a job teaching school and joined the Idaho Army National Guard.
In March 2004, his guard unit was activated and then sent to Iraq in November. Andrew served as a company commander for a combat engineering company. They flew to Kuwait and then by truck convoy to Kirkuk, Iraq.
He remembers the stench of burning garbage, burnt rubber, sewage in the streets and burning household trash. The city reminded him of a third world country with donkey carts and massive traffic jams.
His trips outside the protective gates revealed the human remains from car bombings and rocket attacks. The most alarming sights were of mutilated children.
Andrew's teaching job did not prepare him for the horrors he witnessed. He questioned how a society could treat its people this way. Mortar and rocket attacks were common several times a week and he was shot at a few times. He knew soldiers who were killed in IED attacks.
In November 2005 he returned to Idaho and went back to teaching. He retired from the Idaho National Guard with the rank of Major in 2011.
Andrew's first indication of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) came in 2015, when his personality began to change. He became angry at students and had night sweats. His blood pressure was elevated and he began remembering his time in Iraq.
The deeply subdued thoughts of war returned and he went downhill, even though he never was personally engaged in combat. He felt that an ex-Army officer should be able to handle this situation.
Andrew went to the VA in Coeur d’Alene, where they prescribed anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs. He was confident that he could get through the challenge without further help.
In 2017, he was prescribed a new drug. The following day he put on his Army uniform. He went outside with a hunting rifle and sat in the back yard. He had begun drinking more in recent weeks and he was angry at the world.
A friend came by and visited, and the incident ended without a serious consequence. At the age of 51, Andrew decided to retire from Kootenai School District in Harrison.
In December 2019, Andrew was spooked by flashing lights from a police car. He rushed home and told his wife that he imagined someone was chasing him.
In February 2020, he enrolled in the American Lake VA Hospital PTSD Clinic. He spent five weeks in the clinic and credits the VA with saving his life. He had spiraled so far down that he didn't consider himself worthy or of any value. The VA helped him with his resentment and anger and lifted him up from the depths of despair.
Andrew had never connected the horrible things he saw in Iraq with his actual feelings. The VA brought all this to the surface and he was able to talk about it.
Andrew joined a writing group at American Lake VA Medical Center and wrote short stories and short poems. In February 2021, a National Guard helicopter with three pilots crashed in the mountains outside Boise and Andrew wrote “Above the Purple Sage” poem.
He then wrote a book of poems titled “From Inez to Andrew” and it is sold on Amazon. The book contains poems written by his grandmother Inez during the Second World War and includes Andrew's recent poems. Andrew never knew his grandmother but their poems reflect similar style and content.
Maybe telling his story is also therapeutic. He now says he has inner peace and believes he has reinvented himself. The dark moments are gone. Andrew has a VA disability rating of 80% and receives a monthly VA disability check.
He has shown the way for anyone who finds themselves overwhelmed with deep troubling thoughts. The VA has the tools and the counselors to guide a person back from a deep, dark place. Andrew says he almost waited too long to get help. He also says he could not do it alone.
Veteran Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255 press 1
Vet Center: 509-444-8387 (Counselors)
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Darrel Maddux is a member of the American Legion Department Public Relations Committee.
