Soldier Who Didn't Die: A Sister's Memoir

On 30th November, 1967, Private Michael Berrigan was critically injured in battle in Vietnam. He was twice resuscitated and transferred to the American Medivac Hospital at Longh Bin near Saigon. Mick survived surgery to remove schrapnel from his brain and was transferred back to Melbourne Australia by Christmas, 1967. Mick returned to a system totally inadequate for his extensive injury. He received little or no rehabilitation, and eventually lived for over 15 years in a hospital for trail and dementing returned soldiers, mostly from the Second World War. He was labelled a trouble-maker, aggressive, a hopeless case and a bloody nuisance. This is not a story of war or soldiering. It is about the aftermath of trauma. It tells of a normal family beset by exceptional events, when their son and brother has his life changed forever by devastating injury. I was a bystander to my brother's injury and the first years of his return to life after Vietnam. Although I grew up with him and noticed his early promise, we were not a close family, each of us was too much of an individualist, and our paths diverged well before adulthood. When my brother became again the responsibility of our parents, I watched on helplessly. My involvement grew as our parents aged, and I gained knowledge. I became my brother's 'significant other' for the rest of his life. These are my memories of the events and my perceptions of how my brother struggled to manage his changed life. It describes how I watched my parents and siblings fight for our brother. I have delved into my own life as a means of understanding my reactions to the events which have shaped me, including my brother's journey.