The Derry Pennsylvania Incident - The Town Has PTSD?

[Linda All]

I am from Derry. I was born and raised here all my life. I was a registered nurse at Latrobe Hospital, my ex was an ambulance attendant (emt). The events that happened in Derry on that fateful day were horrific. My ex was on the scene, as an emt. I would love to chat and give you the real story of what happened that day. I was called into work to help with the overload of patients. So, although I did not see the event myself, my ex did and we had spoke about it at length over the years we were together. I did, however, see the aftermath. And I saw what it did to him.

 

[Native Derrian]

I feel like you don't know this town at all. We all get along or know each other. Maybe you fee...

It is clear you have NO clue as to what occurred that day, nor do you seem to have a conscious as you chalk it up to "just life." Reducing the tragedy to such a narrow term may do you well to put it in a nice clean box and go to bed however those of us that experienced it first hand in person we are victims of a horrific scene and to those of us who lost loved ones up close and personal the day is FOREVER etched in our memories. Yes life continues but the PAIN lasts, it certainly doesn't lessen when we see, hear, or read comments from simpletons such as yourself who choose to trivialize what myself, and the townsfolk who were there still hold deep inside only to get on with "just life." I suggest you revisit your thoughts and words, or shall I say your thoughtless words and choose a new thread and another profession. The description you provide of yourself is suspicious at best.

As a witness to this crash and growing up in Derry, PA and reading all the Bull shit that people think thay...

I read your post, within it, it reads that you were leaving your email address to contact. I didn't see it and would like to discuss.

 

[joeylittle]

it reads that you were leaving your email address to contact. I didn't see it and would like to discuss.

We don't allow individuals to post their email address as a matter of Forum policy. You may contact the member by posting on their profile page, or via private conversation, which is an option you'd have access to if you became a member.

The post you are quoting, though, is from 2009, and the member has not been back here in awhile.

 

[Powder]

11 people in one instant is a huge tragedy for a small town. How sad, and at a church event.

It's important not to judge a whole group or paint a whole group with the same brush. There have been some bad conditions and the results are a relatively traumatized place on several levels. Notice I said relatively. It depends on what cultural climate you're coming from and what your expectations are.

I feel like there are some places and people that get more than a fair share of tragedy. PTSD is only one of the many things one'd expect to see.

I stayed in Stockton, CA on my way up the main freeway on the West Coast. Without any outward reason, I felt the same oppressive atmos. Even though the hotel staff were so nice and the hotel was, too.

Research Stockton, CA and you'll see that some of us pick up on the history of a place, no matter how hard the people try to scatter dirt over it and move on. I believe places retain as much trauma as people do.

 

[formerly from Derry]

I googled "Derry helicopter crash" for the first time ever this Evening , curious what people read on the internet about something I can unfortunately replay in my head pretty clearly...I was there& lost my grandmother that day.... I can completely agree that the town did nothing to nurture or heal any emotional or psychological pain or needs - and am also
Certain that the people at st Josephs church who could have been talking to the community and kids like my sister and I- and the deglau kids whose father saved our lives by sacrificing his own----- chose to "" move on"" and yes, sweep it under the rug.... I had no idea what people had read about this tragedy that affected so many lives, including mine at 7 yrs old --now I'm 44 and just reading this.... Healing and sharing and grieving together certainly should have happened but never did and that's absolutely got to be one of the reasons Derry pa is so depressed .... My mom suffered PTSD so severely she died last year at age 64. Tragedies like this one need way more love and support following , than what happened here. I can say that from being witness to lack of card after the tragedy ...

 

[Derry Girl]

Hello everybody. I come here not because I personally suffer from PSTD, but I believe that the entire t...

I'm sorry you have such a poor opinion of our town. We are not the zombie-esque town you describe though, lol.

Pretty normal place actually. And the disgusting heroin issue covers all of Western PA, not just Derry.

Your article was entertaining, but not factual. You were correct to say there is no memorial, which I find odd as well.

 

[Victim]

I agree, there was very little care afterward as so many simply wanted to hide it and not speak about it ever again.

 

[12 at the time]

I am 39 i witnessed the crash . Pereace Smith was my sister's friend. I am still affected till this d...

I didn't witness it that day, I was stuck on 217 coming into Derry as we were heading home from Labor Day weekend at out camp in Potter County, my father was driving and I was in the middle my mom beside me, wondering what happened. We like the rest on that road that day found out in utter horror and sympathy for those involved.

The following month October 4th, 1978 to be exact my father and two brothers were killed on Interstate 70 while on their way to work in West Virginia.

I remember after that coming home from school and meeting Peareace's mother sitting in my kitchen talking to my mother on how do you go on every day losing a child as they both lost theirs violently, I don't know or remember how their conversation ended, but I'm now 50 and have been in therapy for PTSD from my loss. A whole town suffering is bizarre, but yes back then they did handle their own, knowing now that isn't the way to handle anything as horrific as the incident of that day.

 

[susan sterrett]

Hello everybody. I come here not because I personally suffer from PSTD, but I believe that the entire t...

i dont know if i even knew about this when it happened but i was born in 1962 and spent a lot of time at my grandparents in Ridge Avenue in Derry. They always took me to the fairs and festivals all around the area. I know i had nightmares for around 15 years about a fair, a little girl standing on the back of a jeep, splattered with blood, and she would tell me "its ok,"! Meaning the blood on her new sunday dress"....the same exact dream over and over. Weird right? i dont even know if i was there, but i dont ever remember discussing this event with my grand parents....it was almost like it never happened. My grandparents are deciesed now so i cant even ask them about this... I understand what you are saying about this PTSD!

 

[derrytransplant]

i dont know if i even knew about this when it happened but i was born in 1962 and spent a lot of time at my gra...

wow...this clearly says to me that you were ABSOLUTELY there! How could you even question it? If you truly had "random" nightmares for 15 years about a fair and a little girl covered in blood, don't you think that's an exact representation of what occurred here? I bet if you met and spoke with a professional you would unearth that repressed memory in a hearbeat (not that you would want to). Your grandparents probably thought you were young enough to forget and swept it under the rug to protect you. I'm so sorry you dealt with that.

 

[RRP]

My husband was there and is still suffering a great deal. We would be interested in talking to anyone who was there or has knowledge of the event. I think you can click on my profile and send me a private message with your email.

 

[Boobooizzy]

Hello everybody. I come here not because I personally suffer from PSTD, but I believe that the entire t...

Hi, it was a helicopter crash and I remember it very well. My sister and I were there, but thank god we were in the far back. Anyway, I can’t say for sure that If everyone in Derry has ptsd, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of them do. It was a terrible accident and very grisly