UK veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD ended his life

When soldiers take their own lives it stuns everyone. Families are prepared for the news to come they were killed in war but not for the news they died by their own hands after it.

Hero Sunderland soldier hanged himself after suffering flashbacks from Iraq and Afghanistan
Sunderland Echo
by Jane O’Neill
Published on the
15 November 2013

“IT cut us in two when he died.”

The family of a former solider who hanged himself have opened their hearts after the inquest into his death.

William Pemberton, known as Billy, was found dead near the Ropery bar in Sunderland, days after his 28th birthday.

The father-of-one had been struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) since leaving the Army, aged 25, after serving with 3 Rifles.

An inquest heard he was found close to the River Wear on the morning of October 2, after leaving his parents’ house in Witherwack, Sunderland.

Grieving father William Senior, 56, said his loving son became violent and suffered flashbacks after serving on two tours of duty in Iraq and two in Afghanistan, after joining the Army when he was just 18. But the keen footballer, dubbed the “Southwick Warrior” by opponents, will always be remembered as a hero by his family, including mother Carol, sister Brooke, 30, and brother Joseph, 24. He also leaves a daughter, Miley, four.

Wiping away tears, William remembers how he handed a keepsake to his son after dropping him off at RAF Brize Norton to begin his Army career.

“I gave him a little statue of Lassie and told him ‘Lassie always comes home’. Well, he did come home, after going to battle four times but he fought the last battle and could not win it. He changed completely.”
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Hero After War from Kathleen "Costos" DiCesare on Vimeo.