After his tour of duty, Derek tried to return to his other life as a graphic artist, without success. His mind kept taking him back to Vietnam and the haunting scenes he witnessed. His mind continually flashed back to an incident when he discovered the wallet of an enemy KIA contained a picture of a wife, or loved one, someone who would mourn his loss. Diagnosed with PTSD, he was eventually granted a TPI pension. During a PTSD clinic at the Adelaide Repatriation Hospital the psychologist advised Derek to put his views onto canvas as a form of therapy. After some early sketches that featured just a few of the 508 it developed into a larger work. This picture was not meant to be seen outside of his closest friends, but those who were given the opportunity begged Derek to continue this work, so that from a canvas 21 inches by 36 it grew into 12 panels that bolt together to measure 11 meters, that is still a “work in progress” that shows our involvement in Vietnam.

After his tour of duty, Derek tried to return to his other life as a graphic artist, without success. His mind kept taking him back to Vietnam and the haunting scenes he witnessed. His mind continually flashed back to an incident when he discovered the wallet of an enemy KIA contained a picture of a wife, or loved one, someone who would mourn his loss. Diagnosed with PTSD, he was eventually granted a TPI pension. During a PTSD clinic at the Adelaide Repatriation Hospital the psychologist advised Derek to put his views onto canvas as a form of therapy. After some early sketches that featured just a few of the 508 it developed into a larger work. This picture was not meant to be seen outside of his closest friends, but those who were given the opportunity begged Derek to continue this work, so that from a canvas 21 inches by 36 it grew into 12 panels that bolt together to measure 11 meters, that is still a “work in progress” that shows our involvement in Vietnam.