Commentary
War brought lifelong battle with PTSD
By Brian Maynard
U.S. Army Sgt. Andrew Pepin, a Putnam native, earned the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart for extraordinary bravery in the South Pacific during WWII. On Baanga Island, when his commanding officer was wounded and 34 soldiers stranded under intense Japanese machine gun fire, Pepin took command. He rallied his men, tended the wounded, and positioned them among the fallen to feign greater numbers, holding for five days until rescue. Wounded himself, his leadership saved lives and earned him a battlefield commission to Second Lieutenant.
Pepin’s heroism continued at Munda Airbase on New Georgia Island. On Aug. 19, 1943, he led three comrades in storming a fortified Japanese machine gun nest, capturing it with nine enemy dead inside. As part of a New England-heavy battalion, they were among the first to seize the airfield, disrupting Japanese operations and earning personal congratulations from the commanding general.
Beyond the jungles and airfields, Pepin and his comrades waged a lifelong battle against what we now call Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), unknown and unnamed in their era. The Solomon Islands campaign exposed them to unrelenting horrors: bodies strewn across beaches, the stench of decay and burning flesh, and the abrupt loss of friends who shared meals and dreams one moment, only to lie lifeless the next. These traumas embedded deeply, turning laughter into haunting memories and compounding grief without outlet.
Labeled “shell shock” or “combat fatigue,” PTSD was misunderstood and stigmatized as weakness. Veterans suppressed nightmares, hypervigilance, and emotional numbness, grappling alone in a stoic culture that offered no mental health support. Flashbacks resurfaced unbidden, gunfire echoes, comrades’ screams, manifesting in sleepless nights, strained families, and isolation.
Post-war, Pepin and others sought refuge in Putnam’s American Legion and VFW halls, where shared silence provided camaraderie. These organizations numbed vivid intrusions temporarily, but these gatherings couldn’t heal festering psychological wounds in an age lacking therapy or even recognition.
Andrew Pepin’s legacy embodies battlefield triumphs and the unspoken PTSD burden borne in silence. The lingering scars of war silently span generations, as we continue to recognize and feel their enduring impacts even today. By remembering his full story, courage on Baanga and Munda, and the enduring psychological fight, Putnam honors all veterans and commits to their support, ensuring no hero’s struggle fades.
Editor’s note: Andrew was Maynard’s mother’s brother.
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