PALJAKKA, Andrew Arvi
| Service Numbers: | Not yet discovered |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | Force Insertion and Extraction Group |
| Born: | New South Wales, 1981 |
| Home Town: | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Soldier |
| Died: | Suicide, Kings Cross, New South Wales, 26 February 2006 |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
Afghanistan Service
| 25 Apr 2006: | Involvement Australian Army (Post WW2), Captain, Force Insertion and Extraction Group |
|---|
Help us honour Andrew Arvi Paljakka's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Winterbotham
Captain Andrew Paljakka was 25 years old when he hanged himself in a Kings Cross Hotel in Sydney.
Andrew was suffering from post-traumatic stress and severe depression after witnessing a civilian atrocity and listening to the sound of a man he shot slowly dying while on a short deployment in Afghansitan. He was the youngest army recruit ever to graduate as an officer from Duntroon Military College in Canberra.
He became a specialist weapons expert in the field of major explosives and their destruction. Andrew was based at the Army's Explosives Ordnance Distribution Ammunitions Centre at Orchard Hills. His expertise in destroying unexploded bombers, bunker systems and booby traps led to his deployment in Afghanistan with an SAS group in April 2005.
When Andrew Paljakka first stepped onto Afghan soil, he was following a childhood dream of being a soldier. The army taught him well. The only thing they didn't teach him is how not to care about your fellow man.
He leaves behind a widow.
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