Elegy for a Broken Soldier: A UN Mission That Changed a Young Soldier’s Life Forever
“Nothing in my army training had prepared me for what happened in Jerusalem in February 1965.”
In Chris McQuaid’s stunning memoir, Elegy for a Broken Soldier, a traumatic event led to his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Music became the only respite that provides him solace.
Chris was a member of the Irish Army guard of honour for the visit of US President John F. Kennedy to Dublin in June 1963. With the cheers of the crowds lining the presidential route still ringing in his ears, he felt “ten feet tall” as he prepared for his first UN peacekeeping mission to the Congo.
On a UN mission to Cyprus in 1965, trauma changed Chris’s life forever, marking the beginning of his PTSD. In Lebanon in 1980, his life was threatened, and the shock effectively ended his military career. Neither event originated on the battlefield, but from within the Irish Army.
Despite severe depression and suicidal thoughts, Chris continued his education and returned to the service to become a commissioned officer. He left the army in 1986 with a glowing service record.
A long legal wrangle and a succession of psychiatric and psychological assessments have led to even greater health problems, but Chris has survived it all.
My Travels with Wagner
Want a true balm for the soul?
My Travels with Wagner tells the story of how author Chris McQuaid’s journey took him from young Irish soldier suffering from PTSD, to the finest opera houses in Europe and a passion for the music of Richard Wagner.
The 19th-century composer produced dramatic operas and musical works that greatly influenced the course of Western music.
“I was a lover of Wagner’s music long before I came to Ireland and listened for hours on the floor of my brother’s flat in Putney, in the early 1950s. Soon afterwards I went to Bayreuth – and went on going. When I came to Ireland, I joined the Wagner Society and met Ireland’s supreme Wagnerian, Chris McQuaid. I left the society when he did, in deep sympathy, and sharing his unparalleled love and knowledge. It is reflected, over again, in this book, rich in passionate concern for Richard Wagner and his unique place in Music.” – Bruce Arnold, author and journalist
About the Author
Chris McQuaid is a retired Irish Army officer who served six tours of duty with Irish UN peacekeeping missions between 1963 and 1980 in the Congo, Cyprus, and South Lebanon. He holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce and a degree in psychology from University College, Dublin. An ardent music lover, the author founded the Wagner Society of Ireland in 2002, and still travels to Vienna and other cities to follow his beloved Wagner operas.
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