The Death of a Teammate Sent This Former Pararescueman Into a Spiral, Then Changed His Life

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]Today we remember our military men and women who have lost their lives and service to our country. We also honor members of the armed forces who have seen the cost of service up close.

[00:00:13]>> National security correspondent Caitlyn Burke brings us the story of one former par rescue man. After the devastating loss of his friend and comrade, he found new purpose and rediscovered his faith.

[00:00:27]For those who serve on the front lines, there's a common belief that coming home means the fight is over. But for many veterans, it's actually where a new battle begins.

[00:00:37]>> I was always preparing for the next thing. I was always getting ready, what's the next deployment or contending with the things that I just dealt with.

[00:00:45]>> For over a decade, par rescue Steven Nesbbit was the one others called in their most critical moments.

[00:00:51]>> The special operations need to call 911 in some some regard. We are that 911 service for them.

[00:00:59]>> As he risked his life to save others, however, the loss that came with the job piled up and those effects surfaced each time he went home.

[00:01:07]>> I was okay getting shot at. I could manage that. I can control my actions.

[00:01:13]What I could not control were my kids screaming and fighting with each other and dealing with death all the time. I was always afraid that one of them was going to get hurt so bad that they were going to die. in because the other one was causing that.

[00:01:27]>> His response was to lash out. That combined with other concerning behaviors led his wife Ashley to take action.

[00:01:34]>> After one particular evening of my kids screaming, me getting loud and aggressive and coming downstairs feeling serious shame about what I just did. Um my wife came down and told me that like, "Okay, I love you and but I your boys are afraid of you. You don't want to ever be scared of the person you love. And I didn't know how to have that conversation. How do you tell your husband your children are afraid of you?

[00:02:02]>> Her courage to speak up led Nesbbit to realize it was time to seek help.

[00:02:06]>> Fortunately, we have those embedded resources within the squadron. So, I was able to see the psychologist, ask some questions, do that cognitive test, and then sit with the the therapist and talk about all the other things that piled up.

[00:02:23]>> Access to that kind of support made all the difference. Nesbbit began to see improvement without having to give up his par rescue career. Then, in October 2019, a training mission ended in tragedy.

[00:02:35]>> The guy that was on the rope fell probably he got about halfway down. So, he fell about 30 or so feet. Um, but Peter was doing what he was trained to do and was tied into that anchor system itself. He was totally hooked in. So, the weight of one of the guys falling pulled him off of the very top. And so, I watched him slide by me um and fly over.

[00:03:00]>> After several resuscitation attempts, including Nesbbit and first responders, his teammate Peter was pronounced dead.

[00:03:07]There was a police officer there and he had been in the service before. He had been a veteran himself and he said, "Hey, I have an American flag uh in my cruiser.

[00:03:17]Would you guys like to pin it on his body?" And I said, "Yep." And I pinned it on his body and we saluted him as he was placed in the ambulance. And I said, "This is the last flag I'm going to put on my friend."

[00:03:28]>> And one of the most gut-wrenching experiences I've ever had is being next to Steve when they brought Beer's body home.

[00:03:37]That was I can't hear taps anymore because it brings me back to that day.

[00:03:42]>> For Nesbbit, the grief turned inward.

[00:03:45]>> How do I get myself not feeling like the biggest failure on the planet? Not feeling this depression, this guilt, this shame, this blame. Everything you could possibly think of was what was going through my mind.

[00:03:57]>> He pulled himself off the team and again took advantage of support services. Then at Peter's funeral, Nesbbit saw something he couldn't explain. Peter was a very well-known Christian. They have peace and I don't have peace. How do I how do I get that peace? So, one of my good friends who had retired out of that unit that I was at, um, he was a pastor and I went up to him the next day and I said, "Will you teach me um what Peter believe helped me believe that you have this one opportunity?" Those interactions led to a turning point, bringing him back to a faith he'd walked away from. As Nesbbit put down the shame and guilt, a new purpose emerged.

[00:04:40]>> I had the psychologists, the strenges, the dietitians, the physical therapist, um, anybody, any any bit of care that I wanted. I started to realize not everybody gets that. those things, those tools really gave me resources to prevent me from becoming a a statistic, from um taking my own life. And um I knew that the first responder community didn't get it. And I knew that the regular veteran, conventional veteran folks didn't get it.

[00:05:08]>> In 2021, after medically retiring from the Air Force with a post-traumatic stress diagnosis, Nesbbit launched Shields and Stripes. It's a program providing veterans and first responders the kind of specialized care he'd received as an elite operator while also including a spiritual component.

[00:05:26]>> So shields and stripes on a biblical perspective, the shield represents the shield of faith um and protecting those around us um and then the stripes represents by his stripes we are healed.

[00:05:39]>> Participants accepted to the program receive three months of on-site treatment free of charge. They're then discharged to continue working from home while still having access to the program's network. It's a model Nesbbit believes will save lives.

[00:05:53]>> If Peter's accident didn't take place, I wouldn't this organization would have never been found. Um, this I believe this was our mission.

[00:06:04]>> For Nesbbit, the uniform may now be off, but his purpose remains the same, that others may live. Caitlyn Burke, CBN News, Clarksville,