Mr I wrote:
I was talking to a ex Infantry lad last weekend while I was in London. There was a large group of guys there to demonstrate against the lack of governmental support for post war treatment for ex soldiers. Now I've seen and heard of some bad cases in my time; from the 3 Para soldier who was kicked out post Falklands for using a swimming pool which was out of bounds right through to a lad who was shot in the upper leg in Iraq and had to buy his own crutches. The story of 'Tommy' however is so bad its unreal.
Location: Bosnia a few years ago. A platoon of British infantry had the unenviable task of dealing with a mass grave. Around 100 women and children were killed and buried in this hole and it was good old Tommy and his mates who had to unearth them, look for identification and then bag them up. A week and a half spent picking up half rotten corpses and going through their pockets. There was a lot of small kids in this massacre and in several cases we are talking mothers and babies dying arm in arm. This sort of stuff messes with your head, I thank god that I never found myself in this position but Tommy' did.
Back to the temporary barracks one night, one of the lads flipped. He took his own weapon and put it 'full metal jacket style' into his mouth and pulled the trigger. Now Tommy was on the top bunk and the suicidee was on the bottom. When Tommy heard the weapon being cocked he obviously recognised the sound and looked over the side of his bunk. He seen a flash and that's all he remembers. What actually happened was that the weapon was on automatic and the first round took out the soldiers head and continued upwards hitting Tommy in the cheek. A second round hit him in the shoulder and a third in the chest. (I seen the wounds, there was no exaggeration).
Tommy was casevaced to hospital where he had emergency surgery and later regained consciousness. A couple of days later he was visited by the SIB who are the Military Police's investigative branch. They were immediately aggressive towards him and gave him several hours of Gestapo treatment, even accusing him of killing his mate. This went on for another few days until they cleared off and left him alone.
Tommy went through lots of rehabilitation and was eventually released from hospital. Two suits from the MoD then visited him and advised him that he was to remain at home on paid leave until further notice and under no circumstances was he to discuss the events with any person military or civilian. Some months later, still under intensive rehabilitation, he was hauled before a board of civil servants and senior officers, the end result of which was that he was to be medically discharged immediately and that the shooting was classified as secret He was further advised that any disclosure was contrary to the official secrets act consequently, if he were to talk about it he would almost certainly go to prison for a considerable time. This had the knock on effect of excluding him from any war pension claim as he could not divulge details on how his injuries occurred. Furthermore he was not allowed to contact anyone in his former unit and any soldier from his regiment who contacted him would be immediately court-marshalled.
Tommy is unfit for most jobs as his right hand is essentially a claw. He has blackouts, flashbacks and sleeplessness. His marriage fell apart because of his erratic behaviour and he is estranged from his children where previously he was a loving dad. He cannot claim anything other than unemployment or sickness benefit so he lives on the bones of his arse.
To get better Tommy needs to talk to his old mates and get rid of some of the demons in his head. He is not allowed to. He has suffered horrifically mentally and physically and cannot hold down a decent job. Because this is purely a result of military service you would think that his country would look after him. No, he is not even allowed to make a claim. He continues to receive physical treatment but psychiatric treatment is not really available because he is not allowed to discuss the even for fear of going to jail.
He is of course risking jail by discussing it with me and 2 others but only because he has reached the bottom and cannot go any further. Fortunately one of the others is a lawyer and the other an expert on war pension rights. We shall see what transpires.
And meanwhile prisoners can sue for being saved from attempted suicide
I think the armed forces get a bum deal, where is the 'duty of care' for people, who, although they know they are risking their lives, get left to fend for themselves once they are back on civvie street?
Login
Register
FAQ
