I HAVE interviewed quite a few soldiers over the years and some of them have told me about the moment where, on service in Iraq or Afghanistan, they learn of a friend's death. It's often over the radio – they'll hear the soldier number, but then they
have to wait for confirmation. What I find difficult to forget is how young so many of these guys are. If I was out shopping today and I saw them behind a counter, I'd think they were just kids, yet they're having to deal with the most horrendous situations imaginable.
Having had quite close personal experience with soldiers and their families, I see clearly that the public aren't doing enough to support our troops. One area in which I think we can actively help, rather than just handing out the cash, is actually helping the troops when they come back home.
I think that's often the hardest thing – these guys have had to kill people, they've watched their friends die and they come home and are supposed to integrate back into normal life. I think we need to be more understanding that financial support is wonderful for those who can afford to do it, but there are other ways to help. One of those, of course, is to buy a poppy.
It's been eight years now since troops went into Afghanistan and six since the invasion of Iraq, yet even today they've still not got the right equipment. You'd think they could have got it right by now, but they clearly haven't.
I'm still very close to the family of one soldier who died in Iraq, where there were unanswered questions over his death. It's such an all-consuming thing, to lose a child, and, while that is always a risk when someone joins the army, there is a difference when the family believes there was no need for that person to die and they hadn't been properly supported. It wasn't the case of their son dying valiantly in battle – he died needlessly because of shortfalls, and that was very difficult for them to come to terms with.
I don't think there's any ill-feeling towards soldiers these days – I think everyone supports them in what they're doing, even if they don't support it politically. They don't have a choice and they do separate the link between political motivations and operational requirements.
Ten years ago at this time of year you would buy a poppy to commemorate those old chaps who fought in the two world wars. Now our veterans are young men. They're just kids."
