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Victoria Cross holder condemns government failure to care for veterans suffering post-combat stress.
By Terri Judd~The Independent
The Army’s most decorated serving war hero has accused the Government of failing soldiers suffering from mental trauma resulting from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for twice saving the lives of colleagues in Iraq while under heavy rocket fire, told The Independent it was “disgraceful” that some veterans were struggling to receive treatment. He said the Government was relying on military charities to cover its own deficiencies and called on it to act to better help the growing number of his comrades suffering from severe combat stress, depression and mental breakdowns.
“These are people who have served this country,” said Cpl Beharry, in his most outspoken interview since receiving the VC four years ago. “Why can’t they get treatment? I don’t think the Government is doing enough for soldiers. Those who are still serving get some form of help for combat stress but even those who are serving don’t get enough support.”
Cpl Beharry became the Army’s most high-profile war hero when he was awarded the VC for “repeated extreme gallantry and unquestioned valour” for the two rescues “despite a harrowing weight of incoming fire”.
Yesterday the 29-year-old, who is still a serving soldier, displayed the courage which earned him the country’s highest honour by standing up for the thousands of servicemen and women who are still suffering from post-traumatic and combat stress, having served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In a candid interview, Cpl Beharry broke his silence to reveal that almost five years after he suffered severe injuries saving his friends, he is still racked by mental anguish and excruciating pain. While he is aware he has received first-rate treatment, he has spoken out on behalf of less high-profile service personnel, criticising the fact that charities have been forced to step in where the Government has failed.
He described it as an outrage that former military personnel were forced to wait for NHS treatment: “I think it is disgraceful that an ex-serviceman or woman has to go to the NHS. The Government should have something in place for ex-servicemen and women.”
In a week when four servicemen died in Afghanistan and as British troops prepare to pull out of Basra after six years, Cpl Beharry described the nightmares, mood swings and irrational rages that plagued many soldiers.
“It brings me back into the killing zone, to the explosion. When you hear a bang in Iraq you know it is going to be followed by something and back home you feel the same. You go tense, waiting. I go into that defence mode.
“I am learning to live with it. Everyone experiences combat stress differently. But we are all linked, we all suffer the same problem in different ways.”
Serving with the 1st Battalion, The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment in Al Amarah in the summer of 2004, Cpl Beharry’s unit came under fierce attack more than 800 times.
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