Letter: Our K-For soldiers
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Nato troops, led by the British Army, are entrenched in Kosovo. The soldiers face many difficult, tense and possibly violent situations and will see horrible sights they will never forget.
When this mission began, Tony Blair praised our soldiers and mentioned how "our armed forces will face the danger with the country behind them".
But what will we hear about the squaddies afterwards? Will it be words like "Troubled ex-soldier shot by police", "Flashbacks of SAS killer", "Suicide toll of heroes" (all recent newspaper headlines about British veterans from other conflicts)?
The toll for soldiers of Northern Ireland, the Falklands, the Gulf and Bosnia has been prison, suicide, alcoholism and divorce. Will Kosovo be any different?
The Americans learnt their lesson after Vietnam. They recognised that many returning soldiers were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and set up desensitisation programmes for GIs involved in conflicts. Undoubtedly they will do the same after Kosovo.
Sadly, in Britain only token gestures will be made. Serving soldiers will be told to "act like men" and will be more likely to end up in military prison than receive treatment for PTSD.
If the Prime Minister really cares about his troops, he will ensure that they all have a psychological return ticket back to normality.
JAMES JOHNSON
HM Prison Frankland, Durham
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments