When giving your life in service of a US call to arms means nothing

It seems suckers and losers from NATO allies have less value than American suckers and losers.

Just when I thought it could not get any worse, the world was faced with Draft Dodger Don’s unconscionable, disgusting and vile denigration of NATO soldiers who fought alongside US soldiers in Afghanistan, suggesting that they were never on the front lines. It’s at this point that this article became a very difficult piece to write because, in the background, I was listening to a radio phone-in which included a call from a mother whose son had died in Afghanistan, and veterans re-living their combat experiences, sharing stories of lost comrades fighting alongside the American military. One story that broke my heart was that of a man’s son who came back so broken that he took his own life.

I apologise for my absolute failure to be able to articulate the anger and the deep sense of helplessness I feel for the many families left behind as a result of their sacrifice. No words exist to express the depth of my disgust and revulsion for a man who has set a new benchmark for scum of the earth. I just want to say to my readers from European and other NATO-ally countries: I recognise that this is not just about British military losses. There are parents, brothers, sisters, daughters, and sons across the NATO alliance who lost loved ones who were simply answering the call to support their brothers in arms. Indeed, non-NATO countries also sacrificed men and women in the same fight. I mourn the loss of all those who made the ultimate sacrifice to support a country whose president is now denigrating their memory.

I hope you will indulge me for a moment as I share the story of a UK soldier from the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, who served three tours of duty in Afghanistan during Operation Herrick: in 2009, 2011 and 2013. Joshua Mark Leakey was awarded the Victoria Cross (the highest military honour for bravery). I have summarised below the events as documented on voctoriacrossonline.co.uk

Josh was on a routine joint patrol composed of British paratroopers, US Marines and Afghan soldiers who had targeted a village to search for illegal weapons. They were attacked by machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades. He heard over the radio that someone had been injured. Leakey ran up the hill with his men to assess the seriousness of the attack and concluded that urgent action was needed. Though he was only a lance corporal, he took control of the situation and led his section down to the group under attack.

Having reached the group under attack, he gave first aid to the wounded US Marine Corps captain and began to evacuate him from the battlefield. While under fire, he returned to the machine guns that his section had left at the top of the hill. He moved one to a better position to fire at the attacking Taliban, even though he was under constant, accurate fire (bullets were ricocheting off the weapon he was carrying). His actions inspired other soldiers to join in the fight back.

While he was manning the machine gun, he was also shouting updates of the situation into his radio. Having realised that more than one machine gun would be needed to effectively fight back the insurgents, he allowed his gun to be taken over by another soldier. He then ran once more through heavy fire to retrieve a second machine gun, position it in a suitable site, and then manned it to fire at the Taliban. The skirmish lasted approximately 45 minutes, during which 11 insurgents were killed, and four were wounded. It was only when air support arrived that fighting ceased. When it did, he handed the second machine gun over to another soldier. He then returned to the injured American officer and oversaw his medical evacuation.

You can read Joshua Mark Leakey VC’s official citation here.

This is just one of thousands of stories. Josh was one of the lucky ones; he came home. Many did not and are now just an inscription on a memorial wall cloaked in the pride of grateful nations, only for that memory to be trashed by a man who dodged the draft FIVE TIMES. Trump was the entitled coward who remained 8000 miles away from the front lines of Vietnam. Those who died fighting in America’s declared war on terror are but a fraction of the numbers who returned home with life-changing injuries and severe mental trauma.

I listened today to stories from those hurting in this moment, tears streaming down my face, but one caller stood out. A military veteran who served three tours in Afghanistan, his voice trembling, turning to muted sobs, speaking of comrades he lost and those who had lost limbs from IED explosions. He attempted and failed, through a sense of emotional defeat, to explain just how he felt about Trump’s repulsive statement. He lost friends and returned home deeply traumatised, but in a remarkable and inspiring, selfless moment, which I will leave you with today, he said he would do it all over again, not for Trump, but for true Americans and the many US soldiers he served alongside. That is the very definition of a hero.

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