Iraq Veteran Received "George Medal" From Prince Charles Left Homeless

Iraq war hero who sleeps in car after suffering PTSD slams lack of support from army
Mirror UK
BY JOHN SCHEERHOUT
7 APR 2016

Decorated veteran Daniel Smith, 31, says he has been let down after his discharge on medical grounds three years ago

A war hero who is sleeping in his car while battling post traumatic stress disorder has slammed the lack of support he has received.

Decorated Iraq veteran Daniel Smith, 31, from Rochdale, described his 3 Series BMW as ‘a little mobile house’.

He takes his car onto the moors above the town to surf the internet on his tablet and even takes a quilt to sleep there to get away from people, the Manchester Evening news reported .

“I find it a bit depressing but I’d rather be alone to be honest,” said Daniel, who claims he has been let down by the army after his discharge on medical grounds three years ago.

The former fusilier was diagnosed with PTSD after his patrol was blown up by a roadside bomb in Basra in 2005.

He was handed the George Medal, second only to the Victoria Cross, by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace in 2013.
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Celebrities get more respect than dead soldiers

Celebrities get more respect than dead soldiers, says George Cross holder
Michael Evans, Defence Editor

The Army’s youngest holder of the George Cross has clashed with the Ministry of Defence over the “lack of respect” paid by ministers to servicemen who have made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Former Lance Corporal of Horse Christopher Finney, 25, who left the Army in July and now works at a call centre for an insurance company, said that he was disillusioned with military life and angry with the Government, claiming more respect was shown to celebrities than to dead soldiers.

“What makes me furious is the demonstrable lack of respect shown by the Government to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice — the war dead. Why is there no minister in attendance when our fallen heroes from Afghanistan are brought home to repatriation ceremonies at Wootton Bassett?” he said in an interview with the Mail on Sunday.

“I couldn’t believe it when I read that Gordon Brown had phoned Simon Cowell to ask how Britain’s Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle was when she had a breakdown. He doesn’t phone any of the bereaved military families,” he said. “I thought it was absolutely disgusting, a real slap in the face for the parents of the hundreds of soldiers killed.”
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6898761.ece

Hero marine who threw himself on grenade to receive George Cross medal

Hero marine who threw himself on grenade to receive George Cross medal from Queen
A Royal Marine who threw himself on a hand grenade to save his comrades is to receive the George Cross medal at Buckingham Palace.

By Chris Irvine
Last Updated: 6:56AM GMT 30 Oct 2008

Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher, pictured holding the backpack he was wearing when he jumped on the grenade, will receive the George Cross from the Queen. Photo: PA

L/Cpl Matthew Croucher is only one of a select group of 20 living recipients of the medal, awarded for acts showing the same degree of heroism as the Victoria Cross.

He will receive his award from the Queen on Thursday morning.

L/Cpl Croucher, 24, was part of a company of 40 Commando sent to investigate a suspected Taliban bomb-making factory near the town of Sangin when he set off the trip-wire that unleashed the grenade.

He jumped on the hand grenade, part of a Taliban booby trap, during an operation in Afghanistan earlier this year.

He had less than seven seconds to make up his mind about whether to risk sacrificing his own life to save his friends, and chose to save his colleagues.

Speaking after the incident in February in Helmand province, he said: "It was a case of either having four of us as fatalities or badly wounded or one."

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Soldier killed in minefield mistake

Soldier killed in minefield mistake
Published: Monday, 6 October 2008, 1:52PM
A soldier was killed when a routine patrol strayed into a minefield in Afghanistan, an inquest has heard.

Six others were seriously injured in the minefield that had already been identified as a danger by their platoon commander.

Corporal Mark Wright, 27, of The Parachute Regiment's 3rd Battalion, died after trying to save the life of a comrade hurt when a mine exploded.

Three of those injured lost limbs when the patrol encountered the unmarked minefield in the region of Kajaki in Helmand Province on September 6, 2006.

Cpl Wright, from Edinburgh, was posthumously awarded a George Cross medal - the second highest military honour for bravery.

An inquest into his death at Oxford Coroner's Court heard that the area the soldiers strayed into had been identified as a danger only weeks before.
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