Lebanon was dismissed as ' holiday mission '

They find that defense does not comply with the duty of care has been met. The letter has been prepared on behalf of nearly 500 veterans. Many of them have tangible and intangible damages incurred by their broadcast. They are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

For these veterans with PTSD it's still war, they say, war in their head. They want the Ministry more aftercare. A representation of the Veterans offered the Room this afternoon a letter to under the title Vulneratus Nec Victus (injured, but not Overcome). In the letter the veterans that the Department of Defense them "in the cold let alone".

One of initiators is Gerard K. In 1980 he went on mission to Lebanon as a technical specialist. After the mission, he was no longer the same. "I came there scattered back. I had a five-year contract and was already a few years in service. When I returned from Lebanon, I was put on a post in schalkhaar. There I was left to my own devices. "

What is Unifil?

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon is a United Nations Mission that is stationed in southern Lebanon since 1978. The mission was to stop Palestinian fighters from Lebanon initially wanted to commit attacks in Israel. Later the command what Israel and the Shiite movement Hezbollah: more spacious.

Netherlands delivered from 1979 to 1985 a contribution to Unifil. Supplied in that period Netherlands 9084 man military personnel. During the Unifil mission, nine Dutch people died.

K was relatively short in Lebanon, but what he experienced, was no less impressive. "I was in the middle of the plantations, in an area where militants of the PLO towards Israel to commit attacks left. Our task was to make sure that were stopped and disarmed. "

It was too dangerous to keep your head above the hatch to do.

Gerard K

"I was Group Commander and patrol Commander and member of a quick-response unit. So if there what was going on we had to deliver assistance. At one point we had to stand on a hill. I had to down with my vehicle, in formation with his all. When we were pretty fast under fire, six armoured personnel carriers full of staff. We had to under the hatches, because it was too dangerous to keep your head above the hatches to do. We were shot at. "

What we have witnessed is never penetrated into Netherlands.

This and other war experiences brought K so of his piece that he had become a different person after returning to the Netherlands. "I was no longer that boy who I was when I went there. I was less spontaneous, more silent, withdrawn, anxious, anxious for sounds. All scanning, an awful lot of turmoil in my body, so much pain, pain in my legs, back, neck. My scream against panic. Do not feel safe. "

The post traumatic stress syndrome was adopted until 2009 at K. "You have also not notice it yourself. That is the special feature of PTSD. It's something that creeps into your system. Without that you make very in, do you change as a person. I could not talk about it. Lebanon became a bit dismissed as the holiday mission, while far from it. The horrible things that we have seen, there are never penetrated into Netherlands. "

http://nos.nl/nieuws/  Photo: REUTERS/NOS