War the “horrific” pain that is “never really gone” 

The struggles of veterans, something civilians can never understand; Lexie Jolley investigates how they find help and happiness when every year marks a trauma.  

“Veterans are, I think, very badly let down by the national military charities.” 

Colonel David Waters is the President of the Lancashire Armed Forces Association and is responsible for the veteran services across Lancashire for not just the Army but the Navy and Royal Airforce too.  

He also takes part in organising the ceremonial celebrations such as the 100^th anniversary of the cenotaph in July 2026.  

Colonel Waters identified one way that veterans are let down as the fact that military charities are now being run like businesses rather than by veterans like they used to be.  

“It’s one thing seeing it on films and on television, you know, and you can see the effects of an explosion, but until you’ve had the blast wave pass through you, you’ve no idea the power of explosions.” 

This lack of personal knowledge being provided by the charities is one of the main reasons that veterans struggle to get help from people when they return to regular society, as they “talk a different language”. 

Agreeing that the language spoken by veterans and serving army men and women is Sergeant Mark Cox who served as the section commander during the Sierra Leone civil war. 

He recalled “I’ve had therapy that lasted two sessions. I was speaking to a civilian and basically, he didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.” 

“These are my deepest feelings that I’m holding myself.  These are my memories, things I’ve encountered, things I’ve seen. I’m talking to a complete stranger who’s never experienced any of that.” 

Leaving the army and the regimented pre-provided lifestyle is something that commonly comes unnaturally to veterans and leaves them in a vulnerable position.  

“I think the hardest part is adapting to society, especially when you’ve done 22 years in the army. 

You never had to worry about gas. You never had to worry about electric, accommodation, rent, food or anything like that because it’s all provided.” Mark explained 

These changes are adapting to how to survive in a world that’s now unknown, and this is something he believes there needs to be more support for as this period is vitally important particularly for those returning home to a life alone. 

 As well as daily life and bills, employability is a huge struggle for a lot of veterans, especially because of the differences in communication, Colonel Waters told me.  

“They talk one language and employers talk a totally different language, I mean, as an instance, you know, employers talk about project management, we talk about mission command, it’s exactly the same thing, it’s just a bit more, you know, serious, because if you get it wrong, you could get shot.”  

He described the situation as difficult for both the prospective employee and the employer as they both want the veteran to get the job, but they aren’t sure how to communicate with one another.  

Mark concurred with this and amplified “I don’t go to work in the office and then talk about the things I’ve experienced in the army.” 

On top of day-to-day life and struggles in society, anniversaries come around annually and remind those who have been in service of the horrors they faced.  

“It’s never really gone. You do get better over time. I’ve been out for many years, but I find you will never forget those anniversaries.  

I still struggle with bonfire night on the 5th of November, and I do have to cope with the aftermath of 22 years’ service.” 

This year marks 35 years since the beginning of the Sierra Leone civil war and the 25th anniversary since its end, but there is no recognition for either of these anniversaries.

The difference in anniversaries for Mark’s service in places such as Sierra Leone is that they are conflicts as opposed to wars. This means that they are not officially declared and have less effect on the British public.  

This means that these smaller anniversaries are less celebrated or remembered by the British public making these hard times even harder to navigate alone.  

Although there are days such as Armed Forces Day which encompass these conflicts as well as the more well-known wars like World War one and two.  

There are also constant reminders in physical injuries as well as mental torment, these never leave and are less acknowledged than things like PTSD.  

Mark said “My knees and my hips are knackered. I’ve also got tinnitus in my left ear, so I’m actually 50% deaf as well.  On top of that, PTSD, anxiety, stress.” 

David added “Most people immediately jump into PTSD but a lot of that is medical stuff where they have been badly injured and I suppose not that long ago they wouldn’t have survived some of the injuries.” 

For civilians, understanding the struggles of veterans is unattainable but should more be done to regularly recognise the constant difficulty of these soldier’s lives?

Is their service being forgotten and are they underappreciated?