While war brings its own traumas, one of the biggest issues for soldiers is leaving their families, according to Somalia and Iraq veteran Warren Campbell.
It’s an issue the Piara Waters resident hoped to remind everyone of in the lead up to this Anzac Day.
Mr Campbell joined the army in 1987 and served at various postings until 2009.
He specialised in logistics and had deployments in Somalia in 1993 and Iraq in 2008.
“(In Somalia) I was attached as a logistics private as part of the ammo cell for the task group,” he said.
“The first part of it was active service where we were cleaning up all the Somalian overlords with their tacticals and weapons and that sort of stuff.
“In the last part before we deployed home we then transferred to a multination peacekeeping force.
“We were restructuring the infrastructure.
“You could say it was full on but we had our jobs to do and we had patrols that we had to maintain so all we did was, as I see it, what we were trained to do.”
Mr Campbell could not divulge details about his time in Iraq but said he was part of a special taskforce over Christmas 2008.
He said all veterans had their ‘ghosts’ but one of the hardest parts about being in the military was its impact on family life.
“Any conflict that anybody has been a part of has been traumatic in one way or another,” he said.
“It is hard being away for such a long period especially being such a young man, I can say this with experience, coming home to a young family and the youngest not knowing who you are.
“They know they’ve got a dad, they know they’ve got a mum but when these soldiers, navy and air force personnel get deployed, if there’s a young child involved it is hard coming home to try and move on from where you left off.
“It’s not traumatic in the sense of a trauma, it’s heartbreaking.
“All you want to do is take them in your arms and they don’t want anything to do with you.”
Mr Campbell encouraged veterans and soldiers to take up hobbies. He took up darts when he retired and is now president of the Armadale RSL Darts Club.
He said this Anzac Day he will catch up with old mates.
“Anzac Day to me is just that, catching up with old mates, chewing the fat, having a beer, deliberating on the past, talking about the future and what’s happening in the present,” he said.
Anzac Day services will run in Kelmscott and Armadale CBD on April 25.
To join the Armadale RSL or darts club call 9497 1972.
Armadale service
• Memorial Park, Orchard Avenue, Armadale.
5.20am march from Armadale RSL to war memorial, 5.45am dawn service followed by a gunfire breakfast at the RSL.
Kelmscott services
• River Road Cenotaph, Kelmscott, dawn service at 6am.
• Afternoon service at Rushton Hall at 3pm followed by laying of wreaths at the River Road Cenotaph.
