Nobody wins in a war

At a lunch the other day, I found myself sitting opposite a former Special Air Service (SAS) soldier, now in his late 70s, who was recounting his sheer terror in doing his first Halo (high altitude, low opening) night parachute drop.

- Brendan Seery

Without protective clothing at the 30,000-foot drop height, you would have just nine seconds before you froze to death; that's how hostile the high altitudes are.

He couldn't make out earth from the heavens as he fell and it felt like just seconds after he opened his chute before he hit the ground.

He eventually made it to the RV (rendezvous point) and waited for hours... but his buddy, Rodney, never showed up.

"Never found out what happened to him," he added matter-of-factly.

He stared into the middle distance and then said: "It's all rubbish! War! They tell you it's the right thing to do. But people die! Nobody wins a war!"

He was from a generation, like mine, which had been brought up on the ideals of duty and honour.

From our fathers and grandfathers, we relived World War I and World War II.

We played soldiers with sticks for guns and bravely overcame our "wounds" to kill the enemy.