A veteren's story: 'When I came out there was nothing'

Published on Sunday 8 November 2009 20:55

AT THE age of 38, with a young family and a sharp suit, Peter Yetton doesn't fit into society's image of a military veteran. Yet that's what he became nine years ago when, as a naval officer, he received a medical discharge from the Royal Navy after he fell on a ship and severely damaged his back during active service in Northern Ireland.

The reality of being an injured veteran while still in his 20s hit him hard: "When I came out there was nothing. I was too proud to sign on, and I expected someone to just realise what I had done in the forces. I was earning 30,000 a year and all of a sudden it had gone to nothing. There was no infrastructure, no support."

On the breadline, Yetton turned instead to organisations such as the British Legion, Poppy Scotland and the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) to get back on his feet.

He went to college, got his Highers, and went to university to study for a law degree. Now he works as a trainee lawyer in a Glasgow firm, and helps many veterans from the armed forces who have fallen through the cracks in the system and ended up on the wrong side of the law.

Yetton feels strongly that one of the greatest things that could be done to support our troops would be to have a more rigid system of support in place for those leaving the armed forces and returning to civilian life.

He says: "It's sad that it takes charity bodies to do all that, and there's not something set in stone that says the MoD are going to look after you for a period of, say, three years, to give you employment training and pick you up if it's not working."

More generally, Yetton thinks the support given to our troops by the government pales into insignificance in comparison to what is often witnessed on the other side of the Atlantic.

He adds: "I remember hearing that Gordon Brown had phoned up Simon Cowell to find out how Susan Boyle was doing, and I thought, 'I haven't heard him doing that to the families of many members of the forces'."

As for the charities who picked him up when he was down, helped him back into education and supported him, he says it's a debt he will always be trying to repay.

"I owe these people a lot," he says. "Without them I wouldn't be here."