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The Sussexes

Prince Harry speaks of the 'horrendous' sights he faced in Afghanistan

<![CDATA[Prince Harry has spoke out about his time in Afghanistan and emotionally revealed some of the 'horrendous' images he witnessed during his two tours of the war torn country.
Harry, who is a Captain in the Army, was responsible for regularly flying injured personnel and civilians to the hospital at Camp Bastion and has disclosed just some of the sights he bore witness too while doing so, including children who had died from roadside bombs and soldiers who were injured or dying on the battlefield.
14347716664_ab970c3507_bWriting in the  Sunday Times , Harry recalled that after flying home last year he was so relieved to be reunited with his family again, and this was when the reality of war hit him. He added “I had never seen it first hand, by ‘it’ I mean the injuries that were being sustained largely due to improvised explosive devices” (IED).
Prince Harry took up a managerial based job in the Army this year but he stated that one memory still sends shivers down his spine, the memory of having to use the code ‘Op Vampire’ when returning a casualty to base. It meant that the injured person in question would require a lot of blood on their arrival at the Camp Bastion hospital.
Prince Harry may have been a fully trained member of the Army but yet he expressed that there were things he definitely wasn’t prepared for. “Loss of life is as tragic and devastating as it gets, but to see young lads- much younger than me, wrapped in plastic and missing limbs, with hundreds of tubes coming out of them, was something I never prepared myself for.”
It can be assumed that the Prince’s experiences in Afghanistan inspired him to set up an international sporting event for wounded service personnel, The Invictus Games. After witnessing a similar event in the USA, The Warrior Games, Harry became inspired by the determination and efforts of injured, wounded and sick servicemen and women and set up the Invictus Games to take place in this country.
The games will showcase the courage and determination of those who have been injured whilst serving their country and will see 14 nations come together at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for a four day multi sport event. The games are fully supported by the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, and profits from ticket sales will be split between six different military charities which include the Royal British Legion and Help for Heroes.
Since the launch of the games back in March, Prince Harry has been consistent in appealing for the public to get behind the games and show their support for the injured athletes who have served their country. Now what better way to say ‘Thank You’ than by going along to the Invictus Games and cheering on our heroes in a multitude of events and what’s more, you will be doing your bit for six worthy causes.
photo credit: DVIDSHUB via photopin cc]]>