"Heartbroken Bedworth mum whose soldier son died in Afghanistan speaks out"

"What was it all for?"



A heartbroken Bedworth mum believes her eldest son's death in Afghanistan was all in vain.

Sgt Simon Valentine was 29 when he was killed on August 15, 2009, trying to clear landmines on foot patrol near Sangin, Helmand Province.

Simon, who tragically left behind wife Gemma and their two young children Chantelle and Niamh, had been serving with the 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

Simon's mum Carol said the recent events in Afghanistan had made her and other parents who lost loved ones in the bloody conflict question their sacrifices.

"Twenty years in Afghanistan, and for what?," she said. "What did he really achieve? That's what makes me more angry. What a waste of life.

"I am in touch with a lot of bereaved families on Facebook and the one thing we're all asking is 'what was it for?'

"Did we lose a child for nothing because we're just back to square one?

"As sad, as bitter and and as hard as it is, nobody prepares you for the grief. It's with you daily.

"In the back of your mind you have this belief that they died doing good.

"Then this happens and it makes you think 'what good did he do?', which for a parent is very hard to accept."

Mums of soldiers killed fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan want a public inquiry into the 20-year war, saying it was based on "a bed of lies".

Carol has put her name to a letter sent to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in which the mums have called for successive governments to be held to account for the tragic death toll.

The 62-year-old has also been critical of the Government's withdrawal of troops from the region.

"I know people want to think their sons did good for the people of Afghanistan," she added.

"Maybe they did, but there was no proper wind down plan. Why was there not a wind down plan?

"How did they think we could just walk away from it?

"These people have forfeited their own lives, and the lives of others, by strapping suicide belts to themselves. You're not dealing with rationalised people.

"Just because the US announced their withdrawal it didn't mean we had to leave without a proper plan for the people left there, including the UK citizens doing their jobs. There's no protection for them."

The uprising in Afghanistan comes as Carol and the family marked the 12th anniversary of Simon's passing on Sunday.

"It's just so sad and upsetting.

"And not just for the relatives of soldiers killed, but also for those maimed, physically and mentally.

"I'm just so angry that as one of the 467 people who had that knock on the door we're back to square one.

"Simon's children have grown up without their dad, his siblings lost a brother and I lost a son.

"I'm really proud of my son. He loved his job and being in the army.

"I want to be proud of the fact he achieved something, but that does not appear to be the case. That's really hard to take."