We should never forget the sacrifice in young lives lost and men and women injured or maimed.
Our armed services enjoy an increasing and special place in our national life thanks to their work in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Iraq and currently Afghanistan.
I was myself deeply privileged to serve as the Private Parliamentary Secretary to the Armed Forces Minister in the last government.
Of course, you don't have to be a supporter of war to acknowledge our forces' bravery. We should never forget the sacrifice in young lives lost and men and women injured or maimed for our security.
The armed services are, in the words of singer Elvis Costello, the boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne. After London, the North East is the second biggest recruitment area.
Affection for the armed services is bolstered by the staggering number of people who have served our country in recent generations. It is estimated that this includes five million people. If you add in their families, this means that almost a third of the United Kingdom's population have direct linkages.
Most who leave the forces for civvy street settle back well but a significant minority has big problems and special needs.
I have been discussing all this with Tony Wright, a local man who was himself in the Royal Marines, was medically discharged and retrained as a social worker.
Tony talks with passion about the "completely lost" people he kept bumping into as a social worker. The composite picture looks like this. A guy from a poor background, often with few educational qualifications, joins the Army. Everything is totally regimented, literally. Then he leaves after, say, a decade or longer and has to readjust to a society that he doesn't understand and which doesn't understand him.
Buying a television licence, paying bills and keeping a home are all new. Tony says that for some "they take the civilian out and put the soldier in but they don't put the civilian back in when you leave".
We often hear about those who experience flashbacks of the bloody scenes they have witnessed. Historically, it took a long time before shellshock was officially recognised and what is now called post-traumatic stress disorder is a major cause of suicides, which often end up killing more soldiers than die in action.
Serious problems can arise, which include hitting the bottle when the flashbacks kick in, substance abuse, depression, homelessness, unemployment and run-ins with authority which put too many squaddies in prison.
Many in this position see themselves as failures - 'letting the badge down' - and don't feel that civilians can understand what they are going through. Having known so many in this sad position over the years, Tony is convinced that only support from their peers will do the trick.
He advocates a wrap-around support mechanism tailored to the needs of such people. Left alone, the problem often bubbles beneath the surface and periodically erupts in trouble and tragedy, which costs society more longer-term. Prevention is always better than cure.
Here in the North East, Tony has formed several peer-led support groups called Forces for Good. Starting with just 14 former service personnel in Sunderland last year, they spread to Newcastle and Northumberland, with Hexham next in line.
They also run an alcohol awareness course in Gateshead.
Tony has secured funding for a programme for female veterans, which builds social networks and develops new skills through creative writing and photography courses.
There will be many ways to help and honour our veterans.
We ask these men and women to be prepared to kill and die on our behalf.
We cannot turn away when they look to us to help them.
They deserve much better than this and I am committed to working with Tony and others to see that happens.
Newcastle Chronicle and Journal
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