We have to get away from the idea that every veteran isa victim or a problem ..they should be seen as an asset
HE DODGED sea mines on nerve-shredding missions during the Falklands War and was at the epicentre of the 9/11 attacks on the US.
Now Eric Fraser is Scotland’s veterans tsar.
In one of his first in-depth interviews, Eric said former service personnel should not be seen as victims but as public servants who still have much to offer after combat.
The UK’s only veterans commissioner also revealed he was heartbroken after the death of former soldier Darren Greenfield, who had slept rough on the streets of Edinburgh.
He said: “This has been a fantastic job and I think there has been real progress. The most important thing has been to try to get away from the idea that every veteran is a victim or someone who has a problem.
“Every veteran at some point was viewed as an asset. They can still continue to make a significant contribution. These are people who have been public servants and who can still serve the public.
“We have to change perceptions so that we don’t look at them as victims, but as assets. Also, we should try not to see every veteran as a hero. It’s all about opening employers’ eyes and taking a risk.
“We have come a long way from the experience in America years ago where Vietnam veterans were spat at in the streets.”
Eric knew Darren, a former Royal Tank Regiment corporal, who died after years sleeping rough.
The Record reported that Darren’s sister Asten Robertson rushed to hospital to be by his side before he passed away at the age of just 48.
His death just before Christmas sparked outrage about the way our veterans are treated on civvy street.
Asten and Darren’s wider family had tried to help him for years. Darren – also known as Dan – had driven armoured vehicles and tanks while on tour in Bosnia in the late 90s.
His sister said Bosnia was “the downfall for him” as he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result. Darren also served in Northern Ireland and Iraq.
Eric said: “I used to see Darren. He seemed a lovely person, very polite and well-educated. I hadn’t seen him for a while and it was terrible to hear he had passed away.
“I spoke to him on a number of occasions and he always very pleasant. His death was a tragedy.
“When I didn’t see him for a while, I hoped that he had found somewhere to stay. My view with homeless people, you have to make sure the services are in place and keep offering help – even if they don’t want it.
“You can’t judge them but just have to keep offering help and hopefully they will eventually take it.”
Former Royal Navy commodore Eric had a 37-year military career. He was appointed as the inaugural Scottish veterans commissioner in August 2014 with a broad remit to improve outcomes for veterans.
It is the first role of its kind in the UK.
He has produced three reports recommending improvements to service provision for veterans during transition from the services into civvy street – on housing and most recently on employability, skills and learning.
Grandad Eric works with service charities, the Scottish Government, local authorities and other public bodies to identify how public services could provide greater support to veterans and help to shape policy development.
He also chairs an independent panel to scrutinise bids to the Scottish Veterans Fund and make recommendations to the Veterans Minister.
He signed up straight from school because he wanted to go to sea rather than sit behind a desk and the Royal Navy offered to sponsor him to
study maths at Edinburgh University. Despite a distinguished military record, Eric does not want to criminalise Walter Mitty impostors wearing military medals. Last year, the UK and Scottish Government considered plans to jail the so-called “contemptible fantasists”. Tory Alex Johnstone MSP called on the Scottish Government to follow in the footsteps of the US, which introduced the Stolen Valor Act three years ago. A private member’s bill to bring in a British version was also discussed in the UK Parliament. The move came after the Daily Record revealed ex-Army clerk Danny Hutchison, 43, apologised and admitted lying after repeatedly claiming to have been an injured war veteran. Eric said: “If someone is wearing a medal they haven’t earned, then I think they have a problem.
“It is almost a mental health issue rather than a legal one.
“I think people like that don’t need to be punished, they need to be helped and given support.”
Eric’s first tour was to the Mediterranean in 1980 during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.
He said: “I found myself in a fairly stressful situation as a 21-year-old trainee from Inverness – we went all over the Med and were there in case things went wrong.
“When the Falklands conflict broke out, I had just gone on to my second ship as a gunnery officer but was moved on to a trawler. We knew the Argentinians had laid mines and there was a plan to take fishing boats and use the winches for mine-sweeping wires.
“This was the first war I’d been involved in and I was just married and living in Edinburgh.
“I was never shot at or bombed but the mines were always bobbing up.”
He also served as British naval attache in Washington during the September 11 terror attacks in 2001.
He said: “I had to make sure that the Brits were OK. My wife knew I was in and out of the Pentagon every other day so when she saw the attacks, she thought, ‘Oh no, Eric goes there a lot.’
“But I was able to get word to her quickly that I was fine.”
You can’t judge them but you just have to keep offering help and hopefully they will eventually take it. ERIC FRASER