‘He is insulting every soldier who served there’.
Gary Scorgie-Hart(Image: )
A soldier who watched as a Midlothian war hero lost his life in Afghanistan has slammed Donald Trump for ‘insulting families’. Gary Scorgie-Hart was on a Chinook helicopter in Helmand, seeking to lift heroic Corporal Mark Wright and his company to safety on one of the UK forces’ worst days of the Afghanistan conflict, on September 6, 2006.
He saw the moment a badly injured Mark, from Dalkeith, was struck by an exploding land mine – which cost him his life. The harrowing incident later became the subject of a major movie – Kajaki – and led to a posthumous George Cross for Mark, of the 3 Para Battalion, reports the Daily Record.
Special forces operative Gary said: “If US President Donald Trump is stating that British forces were not on the front line in Afghanistan, he is insulting every soldier who served there. He is insulting the families of people like Mark, who gave up their lives for their country. And he seems unaware that 457 of our soldiers died in Afghanistan.”
Gary said Trump has been nowhere near a battlefield, adding: ” Soldiers know that there’s nothing that tests a person than actually being in contact and then knowing that you’ve got to go towards that repetitively on a daily basis. Some of these lads were 18 at the time. They represented of our nation with bravery and distinction and some lost their lives. So Trump needs to get his facts right because he’s insulting everyone of them.”
The latest diplomatic outrage blew up after Donald Trump spoke on Fox News in the USA, detailing claims that the US “paid for” the Afghanistan conflict – and that NATO troops stayed “a little off the front lines”. Trump’s inane claims sparked a furious response, with Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesperson quickly condemning the claims as “wrong”.
Former Army chief Lord Richard Dannatt says Trump’s comments about the role of NATO forces in Afghanistan are “factually incoherent” and “absolutely disrespectful”. And Scottish former Army colonel Al Carns – who served in a senior role in Afghanistan and is now a UK defence minister – called the president’s insulting, inaccurate remarks “a real shame”.
The notorious incident at Kajaki Dam saw Mark, 27, walk into a minefield to save comrades, giving up his own life in the process. Gary was among a crack unit of Special Forces Support Group soldiers who were deployed to Afghanistan in 2006 to support elite Special Boat Service and Special Reconnaissance Service . His mission on that day was to help man a Chinook helicopter that was scrambled to rescue Corporal Wright and comrades who had been drawn into a minefield left over from the former conflict with the USSR.
Corporal Mark Wright(Image: )
Seven soldiers were seriously wounded on that day of days – three of them lost legs – and the Chinook never ultimately landed, as Mark and fellow soldiers waved it away, fearing it would be blown up if it touched a mine. Gary, 51, said: “Mark and the lads in Kajaki had gone down to get eyes on an illegal vehicle checkpoint by the Taliban. Just have a look.
“He was right near the end of the tour. I was in an Initial Reaction Team, under the 3 Para Battle Group. I was on the Chinook trying to tail land, and I could see Mark metres away, and he was shouting, don’t basically, f*** off, it’s a minefield, and the Chinook was, sadly, the wrong helicopter, as it didn’t have a winch.
“The downdraft the helicopter caused basically set all the grit and stones flying about and Mark put his out his arm over his eyes to move. He rolled over and I personally think that took him into a second mine, which exploded and caused him fatal injuries. He had already been hit by a mine.”
Other witnesses to the tragedy have previously stated that the Chinook’s downdraft appeared to set off the mine that killed Mark. Gary – who now runs the Veterans Volunteer Service charity – was then involved in helping men in the ground after the Chinook landed nearby.
A US Blackhawk helicopter eventually winched Mark and others from the minefield but the corporal’s injuries were to severe to survive. Gary said the incident was among many where Scottish and UK troops came under heavy fire in an “acute front line” area where the US acted as a back-up force.
He said: “Basically, history tells us that the Americans didn’t want to go to Helmand, where the most intense fighting took place. But Britain did. We went with 3 Para Battle Group, with a lesser defence budget and less air support than the US.
“Helmand has been marked as the most intense war fighting since the Korean War. In the first two weeks of our tour there we got through more small arms fire and belt fed machine gun stuff than the entire Falklands campaign. There were more bullets fired because of the deadly contact we were experiencing.”
Join Edinburgh Live’s Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
Mark’s comrades, Lance Corporal Stu Hale and Sergeant Stu Pearson, both lost legs in the minefield hell. Stu Pearson, 51, has previously told how Mark was valiant to the end.
Stu added his voice to the condemnation of Donald Trump, highlighting how General David Petraeus, who commanded US forces in Afghanistan, has repeatedly praised the valour of British troops. He said: “”Perhaps President Trump wants to ask General Petraeus if the UK fought on the ‘frontline’?
“Or say to the 457 servicemen and women’s families, that their loved ones didn’t fight on the ‘frontline’ – before they were killed?”
He added: “I’ve had too many ‘Thank you for your service’, from numerous Americans, to consider this an ‘insult’ from America. I feel it’s merely President Trump being a spoilt brat, by throwing his toys in the corner, as we’re not on his side, when it comes to him wanting Greenland.”