Afghanistan veteran from Driffield speaks on country's situation
Private Chris Phelps did two tours of Afghanistan back in 2009 and 2010
An Afghanistan veteran from Driffield says he has got mixed views about whether or not the time they spent out there was in vain.
Private Chris Phelps served in the Royal Logistic Corps in the 10 Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment and did two tours in Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010.
"If you say it was all in vain, all the soldiers' lives that got lost while we were over there was for nothing. I just think now personally, and I think a few lads as well that I've spoken to, do think it's a bit of a waste at the moment because of what's happening. I do feel sorry for the Afghan people though.
"I just can't believe that 15-20 years of soldiers' lives, the money we've spent as a country has just gone to waste, because if we were to do this again we'd be starting right back where we did 20 years ago."
He says a tough experience was losing another soldier he had become friendly with:
"He got killed by an IED. I'd have only been in the country for a couple of weeks and I still had another six months to go and it was a bit of a shock to the system. The country as a whole is a beautiful country and it's hard to say. It's such a beautiful country and it's just riddled with war.
Private Phelps worked as a re-fueller and described one day when he could have lost his life:
"We got re-fuelled, we turned around, do the same journey and further down the road we found an IED which was aiming for the tanker. Thankfully for me, the Royal Welsh lads found the device and marked it up so we could get around it."