A soldier who was about 18 when he saw an Israeli soldier being blown up by a landmine in Lebanon had undergone "a baptism of fire", the High Court was told yesterday.
Col James MacNamara was giving evidence on the second day of an action for damages against the Attorney General and Minister for Defence brought by Cpl Francis Corbett (32). He claims he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from his experiences in Lebanon.
Cpl Corbett, of Harrington Square, Cork, joined the Army in January 1990 and went to Lebanon on April 15th, 1991, some weeks before his 18th birthday.
Yesterday, referring to an incident in 1991 which allegedly affected Cpl Corbett shortly after his arrival in Lebanon, in which an Israeli was killed, Col MacNamara said all hell broke loose after the incident. The Lebanese militia opened up on the whole area and tank rounds were fired all over the place.
Within 24 hours he had visited the outpost where Cpl Corbett and his comrades were on duty but had not received reports of any particular soldier being affected by the incident, the witness said. He had spoken to Cpl Corbett who gave him an account of what he had seen.
He did not think the soldier had any difficulty in giving him an account of what had happened. However, as he was only a teenager and it was the first time he had seen such an incident, Col McNamara said he thought it would be good for Cpl Corbett to spend a few days back at headquarters even though he did not seem anxious to do this.
Under cross-examination by Dr John O'Mahony SC, for Cpl Corbett, the witness said he was quite happy that Cpl Corbett could handle the situation and was not aware of his having any medical problems.
The defence deny negligence and plead Cpl Corbett failed to notify them of or complain about any symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. They also plead that he failed to seek medical assistance. He had volunteered and returned to Lebanon for four periods between 1991 and 1998 and had not complained of any symptoms. The hearing continues.