‘This will never be fully finished until people are named and shamed’

COLLEAGUES of the three murdered peacekeepers said it is not good enough that nobody has been held responsible for the order to send the men into an unacceptably dangerous situation.

They said Frank Callanan’s report had highlighted systems failures but, without further detail, this could be extended to implicate them, as they were part of the system with the 64th battalion.

Michael Walker, whose personal investigations provided much of the detailed evidence for the inquiry, said people who were at fault should have been named.

He said the apology given by the army and the state was more than any other deceased soldier got in the history of the defence forces. And this, he felt, vindicated the men and their families.

However, Mr Walker said this still did not absolve those who sent the men up to the dirt track from responsibility.

“If it is was a systems failure, we were part of that system. I feel, and the lads feel, that we did our jobs in that system but others did not,” he said.

Mr Walker said six unnamed people were given the report prior to its release — in case they were affected by its adverse findings — and these people should be named.

Mick Geoghegan, a former colleague, said soldiers with that company had been seriously damaged and affected by the event and this had never been recognised by the army.

“What needs to be known is the amount of guys who came back from that trip in a state and that is the biggest casualty after the men who died.

“I know guys who lost wives, who lost lives, and suffered from issues, but they were never addressed,” he said.

Mr Geoghegan said he had spoken to men in recent days who still broke down at the mention of the incident and the report.

Tony Malone, who was also a member of the 64th Battalion, said “this will never be fully finished until people are named and shamed”.

“These people were responsible for the deaths of three soldiers,” he said.

Declan Gaffney, who raised fears about the safety of the track prior to the day the men died, said the soldiers who served with the three dead men were allowed back home without any help. “Nobody came and asked were we alright. We were just flown home and left to do our own thing,” he said.