Frontline Families Newsround Specials

Most of us in the UK are part of families who have fought in wars.

100 years ago, millions of people, our great-great-grandparents,

they went off to fight in World War I.

But what's it like being part of a frontline family today?

AIR RAID SIREN AND EXPLOSIONS

You learn about war in school and in history, but for me, it's real life.

When my dad came out the army, he used to scream in his sleep

and shout and we used to get really scared.

I'm really proud of him

and I'm really happy that he's coming home.

My best friend is a soldier

and I can remember him telling me

that he was going to fight in Afghanistan.

I was really, really proud.

But then I started to think about it.

Was he going to get hurt?

Was he putting his life at risk?

Thankfully, my friend came back safe and well,

but others didn't.

Nathaniel's family has a long tradition of being in the military.

Going all the way back to his great-grandfather,

his family have served in the army and navy.

It's always been Nathaniel's ambition to be a soldier.

In 2010, his brother Ashley went to Afghanistan.

This is him filming his work,

which was clearing bombs hidden in the ground, called IEDs.

A big bang in a minute.

Yeah! All right!

My brother, he was searching for IEDs

and he was going along a bridge

and he stood on one

and got blown up.

We got to see him in intensive care.

I remember walking in and just thinking it was all a bad dream

and that I'd wake up soon, but it wasn't

and it just kicked in.

It was really emotional.

I just wouldn't believe that he was there, my brother laying in a coma.

It's unbearable when you walk in there and see him.

He didn't look like he was going to make it at all.

I don't understand why we went into Afghan,

cos so many people have either died or been injured out there.

I don't understand why we had to go over there in the first place.

My dad was tickling him,

like, going, "Round and round in circles like a teddy bear"

and went up his arm.

My brother just threw his arm out and hit my dad.

That's when I knew that he was going to make it through

and that he wasn't going to die.

When he's by himself,

when he thinks that no-one can see, he's pretty down.

Normally I make a fool out of myself, just to make him laugh a little bit,

but if you try cheering him up, he'll just tell you to go away.

After a few weeks, you're still wondering, "Is he still my brother?"

because he's changed quite a lot,

but after a few years,

I've had three years,

you get used to it.

He's changed quite a lot, but the best bits about him

are still exactly the same.

He's just my brother. He's amazing.

I just love him to bits.

What happened to Nathaniel's brother is known as a physical injury,

but for some soldiers,

their injuries aren't always as easy to see.

13-year-old Ellie's dad suffers from a condition

known as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD,

which means he's been damaged by the stresses

caused by fighting in warzones.

Even now, years after leaving the army,

his PTSD still affects his behaviour.

Before my dad went to war, he was more of a person.

Like, he would walk down the street and he'd have a smile on his face

and, like, he'd have the kind of cuddliness in him

and it's unbelievable, him changing,

like, so quickly.

You can't really see any physical injuries on my dad,

but he does suffer with mind injuries

cos of what he's been through in the war.

When he'd come back from the army,

I found it hard to cope,

because every time there was a loud noise

or, like, the wind or anything like that,

it'd shut the doors through the house

and if there was a window open.

He pulled me under the table one time and said, "Take cover!"

because the door banged and it made a loud noise like a bomb.

EXPLOSION

He used to have a lot of nightmares.

He's seen his mates just get shot at and he didn't like it at all.

He used to scream in his sleep and shout.

I'd just wake up and I think, "My dad's a freak."

He found a way of coping with it and it was to put a war film on

or a loud film.

He would have to sleep with the film on,

so he could feel like he was in that atmosphere again.

The thing that I struggled with was he wouldn't sit there

and talk to me about it and he doesn't really show emotions.

He never cries.

His saying is, "The weak only cry."

Since he's been getting help

with the doctors and sorting his medication out,

everything's going all right.

If I have a problem now, I'd go and talk to him

to, kind of, make him feel better

and we always have a joke or something like,

like, I'm his little Ellie Bellie.

Rebuilding family life after someone's been injured can be tough,

but for some children, their family will never be the same again.

Molly's dad went to Afghanistan when she was 11.

We used to play in the garden,

kike, football and cricket and we used to go out in his sports car

and have the roof down and then sing really loud.

I understood that it was a dangerous job,

but I never really understood how dangerous.

He came back all the times before.

He was good at his job, so I thought he'd be OK.

I was in the playground and my teacher came to get me

and she was like, "You need to go see the head teacher."

She's like, "You're not in trouble, though."

I thought, "This is really weird",

and so I went to the head teacher's office and my mum was sat in there

and, instantly, I did have a feeling of, like, "Dad".

My head teacher left the room, so it was just me and my mum in there

and I thought, "Something's not right."

Then she just said it how it was. She was...

She said, "Your dad's been killed in Afghanistan."

Obviously, I cried a lot and then it didn't feel real.

To me, there was no proof yet, so I was like,

"No, that's not true", but...

Yeah.

I got angry.

I got angry at the fact it wasn't fair.

I was angry that...

..it was only him...

..and I was angry. The person he was with got shot in the leg,

but he was the only one that died,

but...

He volunteered himself to go do this job

and he got awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross.

Me, Mum and Heather went up to London to go get the medal

and we got given it by the Queen.

What he did was really great

and I guess it would have been even greater if he came back, but...

Everything, I miss everything.

I definitely miss how our family's changed

and how our family's not really the same family as it was.

But he's still my dad. I still feel close to him.

Friends don't understand, because they don't,

but my friends are really good at trying to understand,

which is really good,

and they always manage to make me feel so much better,

so whatever they're doing, they're doing it well.

The war in Afghanistan has been going on since 2001,

but by the end of this year,

we'll see all British soldiers leave the country.

Children all over the UK are just waiting for that homecoming day.

Cameron is nine and, for most of his life,

his dad has been flying planes for the RAF,

often spending months away from home.

But that's all about to change.

My dad is in the RAF and he's in Afghanistan right now.

It is quite dangerous out there.

Yeah, I'm worried about him

being away in there,

because I'm just worried that he might crash or something

and I really don't want that to happen.

He went away quite a lot when I was born

and he missed my first birthday

and he's missed my sister's first birthday

this year.

When people come to school,

I see their dads and just feel really sad because my dad's not here.

I just miss him, really, so much, when he goes away.

Just knowing that there's one less person in the house,

so I do, sort of, wish that he was here.

CHEERING AND CLAPPING

I think anyone that could go out there and try and fight

for their own country deserves anything,

but they don't deserve to suffer, and that's what my dad did.

I'm proud that my dad died doing something that saved many others,

cos I never want them to go through what I went through

and me and my family went through.

I'd never wish it upon anyone.

I still want to join the army, but I will always know

that there's a risk of getting injured or even dying.

To save millions of people for one death is worth it.

You all right? How are you doing?

-Fine!

-Good!

You all right?