“Seriously, I cannot wait. All this time spent to get over here and our first operation is not far off”.

And so starts James Prascevic’s tour in Afghanistan in 2007 with 1RAR as an infantry soldier, where his group became the first Australian non-Special Forces to engage in heavy enemy contact since Vietnam.

James’s diary of that tour is heart-in-your-mouth stuff, as his both engages the enemy and gets engaged to the love of his life, and now it is preserved by News Corp Australia as part of our 100 Years of Untold Stories: Anzac to Afghanistan project to commemorate the Centenary of WWI.

During his time in Afghanistan, Prascevic was a witness to many horrors, including the aftermath of a bus explosion which killed 40 people.

“They had all their luggage loaded onto the same bus and one of their classmates that they trained with had set off a PBIED whilst on the bus killing all 40 people along with himself. This is a f---ed up place and a f---ed up enemy we are fighting.”

Click here to read the whole diary and watch video of James talk about his time on the front and the aftermath.

News_Module: NND MultiPromo JamesPrascevic

IF YOU HAVE A MILITARY SERVICE STORY YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE CONTACT US BY CLICKING HERE.

THINKING OF SUBMITTING YOUR EXPERIENCE? QUESTIONS ANSWERED HERE.