1/2 Michel Koster served as a soldier in Bosnia, among other places.
“We don’t have to keep up with each other. Often half a word is enough for us.” The veterans Michel Koster (46) from Halsteren and Barry Snoeijers (49) from Bergen op Zoom have recently become each other’s buddies. Both are participating in a pilot project of the Dutch Veterans Institute.
Michel was deployed to Bosnia twice as a soldier. After his last mission in 2000, he led a busy life in civilian society. He even became director of his own company. Until two years ago he was struck by an acute form of leukemia.
“I always thought I was a big guy and nothing could happen to me. Yet I was confronted with cancer and a long process with heavy treatments. When the crowds disappear, you end up in silence. That’s nice, but not if it takes months. The project therefore comes at just the right time for me,” says Michel.
“We don’t have to explain anything to each other, because we have the same experiences.”
His ‘buddy’ and fellow veteran Barry was part of the peace mission in Iraq in 2004: “We both have backpacks, so when I come in I immediately see how things are going. We don’t have to explain anything to each other, because we have the same experiences. So it’s actually more of a trade-off. One time I help Michel and at the other moment Michel gives me a helping hand.”
The ‘Buddy System Veterans’ is having its national premiere in Bergen op Zoom. “I’ve been visiting veterans for years. With some I felt that my visit was the highlight of the week for them. So I knew there was a need for this”, says creator and initiator Ad Potters of the Veterans Institute. With the support of the municipality, he wrote to four hundred veterans in the region.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are and when you were sent out.”
He mainly focuses on former soldiers who, for whatever reason, do not want or cannot attend organized meetings. Meanwhile, the first veterans ranging in age from 46 to 96 years old have been linked together. “The chat with a buddy can be about anything and everything. It doesn’t matter how old you are and when you were sent out. It’s about the military background,” explains Ad.
According to him, the buddy project is emphatically not intended to accommodate veterans with mission-related psychological complaints (PTSD). “Of course, it could well be that a request for help arises during the meetings. In such a case, the buddies can refer the veterans to the help desk of the Netherlands Veterans Institute.”
: You should never refuse an outstretched claw, that hit deep.”
Michel: “Three years ago you should not have come to my place with a buddy. Until I heard Marco Kroon say at a meeting that you should never refuse an ‘outstretched claw’. That resonated deeply with me. I am therefore glad that I took the step and I hope that other veterans no longer feel that threshold. I can call Barry whenever I need to. I have a listening ear.”
