Overview

Originally seen (as intended) as protectors of the Catholic minority, the soldiers' relationship with that community turned irreparably sour in 1971, when a military curfew was imposed on the Lower Falls. "I didn't consider myself a foreign invader in a foreign country - nor did they until the curfew," says one soldier."Then the tea stopped. That was the weekend the IRA went to war." Soldiers speak with unprecedented frankness to journalist Peter Taylor , an experienced observer of the Troubles, about a world where provocation and frustration can lead to a bitter and brutal reaction: "If it's after dark and he's a known IRA 'player', he's gonna get a serious kicking." Fear of death is a daily emotion: nearly 650 soldiers have been killed in a quarter of a century. But one soldier sums up their shared attitude: "Everything you do that stops the terrorists is worth it. If we save one life, we've achieved something."