Lance Corporal hates leaving his family

May 15 2009 by Lisa Boyle

DALMELLINGTON man Lance Corporal David Dunlop has been in the army for five and a half years.

But like a lot of people who join up, he is starting to feel that he has got all he can out of it.

David joined the cadets when he was 13 signed up to the army as soon as he could.

However, David finds it more and more difficult to leave his fiance Margaret McCrone and the rest of his family for weeks or months at a time.

David said: “I came out of training and was based in Cyprus, then I went straight to Iraq then I was in Jordan before going to the regimental recruiting team in Ayr. Then last year I went to Afghanistan.

“Going away all the time can put a bit of a strain on your relationship. Margaret and I have been together for seven years so she’s been with me since the beginning.”David continued: “It’s something we’ve had to adapt to but as the years go on it gets harder and harder.

“Eventually I’ll have to bite the bullet and say I can’t do it anymore. But that’s something I probably won’t do until we start thinking about having children.”