Gulf war hero to speak at Cleobury school (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Gulf war hero to speak at Cleobury school

12:45pm Tuesday 19th March 2013 in News

A GULF war hero will be speaking at Lacon Childe School about his time as a RAF prisoner of war.

John Peters’ name has become synonymous with the Iraq War after the image of his beaten and bloodied face was paraded across the media in 1991.

He became a symbol of Saddam Hussein’s aggression after being captured and tortured by his regime.

He will be speaking at the school at an over 18s event next Tuesday at 7.30pm.

Headteacher Allan Gilhooley said: ”John Peters very kindly presented prizes at last year’s Speech day, giving the pupils a selected view of his time as a prisoner of war.

“The pupils were enthralled by his tale and now the parent-teacher association (PTA) have arranged for parents, and members of the local community to hear a fuller, franker version of his life in the RAF and his interrogation by the Iraqi soldiers.

“Anyone attending cannot fail to be inspired by John’s story and I’d like to thank him for supporting the school.”

The PTA have also begun a Lacon Lottery to raised funds where a prize of more than £100 is given to a monthly winner.

Mr Gilhooley added: “The lottery is a new way for the PTA to raise funds to support the school the prizes will be large for the winning individuals and the chance to support pupils with this funding is very important to us in order to provide opportunities for all pupils in the school”.

People can pay £1 a month to be allocated a number which is put into a hat and drawn at the end of each month.

Tickets for the John Peters evening are available at the Cleobury Library and Cleobury News.