Veteran and Queens native Captain James Van Thach and his service dog Liz traveled to Afghanistan with the Troops First Foundation to share his experiences of physical and psychological stresses with over 1500 fellow soldiers.

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Captain James Van Thach was in his 30s, a recent law grad and ready for two years as a soldier in Iraq.

When he came home, he was a disabled veteran moving in with his parents.

“I felt like a shell of myself,” Van Thach told Metro of his return to New York in 2008 after being injured two separate times in Iraq.

The Queens native is working his way toward recovery with the help of Liz, a mixed Labrador and golden retriever service dog, and helping others do the same.

Both will be honored Thursday night at the Hearts and Heroes Gala in Manhattan.

Van Thach, 37, who lives in Bellerose, was first injured by an improvised explosive device, then again when a rocket exploded steps away, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury, blurred vision in his left eye and post-traumatic stress disorder.  

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  PHOTOS: Queens native Captain James Van Thach and his service dog Liz

He received both a Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

Canine Companions for Independence, a Medford, N.Y., group that matches people with disabilities with dogs, set him up with Liz last year.

“I take 21 pills a day just to survive,” he said. “If I drop my pills or my pill bottle, I’m not able to pick them up. I can give her the command, she can pick up the item off the ground, hold it in her mouth, not chew it or anything, and release it in my hand.”

Liz also grabs clothes, keys or anything else that he needs, he said.

He added, “It’s a life saver. I’ve gained more independence.”

Earlier this year, he traveled to Afghanistan with a group called Troops First Foundation, which runs Operation Proper Exit.

He told about 1,500 soldiers about his experiences, knowing many might be struggling with psychological and physical stresses or even suicidal thoughts.

“Seek help and move forward in your life, like I am,” he told them.

Thursday, Liz will be by his side at the gala.

“She’s my ticket in,” he said.

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Secretary of State John Kerry made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday and said he told Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of his concern about Iranian flights over Iraq carrying arms to Syria.

Washington believes such flights and overland transfers take place nearly every day and help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his efforts to crush a two-year-old revolt against his rule, said a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Kerry said he had told Maliki the Iranian flights through Iraqi airspace were “problematic”.

“Anything that supports President Assad is problematic,” Kerry told reporters. “I made it very clear to the prime minister that the overflights from Iran … are in fact helping to sustain President Assad and his regime.”

Speaking before the meeting, the U.S. official said the Iraqi government had inspected only two flights since last July and that Kerry would argue Iraq did not deserve a role in talks about neighboring Syria’s future unless it tried to stop the suspected arms flow.

Iraqi officials denied allowing the transfer of weapons from Iran to Syria through Iraqi airspace. Abbas al-Bayati, a member of the Security and Defence parliamentary committee, said: “We have done our duty by randomly inspecting a number of Iranian flights and we did not find any leaked or smuggled weapons.”

“If the U.S. is keen to push us to do more they have to give us the information that they have relating to this,” he said.

More than a decade after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq still struggles with insurgents, sectarian friction and political feuds among Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions who share power in the government of Shi’ite premier Maliki.

Sunni Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda and invigorated by the war next door in Syria – where Sunni rebels are battling Assad, an ally of Shi’ite Iran – are regaining ground in Iraq and have stepped up attacks on Shi’ite targets in recent months in an attempt to provoke a wider sectarian confrontation.

Kerry held talks with representatives of all three communities, including Osama al-Nujaifi, the Sunni speaker of parliament.

He also spoke by telephone to Massoud Barzani, president of Iraq’s Kurdish region, whose regional government is pressing ahead with plans to build an oil pipeline to Turkey that Washington fears could lead to the break-up of Iraq.

According to reporters at a picture-taking session at the start of Kerry’s talks with Maliki, the U.S. diplomat appeared to joke that Hillary Clinton, his predecessor, had said Iraq would do whatever Washington asked.

“The Secretary told me that you’re going to do everything that I say,” Kerry said, according to the reporters.

“We won’t do it,” Maliki, also joking, replied, the reporters said.

SUICIDE BLASTS

In his talks with Maliki, Kerry also asked the Iraqi prime minister and his cabinet to reconsider a decision to postpone local elections in two Sunni-majority provinces, Anbar and Nineveh, the U.S. official said.

The Iraqi cabinet last week postponed the votes, which were due on April 20, for up to six months because of threats to electoral workers and violence there – a step Washington believes will only increase tensions.

While violence has fallen from the height of the sectarian slaughter that killed tens of thousands in 2006-2007, insurgents have carried out at least one major attack a month since U.S. forces left. Bombings and killings still happen daily, often aimed at Shi’ite areas and local security forces.

More than a dozen car bombs and suicide blasts tore through Shi’ite Muslim districts in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and other areas on Tuesday, killing nearly 60 people on the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam.

Further complicating security, thousands of Sunni protesters have rallied in Anbar against Maliki, whose Shi’ite-led government they accuse of marginalizing their minority sect since the fall of Sunni strongman Saddam.

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Andrew Drury’s awakening took place in a Congolese banana plantation as he ran for his life from a knife-wielding farmer. The British builder had wandered off from a tour of Uganda with his cousin Nigel Green, and unwittingly crossed a border into a war-torn nation.

“The chase went for a long time and the stress and danger made us realize there was more to the world than travel tours,” he told Metro. “Coming back from there we knew we wanted to do it more.”

In the following 22 years, Drury and his cousin have explored many of the world’s most dangerous conflict areas: Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Mogadishu, Burma. They have been under fire, captured and on the sharp end of a Taliban surge.

But Drury, 47, believes he is now “addicted” to such trips, although it is for the “living history” as much as the danger. Every night is spent searching the internet for opportunities to visit new danger zones through his global network of contacts.  “The only time we really feel at one is on these trips. This is our idea of a good time. I’m in a job I don’t want to do and this takes me away.”

He is not alone. The adventure tourism sector, encompassing everything from climbing Mount Everest to picnicking on a Syrian battlefield, is growing by 17% each year and is worth $89 billion. Current conflict areas such as Afghanistan and Libya are becoming popular options.

“We have more interest in coming to Libya from European countries since the [Libyan civil] war, particularly France and Germany,” said Lars Tisell of the Libya-based Sherwes Travel. “The clan-fighting makes security difficult but we can still help people to come in.”

The sector’s rapid growth has led to more lurid packages. The US-based War Zone Tours boasts of “unrivalled brutality” in trips guided by ex-military personnel. Tours of terror attack sites in Northern Ireland have been criticized as exploitative by local people.

But being a “moral arbiter” is irrelevant, suggests Dr. John Lennon, author of ‘Dark Tourism’, and professor of tourism at Glasgow Caledonian University: “Fascination with death and disaster has always been part of human nature – we  know that people watched the Battle of Waterloo from their carriages as a spectator sport.”

Lennon believes that deliberately pursuing danger is a more recent “micro-niche”. And the risk is real.

“If people don’t educate themselves they can put themselves in situations of deadly threat,” says Robin Ingle, CEO of Ingle International, which underwrites insurance for extreme tour companies such as ComeBackAlive.com. Ingle recalls one under-prepared tourist “sending a note that she was stuck at a UN mission in Congo, while UN staff were being killed in the area.”

Drury has had better luck so far, and has been welcomed by local people: “They generally don’t understand why we were there, but they wanted to tell their stories and they think tourism brings peace.” He has made close friends in the countries he visits: “The Chechens are incredible, I’ve been to Peshawar [in Afghanistan] three times just for the people.”

The trips have put strain on Drury’s family and almost killed him, but he would not have it any other way. “Yes I could get hurt and I wouldn’t recommend it to my children, but I want to go away again, now,” he said. “The storage freezer in Libya where Gaddafi’s body was put on display is my number one goal.”

Extreme travel agent. Pursuit of knowledge is main purpose of visit

Lifelong adventurer and co-founder of the Untamed Borders company James Willcox arranges trips to hotspots for a living, including Andrew Drury’s recent voyage to Somalia – the first commercial trip there in 20 years.

“We choose locations very carefully, and stay with locals in parts with no Western involvement,” he explained when asked about the difficulty of ensuring safety for his clients. “But we avoid having armed escorts – that makes it much more dangerous.”

Willcox believes that while people make these trips for many reasons, it is rarely voyeurism. “We don’t get people who just want a picture next to a burned-out tank,” he said. “In most cases they want to have an authentic experience and develop their understanding of a place that has been off-limits, and the dangerous places are always more interesting.”

“Thousands of people are now having a chance to visit places they have only seen on TV – and they are having experiences that are very different from the negative image.”

‘Alternative’ holiday hotspots worldwide

• Sri Lanka. High-end hotels on recent massacre sites have caused controversy, as has the skewed interpretation of history.

• Soham. British village was home to two murdered schoolgirls, and pleads with visitors to stay away.

• Cambodia Killing Fields. Luxury hotels and magic mushrooms are just part of the site experience.

• Swat Valley. Recently the Taliban stronghold has become a popular ski destination.

•  Shankill Road. Site of one of Northern Ireland’s deadliest bombings and remains a flashpoint.

Tips: How to make it back home alive from your conflict zone vacation

1. Read your travel insurance policy to make sure you will be covered for danger zones, war, or terrorist acts. If not, you’ll need special risk insurance.

2. Research where you are going: Has there been any civil unrest or major criminal activity? How are the medical facilities? Do you need vaccinations before you go?

3. Don’t be conspicuous about your wealth or act like a tacky tourist. Bear in mind that enormous maps, expensive cameras, and brand name clothes can make you a target of theft or kidnapping.

4. Follow the laws and customs of the country you are visiting – a small faux-pas could land you in jail (or worse!).

5. Stick to populated areas and avoid using unregulated transportation. Try sticking to official buses that use toll roads and call for taxis in advance.

“Realizing no place is safe reduces fear”  — Q&A with Jim McMurchy, 56, tourist from Brisbane, Australia

McMurchy has made numerous trips to conflict zones such as Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Metro: How did you get started?

McMurphy: It was from seeing a travel guide to Afghanistan in a bookshop. I hadn’t realized you could go there. I saw there were contact details for a tour operator, and through that I arranged to trip with two other people to Mazar-e-Sharif.

 What reaction did you get from the locals?

People were incredibly friendly. I never felt animosity, although in the countryside villages they thought I was from Mars. Sometimes crowds would gather but it was mainly curiosity and amusement, although I wouldn’t do it without a guide.

When were you in the most danger?

There were spooky incidents, mainly in Kabul. My first trip I was in a restaurant when militants took over the building next door. I was hearing explosions but luckily I’m a bit deaf. In Pakistan, the US consulate was bombed when I was heading there.

Why were you not scared?

I’m not blasé but s**t happens everywhere. After the London bombing and Barcelona you realize nowhere is safe. That reduces the fear factor. And I’m fascinated by politics and wanted a less shallow view than I get from news reports.

What do you feel you’ve gained from the experiences?

It was fascinating to able to debunk a few myths. Politicians say feel-good lines about how these countries are improving but I could see for myself that infrastructure in Afghanistan has gone backwards. And it touched me to see the kids going to school and people trying to live normally in that situation. I won’t do much more of this travel but I saw what I wanted and I’m happy I did it.

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