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Do poppy's cost anything?


hob

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Yep I have a lot of respect to the old boys who were shipped off to fight and totally agree that they should get the money not the soldiers of today. It really makes me cross when you hear a parent of a KIA soldier blaiming the government and the war on terror ect. when it was that soldiers choice no one forced him if the parents were that worried they should have told him to become a pen pusher

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OOO this is a bit of a controversial point really. I joined the military at the sweet age of 16 like a whole helluva lot of people in the military do, which is a very impressionable age. You get sold quite a lot of crap at the careers advice centre and a very rosy light is put on it (they are salesmen trying to sell the forces after all, hell some of the TV ads have me wanting to go join up again :) ). I joined for a trade and to see the world. I didn't however join up to get shot at or blown to bits. I'm no war mongering wanna be terrorist killer (there are that type about I will admit). I learned a trade courtesy of the government and then went to a squadron. I was still only 19 and still very impressionable so when I got sent to NI it was all still jolly japes, well until it suddenly dawns on you that you could actually get killed here. Thing is with all the training you've been given and the fact that everyone else you know is in the same boat it pretty much feels normal. I went from there out to Bosnia when that kicked off and again you are just bombarded with training and its just for someone that knows no other way of life like any day at the office.

To any off the street person getting into a situation where some irate heavily armed foreign type sticks a landmine under the wheel of your vehicle and starts getting very shitty with you because he doesn't want you to go down a particular road in his country, where you have no business being might seem like you asked for it in the first place, and a stupid risk to put yourself in but you've been trained to handle the situation and pretty much expect it. Its funny but at the time you don't even question it you just do as you are taught and most get to drive on and laugh it off in the bar later on.

The more of these epics you go to the more professional you become, by the time I did Afghanistan it just felt normal to walk to work on a path through a minefield in total darkness and sleep with a loaded rifle under your bed.

Our forces are the most professional outfit in the world because of the training they are subjected to and the amount of real operations they are involved in. Part of that training is to remove the feeling of danger and dumb down the risks. When people inevitably get hurt the shock that it has happened to them is genuine, similar I would say to the shock involved in any car crash.

Everyone knows that there are horrific injuries involved in high speed car crashes does that for one minute enter anyones head when they are trashing along at 150+ leptons?? No it doesn't as most will say they feel safe with their car and its abilities and their own abilities etc etc. It just feels normal.

The thing that you mentioned about parents blaming the government for the deaths of their loved ones is a bit below the belt mate. These parents often hate the fact that their kids are in the military (especially any that have kids in active units). Considering the fact that the day I was sat in Kuwait waiting for the war to start on Iraq over 50% of the British population was against that war means that some of those people were parents of us lot out there. It also means that for the first time in history Britain engaged in a war that its people did not endorse. 3 years on and we are still fighting that war.

I personally don't feel sorry for the guys that die in these wars as they are dead and no longer need our sympathy. What I do feel sorry for are those left behind in the aftermath. The young families in alot of cases with no father to support them, the parents that spent across a career years of time wondering if their sons would come back and one day they didn't, and most of all I feel sorry for the people invalidded in active duty. The shocking treatment of these people apalls me. Give your whole life working for an organisation and as soon it all goes wrong its almost like "hey you're no use to us anymore so f*ck off".

Even relatives of KIA's are treated apallingly at times. My next door neighbour but one was killed in a helicopter crash on the first day of the Iraq war. The paymaster called the wife of the guy and asked her to pay back the rest of the months wages. Two weeks later after the funeral had taken place they found his arm that had been sent to another unit with someone elses body and they were dragged through the whole funeral thing again.

The government washes their hands of these people which is why there are civilian organisations around that help them. These organisations need funding its as simple as that.

You see every day adverts asking you to put your hand in your pocket for poor old bears in India being mistreated, dogs in battersea that need sponsoring, a monkey up a tree in mongolia thats in danger of extinction. You don't see any of the ex forces or its cast aside brigades asking for your help every day. They ask on one day of the year and IMHO thats not too much to ask.

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And like I said before, the old boys had no choice. The soldiers you mention CHOSE to join the army and go to Iraq etc. why should we give them money?

 

We don't choose where we go, we go where we are ordered to go. main reason We join the armed forces is to protect the people of this country, even people like you

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We don't choose where we go, we go where we are ordered to go. main reason We join the armed forces is to protect the people of this country, even people like you

 

But you CHOSE to join the army which was my point. Perhaps you missed that, or perhaps you're just trying to bait me.

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I agree with what satnav said, I CHOSE to join the Armed Forces purely because I was serving my country, something that seems sadly lacking in a lot of folk today, its me first and sod everyone else mentality. I was ordered to go to serveral different places, I didnt say hang on I dont like the sound of it, I said I am on my way I have a duty to perform. Many soldiers do not like war, they fight for peace.

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But you CHOSE to join the army which was my point. Perhaps you missed that, or perhaps you're just trying to bait me.

 

No, I did not miss that point, but what I have noticed is your total lack of respect for anyone who joins the armed forces and will put their life on the line in order to maintain peace.

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No, I did not miss that point, but what I have noticed is your total lack of respect for anyone who joins the armed forces and will put their life on the line in order to maintain peace.

 

....in return for a wage / seeing the world / satisfying your need to kill people etc

 

If you were doing it out of the good of your heart then so be it but to demand respect for following your chosen career path is pushing it a bit.

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No, I did not miss that point, but what I have noticed is your total lack of respect for anyone who joins the armed forces and will put their life on the line in order to maintain peace.

 

Fuck off.

 

I have the utmost respect for people who join the army... but it is YOUR CHOICE, you are not forced into the army, you know what to expect, you know it's highly likely you'll be shipped off to some foreign country to be shot at. It's your career choice, you accept the risks (and would hopefully have a bloody good life insurance policy).

 

Why should people contribute money to your family should you get killed risking your life voluntarily? Maybe the government should do more to support the families of those killed in action, but they don't.

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What if I said soldiers always got paid as well as lawyers or IT consultants or engineers, and I havent seen anywhere here people grumbling about being shot!! There seems to be a negative response from some quarters here, that those who CHOSE to join the Armed Forces do it purely for monetary gain. I joined the Forces in the early 1970s because I wanted to serve my country and learn a trade.

 

If the ultimate sacrifice that a soldier has to make is his life, then why shouldn't the country/government pick up the pieces and give his family support. Times have changed and society nowadays is a "stuff you I'm alright" which IMHO is very sad!

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What if I said soldiers always got paid as well as lawyers or IT consultants or engineers, and I havent seen anywhere here people grumbling about being shot!! There seems to be a negative response from some quarters here, that those who CHOSE to join the Armed Forces do it purely for monetary gain. I joined the Forces in the early 1970s because I wanted to serve my country and learn a trade.

 

If the ultimate sacrifice that a soldier has to make is his life, then why shouldn't the country/government pick up the pieces and give his family support. Times have changed and society nowadays is a "stuff you I'm alright" which IMHO is very sad!

 

Nicely put dude :)

 

Soldiers don't necessarily want heaps of praise and thanks for 'doing their job' - just some appreciation of the risks that they have to take. Yes, it's a risky job, but so are other occupations like the fire service etc. People are happy to show them appreciation - why not the humble soldier?

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....in return for a wage / seeing the world / satisfying your need to kill people etc

 

 

 

.........and WTF?? If that was the motive then there are a lot better occupations for that!! The wages are comparatively crap, you usually only get to see the asshole parts of the world and satisfying a need to kill?? I'll refrain from commenting on THAT one:taped:

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