Found this post in another place and thought I'd share it as it made me smile:
"I don't celebrate Armed Forces Day. I don't wear a poppy. I don't stop at 1100 on 11/11 if I can help it.
I remember the fallen from Iraq & Afghanistan, the suffering innocents from those countries & the men who fell so that others did not have to follow them on the one day that might possibly make some kind of difference...
Polling day."
All I can say to a post like this is that it is only because people did stop their normal lives and serve the nation's needs when the blessing that is democracy was under threat that you can write as you do and make the choice not to stop and honour their memories. As for suffering innocents from Iraq and afghanistan, I can only suggest that alongside naivety I would also have to perhaps add something much worse for one of the things I am sure of is that our forces have most heroically worked to save lives and reduce the numbers that would have died had we not been in those places. Men and women who have displayed great selfless commitment to their task and I think and pray for those who today train the Afghan Nation Army and Police force (ANA/ANP) and for those courageous people who go out onto the ground to defuse explosive devices.
If you don't want to stop for those who served in the two world wars perhaps you might like to take a look at the lives of men who have served and paid with their lives to protect the civillian population (children in particular) like Oz Schimdt or Brett Linley and pay your respects to them on Armistice Day and remembrance Sunday. Perhaps you might also like to add to them the 195 names of those who have died in the past year and will shortly be added to the Armed Forces Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum?
As for Polling day, I struggle to see who you might find who would suit your obviously grand naivety in terms of a government and pray to God that we'd never see them get into power.
Soapbox away - rant over - evensong approaches and the words of the psalm (53) echo true with the person to whom I respond in that it deals with fools!
1 comment:
It's a strange selfishness and egotism that allows someone to say they things that person said.
I served in the Armed Forces for 43 years, and our induction included an extensive awareness of those who'd gone before, those who'd made the ultimate sacrifice and those who'd returned, damaged for life.
Our concern was that we forgot those wars at our peril as we are liable to make the same mistakes, causing unnecessary suffering over and over again until the lessons are learned.
I was fortunate in my service to only have two spells of active service, nowadays, those who serve do more back to back tours, which are seemingly as dangerous, although not as prolonged as the campaigns of WW1, WW2 or Korea. I respect them and value the sacrifices they make for our security.
Latterly in my service, having seen continuous wars, predicated on flawed evidence, I became virtually a pacifist, but did my duty to recruit, train and retain personnel, who I knew would deploy on operations and would be put in harms way. It's hard to maintain enthusiasm for operations when you see the results. You reminded us about your work at the NMA which goes to show how many have made the sacrifice since WW2. Its a physical and visual reminder of that sacrifice, as is the Poppy and Remembrance Day and stopping for the two minute silence. Those who have served make the effort, those they have served should respect that and participate - it could be their child next!
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