Good Reason

[DSG4ME]

To NEVER join up to the UK military.


Medal hopes rise for last heroes of the Arctic convoys | Mail Online

Look at the parties, the benefits and the expenses they spend and fiddle and they can't mint up some medals for deserving people, for a long time I've been bitter about this as I used to ferry a few of these guys about when I was a young know nowt starting out, the blatant ignoration of them beams out to me, it's like awarding the doctor a big pat on the back and telling the nurses and ambulance crew to F off imo.

Lemme tell you a story, I used to pick a fella up and his boyfriend, they were both old back then, Tug was his name, short for Wilson btw, he was an arctic seaman, I engaged him with the usual not been there ignorant look at things chat in the same way as an Spitfire pilot would return having downed 6 Lufts, he hit me straight with it....

There was nothing glorious about it, watching your friends die in a cold sea and burning and screaming!

This happened 24 years ago, I felt like a dumbo as he told me how the reality varied from the Pathfinder reels of propaganda shown to the public,

Now, is there anyone decent or appreciative in office whose going to do something that should've been done 60 years ago, or are the last of them going to die thinking what was the point?


And FTR, I am deffo taking myself,family and money out of this rotten hole in the near future, I'm leaving and I will be with a degree of sadness watch what was the greatest country in history finally turn over and be picked clean by things that don't know what it stood for,

Oh, and while I'm here I'm going to add this, spotted Asian cab driver with a poppy on his grille and another on his coat, doesn't happen much, but it does happen, and it's a dam nice sight to see it, cos he shows appreciation.

[DSG4ME]

This is another thing that I find very poor in modern times, I've posted this and nearly 130 people have read it, only THREE bothered to post a thx or like and nobody made comment, it was the same when I did a Falklands one earlier in the year in 4 different websites, now just because these things may have happened before you were born is no excuse for ignoring it, I wasn't born during WW2 but I still thank every last allied person that made the effort to free Europe from Hitler, there are many other things that came from that war, the changing of the personality of all the poor sods who Russia then grabbed and the lives they had to lead until the wall came down, good people gave themselves to save others, I think they deserve to be remembered from generation to generation, have a read up about it all, start from 1920 not 1939, this is where all the best education is, it shows why it happened, and worst of all once you've seen it you'll recognise patterns in it that are prominent today, hence why it's important to know about this time period unless you fancy living behind barbed wire and sharing half a tin of dog food per week with another load of starving prisoners.

[Brycie]

Tbh DSG, your first post was spot on & couldn't be added to, you were quite right & said it all. If we can go all out to paint letter boxes gold for Olympians who train hard & compete for their country, we should be able to recognise those who laid their very lives on the line for the country.

I thought more people should/would have liked or thanked you for the post too. Maybe they do respect the servicemen, buy poppies, donate to Help For Heroes etc, but feel they come on this forum for other reasons other than to talk about politics or other serious matters. I doubt any would have disagreed with you anyway.

I posted something on the 'What Grinds Your Gears' thread tonight that reminded me of this thread & I thought about doing it on this thread instead, but it was more about being annoyed by something than about whether servicemen should all be recognised for their sacrifices.

[JimC64]

DSG - Spot on buddy in so many ways
Believe me when I say I would've responded earlier but only just caught your post

Here's something I posted in the poppy appeal thread a little while ago....
I'll be making a donation as always.........The guys n gals that fought are wayyyyy up there in my estimation
I've been watching "Heroes of the skies" these past few weeks and those guys just blow my mind......no one around to touch them these days I'm afraid.

One story in particular was almost unbelievable.
One of the bomber crews, and the navigator or bomb aimer ( can't remember which )........

They had 30 sorties to complete a tour, most managed one or two, maybe even several and some around a dozen but not many saw the full tour.
The crew had completed 29 missions and were on their 30th but, the navigator had already completed one mission prior to this so had already done 30 and wasn't required to go. His attitude was though that he wanted to go with his crew, even though his wife was in labour with his son.

Off they went on one of their most dangerous missions ever. As luck would have it they were strafed by a FW190 and he was hit twice, once in the shoulder and once in the leg I think it was.
They were at 18,000 feet and one of the engines was on fire. He got his comrades to ease him out by his parachute with a fire extinguisher to put out the flames......He managed to get the fire out but his face and hands were badly burnt.
The FW190 came in for another pass and the pilot jinked n swerved to avoid being hit and they couldn't hold on.......he fell to earth with his parachute on fire!

The pilot and co pilot stayed with the plane as they ordered everyone to bail out ( they died with their plane ).....the rest of the crew parachuted safely to the ground only to be picked up by the Germans and taken to the hospital.
As they passed a room, they caught a quick glimpse and saw the navigator being treated!!!!

He had survived the fall to earth, breaking a few bones in the process, 2 bullet wounds and face / hands badly burnt.
He then crawled 2 miles or so to the nearest village before being picked up by the Germans........WOW!!!

Simply put......they just don't make them like that anymore

As for the servicemen of days gone by and WWII and even todays brave boys......Kudos to them, they're the real heroes of this country.

When November comes around and the old timers are around in shopping centres and the like, with a table full of poppy's and looking for donations, all too often I see many members of the public dodging them, walking by, looking the other way.

Worse still, the ones who "have no change"
It sickens me to my stomach........I actively seek them out and make a donation, and may end up with a dozen or so poppies......big deal!

You can never put a price on what these guys did for us, for our country, for our freedoms we take for granted today.
Maybe its because I was brought up by my Grandmother, she made tailfins for the Lancaster bombers during the war.....I was told the stories, the horrors and the respect for those that endured it all and lived through it was burned into me in my formative years.

I need to stop, as I could rant for pages and hours on this subject and related issues.

Thanks for your post and know that I agree with you 150%