Just been sent this piece, lest we forget.
Discussion
The average British soldier is 19 years old ... he is a short haired, well built lad who, under normal circumstances, is considered by society as half man, half boy. He’s not yet dry behind the ears and just old enough to buy a round of drinks but old enough to die for his country – and for you.
He’s not particularly keen on hard work but he’d rather be grafting in Afghanistan than unemployed in the UK. He recently left comprehensive school where he was probably just an average student, played some form of sport, drove a ten year old rust bucket, and knew a girl that either broke up with him when he left, or swore to be waiting when he returns home. He moves easily to rock and roll or hip-hop but also to the rattle of a 7.62mm machine gun.
He is about a stone lighter than when he left home because he is working or fighting from dawn to dusk and well beyond. He has trouble spelling, so letter writing is a pain for him… but he can strip a rifle in 25 seconds and re-assemble it in the dark. He can recite every detail of a machine gun or grenade launcher and can use either effectively if he has to. He digs trenches and latrines without the aid of machines and can apply first aid like a professional paramedic. He can march and run until he is told to stop, or stay dead still until he is told to move.
He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation but he is not without a rebellious spirit or a sense of personal dignity. He is confidently self-sufficient. He has two sets of uniform with him: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his water bottle full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but he never forgets to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes and fix his own hurts. If you are thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food is your food. He'll even share his life-saving ammunition with you in the heat of a firefight if you run low.
He has learned to use his hands like weapons and regards his weapon as an extension of himself. He can save your life or he can take it, because that’s his job - it's what a soldier does. He often works twice as long and hard as a civilian, draws half the pay and has nowhere to spend it, and can still find black, ironic humour in it all. There's an old saying in the British Army: 'If you can't take a joke, you shouldn't have joined!'
He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime. He has wept in public and in private for friends who have fallen in combat and he is unashamed to show it or admit it. Physically and psychologically, he feels every bugle note of the 'Last Post' or 'Sunset' vibrate through his body while standing rigidly to attention. He's not afraid to 'b
k' anyone who shows disrespect when the Regimental Colours are on display yet, in an odd twist, he would defend anyone's right to be an individual. As with generations of young people before him, he is paying the price for our freedom. Clean shaven and baby faced he may be, but be prepared to defend yourself if you treat him like a kid. He is the latest in a long thin line of British Fighting Men who have kept this country free for hundreds of years. He asks for nothing from us except our respect, friendship and understanding. We may not like what he does, but sometimes he doesn't like it either - he just has it to do. Remember him, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his availability, his blood and sometimes his life.
Now, he is joined in combat zones by brave young women who put themselves in harm's way, and by “harm’s way” I mean bullets, grenades and roadside bombs, all doing their part in this tradition of going to war when our nation is threatened or simply when our politicians tell them to go.
When you receive this, please stop for a moment and if you are so inclined, feel free to say a prayer for our troops in the trouble spots of the world. They experience what they experience so we don’t have to.
"At the setting of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them."
Having ignored the military and their problems for such a long time, there is now a danger that the British public are becoming a bit to mawkish in this matter.
I don't like over sentimentalising soldiers. I think they should be respected for the job they do and treated better when they leave the services. I am pretty sure that they don't want to be "over hero-ised" either. All they ever really want is respect.
I don't like over sentimentalising soldiers. I think they should be respected for the job they do and treated better when they leave the services. I am pretty sure that they don't want to be "over hero-ised" either. All they ever really want is respect.
Excellent post, very thought provoking. My Girlfriends' brother served in Afghan with the Grenadier Guards and learnt this week that one of the lads he served with stepped on a land mine losing both his legs and another has severe burns after being blown up by a roadside bomb. He too stepped on a land mine whilst out there and was lucky to here just a 'click'. Stories like this when they are personal to someone makes it all the more real.
Eric Mc said:
I am pretty sure that they don't want to be "over hero-ised" either. All they ever really want is respect.
Nail. Head.I'll stop and pay my respects to those who have fallen for our country and others, and remember what we now have because of what soldiers around the world have done and are still doing, but let's remember it's a job, it's their job that they have chosen to do. They are due alot of respect, but idolisation is never a good thing.
WildCards said:
"but let's remember it's a job"
I don't want to start an argument on such a good thread but I think that statement doesn't give credit to the fact that there's not many jobs where your life is often at risk 24/7, and yet you're poorly paid and often poorly equipped in relation. To me it's not a job, it's a sacrifice, potentially a sacrifice of life, being away from loved ones, working in terrible conditions.Yes, they chose to do that job but not many would or could, I have the utmost respect for anyone who has or is serving in the forces, I couldn't do it.
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