Link to older blogs: http://temboderriere.blogspot.ca

For some reason I cannot get into my older blogs so this is a link to them. Google of course are unable to help me, http://temboderriere.blogspot.ca  Tembo Derriere Blog, me really!

Remembrance Day Revisited - We will remember them...or will we?

That time is coming up again in a month, Remembrance Day, Veterans Day, so I thought I would repost my blog. Nothing has changed and I could have written this today as my thoughts, feelings, and philosophy haven't changed either. but some things get worse. Injured Canadian soldiers face later life in dire straits as the government has decided to give a lump sum for them to invest and then washed their hands of them. Shameful. And this despite what the Forces Ombudsman recommended.

I wrote this 4 years ago;
 

…and in the morning we will remember them. Excellent turn out these days for the Remembrance Day ceremonies. Notice how the average age of parade participants is getting younger? We don't just have WWII veterans taking part, there are cadets from all three services (considering just how little government support there really is for the cadets these days and how little pay the volunteer officers receive, but that is a blog for another day); younger veterans from service experience ranging from Korea in the 50s to Afghanistan today and theatres of operations (war!) from then until now and all over the world. We parade to remember those with whom we served, those who did not make it back, those who did but were damaged, and to remember ourselves.

Why did we serve? I joined the British Army in 1969. I did not need to - I had a job at a newspaper in Bolton; it was a chance to do something different, to get a trade and experience. Let me be frank here, nobody joins the military to make a sacrifice. I get tired of hearing about servicemen making the "ultimate sacrifice" that makes it sound like a voluntary act, it is not.

A soldier is trained and is part of a team - platoon, company, regiment, squadron, ship - a team that can be more than family. An infantryman relies on his mates and they rely on him, it is these mates that one gives one's life for and they would do the same for him. Extreme acts of bravery are usually for self and mates' preservation, so is the day to day routine. Being a serviceman is a job, a profession, a career, a way of life; we train to do our job well. It keeps us alive. We know that "it can never happen to us", otherwise the fear can become too great. Training and experience helps to overcome the fear but it does not go away, fear keeps you alive, it is a balancing act.

Nobody I that I knew would say that they joined to sacrifice themselves for their country. Nobody.

Nobody joins to ensure freedom for the folks back home.

How can fighting in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Northern Ireland back in the day ensure freedom of speech, freedom to vote, back in UK or Canada or USA or wherever. Fighting to overcome an invader is another matter. Don't get me wrong we go into active service with open eyes, we know that politicians put us there, and we know it is up to us to get us out of there. So soldiers fight - to live. Some actually enjoy it and take pride in a job well done and look forward to the next action, but they are not there to sacrifice themselves. No way.

That is why we serve.

What about the other casualties? The wounded. The ones we don't hear about or see.

For every soldier killed in Afghanistan 4 are wounded. Many tragically so. But they are just statistics to the government. And they are shamefully treated. Reservists even more so; they get only a fraction of the "compensation" that a regular serviceman receives yet the risk is the same. After three years the military can cut them loose if they are not well enough to serve, and on a pittance of a pension. Shame on the government and shame on us for not making this a major issue. How many are blinded; lose limbs, disfigured...who knows, nobody is saying. How do they support themselves when discharged? They have families to support on the poor pension they receive. Of my son’s intake in the Canadian Army some 16+ years ago he is the only one left alive. That’s his picture below.

"…We will remember them"? They need more than that.

The Brits are as bad if not worse. I witnessed families put on the breadline and practically homeless when the soldier father/husband was discharged due to injuries. Having to rely on the service charity organisations.

James 2:12 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?" Indeed.

Where am I going with this?

Servicemen do not sacrifice themselves for their country - their country sacrifices them for ideals, for oil, for mistaken beliefs, to remove non-existent weapons of mass destruction.

So when we parade or watch the parades every 11 November remember the fallen, the wounded, those still in service and think there but for the grace of God go I.