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.
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.
Drawing from 75 years of life, I agree with the above. I may not have been a soldier, sailor, airman of any national armed force, but my father was an officer in the RCA in WW2 and I am a soldier of life who has seen quite a bit of it. Our lads and ladies, no matter what age, who have returned from combat deserve to be equitably subsidized if unable to cope physically or mentally without help. It is my opinion, along with that of a recently deceased friend who was a major in the Canadian Armed Forces, that some folks should not be exposed to the conditions that armed forces troops in battle are exposed to. War as we all know is a horrible thing for everybody, but to due to personal dispositions some sectors of humanity are a liability overall if put into a front-line position to thwart aggression, although training should detect that. I'm not sure, however, that there is a conscientious attitude for such detection, other than for criminal or insubordinate tendencies: To be more selective in accepting and training soldiers, sailors and airmen and airwomen might ultimately reduce costs somewhat in the end. But does the national department of bean-counters really care about any soldier as to whether they need extra tender loving care afterwards or not, especially if they don't have to unduly mete out any long-term recuperation expenditures for damaged lives, which is currently the case? I think not. When we need soldiers they must be available; so hire and train as many as we can afford to put into uniforms is the current thinking. I believe that like the clerical class that includes philosophers and other intellectuals including secular and religious studies, or people whose interest is science, say, or arts and entertainment (none of whom one might not equate with soldiers), the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces, who may (and should) have a number of the interests and capability of all of the above, need also to be a visibly distinct category. For they need to have certain strengths and abilities that the average folks don't have or not able to have. And yes, at Remembrance Day ceremonies it is these men and women of combat that we should be saluting and remembering; lest we forget.
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