Originally Posted by
mahogany bob
Chugalug
Aversion to ever wearing them in retirement rather smacks of Donkey Jackets at the Cenotaph or Lounge Suits at a Guildhall banquet. If it is called for wear them, if not don't.
hmmm not sure about that ?
what really bugs me is all those dignitaries - including the royals with assorted hangers on - all wearing a chest full of medals which they clearly haven’t deserved .
In my book medals should be reserved for the real heroes ,service and civilian ,who put their lives in danger or performed remarkable service to the nation, sometimes many times over - and yet very often never received the recognition they deserved.
Well, there is bling, to which you refer, and there are personal awards that are rightly deserved. As to royals, their bling I see as part and parcel of the rest of the confection they wear, including the honorary ranks and appointments they are awarded. It is all part of the system and I can't be much exercised about it. But bugged or not, that is no reason not to wear your own awards if called for, whether you think deserved or otherwise. You were awarded them, just as you were commissioned. We aren't special enough, as the Beetles were, to return them. In reality we know those who were decorated for gallantry simply by the medals they wear. Those who are no longer with us, or indeed those who were overlooked and not recognised, would surely not begrudge you wearing yours? The rest of us wear our GSMs, Campaign Medals, and the others that came up with the rations, for their once a year outing in the humble recognition and remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.