I put this thread here because I was pretty horrified by the notion that personnel in British military uniform would not be welcome at UK airports. People arriving from abroad will see heavily armed police in uniform as a security deterrent, but the military it seems are persona non grata in their own country unless it is at the annual remembrance service.
The guys who arrived at the same time as me from theatre were reduced to washing and cleaning themselves in the arrivals lounge toilets at Bzn as there were 'no shower facilities available to them' (gateway house anyone?). I must admit I admire the way they took it on the chin - I was furious.
Those that have commented that the troops might be a bit jaded and use some swear words in public are kind of missing the point. The whole country needs to wake up and see the faces of the troops coming back from theatres various and realise that we are at war. It may not be in Europe or on the beaches at Dover, but we are sending our young men and women off to fight in a foreign land and many of them are coming back dead or badly injured. I have some questions:
1. Why does nobody know (or they aren't telling) how many British service personnel have been injured in Iraq/Afghanistan since 2001?
2. Why are we hidden (the military) from the public?
3. How many govt ministers (or shadow ministers for that matter) have visited injured service personnel in hospital? If there are 'morale boosting' visits lets put them on TV so the whole country can see what the troops are going through.
4. Why does it take so long for a coronial inquest into each death? If, God forbid, a family member was killed in a car crash it would take less than half the time for the inquest to be heard.
5. In UK law the trial of persons accused of an unlawful act must be conducted within a sensible amount of time or the judge can throw it out based on the unreasonable nature of keeping someone waiting for justice. Yet, if you are in the military and accused of a crime it will take 3+ years to come to trial. Why are their different standards applied?
6. Why does our govt insist on putting ministers in charge of the MOD who would never have survived IOT or Sandhurst if they had joined up?
I must admit I found the whole hand-wringing and national angst about the World Cup pretty surreal against the back-drop of our friends and colleagues getting shot at and killed on a daily basis.
I said it before on the thread about the Dr from Kinloss who wouldn't go - that the only reason most of us still do what we do is for the mates and comrades around us. I lost my idealism some time ago and the cynical nature of the way the govt conducts its propaganda has finally finished me off. Most of us don't go to war for an ungrateful country and we definately don't do it for Tony Blair. We do it for our brothers in arms.
We must be allowed to wear our uniform in public, anywhere in the country with pride.