Tigs
Hoorah, too right matey.
We need to make people proud to wear their uniforms, proud of doing something different for a living, proud of the immense commitment every 17/18 year old is making when they join up and learn to use a rifle.
Pride is difficult for many when they have seen so many changes, but the guys and girls on the ground on ops are just the same as those that have gone before, and recent events have shown us that people still die on ops as they have done since combat was invented. While we remain in the Services we should remain proud of what we are and what we do, we should wear our uniforms wherever we can and not hide away.
That is difficult for a generation that has been told to hide away because of the IRA threat and one that keeps being told that the overtly proud American way is well over the top and not the way it should be done. But that is tosh and we must try to grow proud of who we are and what we do.
Personally, whenever I feel self-conscious walking down the high street, I just think to myself about all the places I have been that they will never go; all the experiences I have shared that they cannot; all the friends I have, the relationships they will never understand;and the things I have seen that they should be grateful they will never have to see because I am there. And I am proud.
Really sorry to all those that are throwing up, but I really do not see what is wrong with wanting to feel like that about my job. If Joe Public doesn't like it, stuff him.