A-S, there's nothing wrong with being contentious. I don't think it's a question of whether service personnel are special, but I certainly think what Wg Cdr Burbridge achieved was pretty darn special: the award of a DSO and Bar plus DFC and Bar shows that his superior officers thought so too.
My point about serving one's country being a mug's game has nothing to do with bitterness over my own 19 years in the RAF - very glad I joined and equally glad I left when I did - and it's certainly not special pleading to be given the cherry off the trifle for having done so.
The point I'm trying to make is that our politicians, in their relentless drive to buy votes, end up rewarding the wanty at the expense of the needy. Making a contribution to the common good, whether as a night fighter pilot, as a fireman during the Blitz or as a private soldier on the Falls Road during the Troubles should attract some form of recognition.
Every time a story like this comes to light, the message it sends is, "look after number one, Jack, and sod everybody else." The fact that I'm not happy about the way we treat these brave men and women doesn't imply any bitterness, just disappointment and a large degree of disillusion.