Chinook DFC

[chinook240]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2820257/Hero-RAF-pilot-earned-Distinguished-Flying-Cross-helping-save-29-soldiers-Afghanistan-puts-medals-sale-fund-new-life-abroad.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

[NutLoose]

And why not, good for him, at the end of the day all they are is a bit of tin, they cannot take the award away from him and he could simply buy a set of copies for a fraction of the money and wear them on high days and holidays. He might as well get in there when the value is high.
I bet a lot of the VC owners medals never leave the bank and a copy is worn.

[Tankertrashnav]

Having first declared an interest in that I was in the medal trade for over 30 years, I have to say I agree with Nutloose. The guy will be able to get a very nice replica set to wear on appropriate occasions, and meanwhile the originals will raise him a serious amount of dosh - Bosleys are estimating £30k and I wouldn't think that's out of the way.

The last WW2 Bomber Command DFC group I sold before I stopped full time trading was around 4 years ago, and as I remember it went for just over £2,000, which is an indicator of how much rarer these modern gallantry groups are on the market.

[newt]

Well I hope I am not the only one who thinks this is a disgrace! He did a fantastic job of that there is no doubt! But why should these awards be so valuable in a heartbeat? They are personal items of great significance to their owners. They should not be traded for cash. Those who pay these sums should feel ashamed to even contemplate the purchase!:ugh:

[JosuaNkomo]

newt


Why keep something that is completely irrelevant to the vast majority of people. I say good on him funding his future with his past. I was told early on in my short and undistinguished military career that " they won't remember you when you're gone"


Regardless of your feelings the military do not give a **** about you when you have left even if you are a " hero "

[newt]

Why keep something that is completely irrelevant to the vast majority of people.

If that was the case, then a grateful public would stop awarding them! Your jaundiced view of life after the military is not shared by many who contribute to this forum!:E

[Typhoon93]

Unfortunately true.

I was drinking with a guy on Friday night who saw active service in Bosnia and Northern Ireland in the British Army. He said NI wasn't so bad (for him), but Bosnia left him with mental health issues. He struggles to sleep at night, occasionally gets flashbacks and sometimes when he does wake up, he wakes up in a panic attack trying to find his rifle - of course, it's no longer there.

Do the MOD or British Army give a :mad: about him? Nope! It's incredibly sad.

[kapton]

I suppose if he wants to sell his awards it is up to him, but there is an old cliche about knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing. It isn't as though he is in the class of a nineteenth century soldier who once out of the army faced a life of low paid work and poverty, and all the medals in the world still led to a life in the workhouse and an unmarked grave. He is a well paid professional pilot with all the advantages to secure a career outside the armed forces. With his advantages and obvious talent if he hasn't got the wherewithal to finance his future without selling his award, then he is a pathetic individual. I know if I was interviewing him, and knew he had sold his award, he would be forgotten the moment he left the interview.

[fabs]

I don't know. I've read the citation and there's no doubt he and his crew were extremely brave and did an outstanding job. One part of me thinks it's his award he can do what ever he likes.
But he did say at the time he 'accepted the award on behalf of his crew', so one wonders if he'll split the proceeds.

[JosuaNkomo]

Newt


Life after the military is a pleasure and a joy. My jaundiced view is directed at the military. It is shared by most of those who have left the "firm" unfortunately.

[NutLoose]

Newt,

Medals are traded the world over often after the recipient has shuffled off this mortal coil. Why is it any different for the recipient to benefit from the awards when he still is alive.

[Tankertrashnav]

That is true, Nutloose, as I said, I used to be one of those trading in them (although I was once called a "trafficker" by someone with the same opinion as Newt).

The worst case I ever had was when someone came into my shop to sell me some medals. The chap said that they were his late father's and they wanted to get everything cleared out as quickly as possible as they were going home immediately after the funeral, which was the next day!

I usually made a point of offering as good a price as I could when buying medals, especially when it was the recipient himself selling them, but on this occasion I made the most derisory offer I thought I could get away with.

Btw Newt, I fully respect that you have the opinion you do on the medal trade, it's just that I don't happen to share it.

[Chris Kebab]

...he's earned them (the hard way); they are his to do with exactly with as he wishes. What is the problem?

I hope he gets an absolute mint for them, and wish him all the best for his future.

[Sandy Parts]

I'm with Fabs! There was a recent award made (DFC?) to another Afghan wokka captain. His gunner/ALM got a 'mention in dispatches' (AOC commendation?). The ALM had carried on putting down suppressing fire regardless of a shrapnel wound..... :hmm: About time this "one award for the whole crew going to the captain" thing was bought up to date. (Cue calls of "but we've always done it this way.." )

[Mahogany_Bomber]

kapton,

on the basis of a single source, uncorroborated newspaper article you are prepared to label an individual who clearly demonstrated skill and courage of the highest order as "pathetic". Classy, really classy.

MB

[Simplythebeast]

Im always amazed how judgemental some people can be about something that doesn't actually concern them at all. The Medal was awarded to him, it is his. If he wants to sell it then good luck to him.
I personally wouldn't do it if it were mine but Im not him, I didnt earn it, he did.

[Typhoon93]

At the end of the day, whether he has the real thing or not, he still has those ribbons on his uniform so he will still stand out as a hero to everybody who knows what the ribbons are for, should he wish to wear the uniform at a special occasion. Nothing will be able to take away those three letters after his name, and he will always be remembered by the personnel whose lives he saved in that mission by going back to get them.

Good luck to him!

[Captain Radar....]

If the caption of the picture titled 'British troops step off a Chinook in Afghanistan (file)' is a reflection of reporting accuracy there might be some detail missing.

Unless I'm mistaken that is a picture of British 'troops' (RAF Regiment?) stepping ON to a Chinook for the last time out of Camp Bastion.

There might be more to the story than meets the eye.

[kintyred]

We all have our price. All of us.

He didn't sell in the end.