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Not sure if this started as a chain email but it seems to have gathered momentum and I think it's nice in the light of recent media events.
Story behind it all.....
"Last week I was in West London attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.
Moving through the terminal was a group of soldiers in their uniforms, as they began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering.
When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red blooded Briton who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families. Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work, and enjoy our home without fear or reprisal.
Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He knelt down and said 'hi,' the little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.
The young soldier didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.
The mother of the little girl, who said her daughters name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Corporal and had been in Afghanistan for 5 months now. As the mum was explaining how much her daughter, Courtney, missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up.
When this temporarily single mum was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military looking walkie-talkie.
They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it. After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.'
He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a Kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying 'Your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon.'
The mum at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet he saluted Courtney and her mum. I was standing no more than 6 feet away as this entire event unfolded.
As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of moment turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.
We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices."
What a crock, sorry.
The last line is on the money (well, apart from the god bit), but the rest of it is vomit inducing. Straight from the good ol' US of A if you ask me.
A touching bit of email chain-letter fiction that. 🙄
Classic bit of yankee propaganda.
I feel quite queasy now, thanks a lot.
Ignore that, and go here;
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/
and here;
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/
and here;
www.rafbf.org
instead.
Bit sickly for my liking. Got anything more savoury?
http://www.snopes.com/glurge/daughter.asp
What a co-incidence that this event is unfolding in many different places around the world. Amazing!
Only the names have changed from the american version. It may have started as a touching story but it has been media manipulated into something sordid.
I've already stated that it was started as a chain email, my point is if you get past that it would be nice if this country was united in supporting our troups, who cares if it has come from the USA! At least they show support for their soldiers!
Sorry - Just threw up in my mouth a little bit...
Agree with CaptainFlashheart plus also
http://www.armybenfund.org/index2.html
I think you will find that in the UK we show support for our soldiers too.
don't they have a logistics squadron to support them?
Sorry wharfedale - IMO, almost everyone in the UK is behind our service people, we just don't feel the need to have the TV drama style, soft focus moment, saccharin sweet outpourings of our transatlantic friends.
ernie_lynch:
Skilz.
almost everyone in the UK is behind our service people, we just don't feel the need to have the TV drama style, soft focus moment, saccharin sweet outpourings of our transatlantic friends.
+1
I'd just as soon our soldiers didn't sacrifice themselves or the people they kill 🙁
I'd just as soon our soldiers didn't sacrifice themselves or the people they kill
They don't get a choice though - they signed up to fight when they are told to. Most of them sign up so they can get a gun and be a hero.
what is it people mean by 'supporting' or 'being behind' our soldiers? is it just warm thoughts?
what is it people mean by 'supporting' or 'being behind' our soldiers?
If you cannot behind our troops, then feel free to get in front of them.
....or something
Most of them sign up so they can get a gun and be a hero.
For me it was the pictures of Frank windsurfing and skydiving that made me join up.
You can imagine my disappointment when I actually got to Catterick - in November!
I think the Scorpion Disco in Catterick was the most dangerous place I ever served, and that includes Iraq 😀
mastiles_fanylion - MemberMost of them sign up so they can get a gun and be a hero.
Either you are being very ironic, or a c***weasel. I do hope it is the former.
why do people sign up then?
im assuming the hero with a gun thing factors into it
That actually made me feel sick.
Do remember they are all volunteers. They know or should know exactly what they are going to do.
why do people sign up then?
many, many different reasons
they sign up to protect us normal citizens from insurgents and global threats
Bring them home alive. Please. I visited Tyne Cot last summer and what struck me more was being in a graveyard full of young men.
I am patriotic and I do think Afghanistan is unwinable in our lifetime.
they sign up to protect us normal citizens from insurgents and global threats
I wonder if that's at all true. For an insurgent to threaten us they'd have to be here and dealt with by the police. A global threat is an abstract which cannot be tackled by physical means
......doing the rounds for over 3 years, with various places/conflicts
That poor little girl can't ever get to see her father 🙁
sfb - i was joking
began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work, and enjoy our home without fear or reprisal
like ****. as if we wouldn't go to school or work....
fear of reprisals....??!!! i'm sure you'd all agree that the UK is safer now that several thousand soilders are fighting/blowing people up/reconstruting in foreign lands.
i'm not sure i 'support our troops'. each one of those who joined up knew what the dangers would/could involve if they were ever called up for tour. and if any of those who joined had any sense they'd know that they are the potential cannon fodder of those in power who do not care about a few thousand lives in order to achieve what they/the people pulling the strings in the background want.
i certainly wouldn't want to be in the position many of them are in, but then that is why i never contemplated joining the forces.
why do people sign up then?
For the proper sharp end soldiers, they (mostly) absolutely love soldiering, it can be a [u]very[/u] exciting job. Unfortunately there's an unfortunate aura of selfless martyrdom being thrust on the troops by the media and the sentimental Great British public which is a fair way wide of the mark.
However, if you've joined the Logistics Corps and expected to be running a RE warehouse it can probably be a bit of a shock being mortared.
the best way to support them is surely to have them safely* back in the UK peeling spuds, polishing boots and whatever else they usually do ?
*apart from when they shoot each other
I was in Shannon Airport (just outside Limerick, west of Ireland) which is a refuelling point for planes carrying American soldiers home from the Gulf/Afghanistan, but also has a lot of American tourists waiting to go home from their "Quiet Man" coach tour of Ireland. We were in departures having a beer when all of a sudden this clapping started. WTF said I. Looked around, and there were all the yanks clapping their soldiers as they came through.
Cue lots of Irish and Europeans cringing. TBH, the soldiers looked a bit embarrassed. Bizarre incident.
They sign up to learn how to kill people don't they? Isn't that what a gun is for?
There are, as usual, the 'its what they joined for' posters here in stw-land.
There are tens of thousands in the Armed Forces. I can't tell you why they all joined because they all have different reasons. If you decide you don't want to do that sort of thing, then thats fine as you have your own reasons. Please don't assume that everyone joined up for the reasons YOU think they joined up for. They probably didn't. I can't explain what part of a person drives them to 'serve' in whatever role, but it is there in quite a few people. You may not believe there is honour in that, but many do. At least they believe in whatever they believe in enough to actually do something about it.
At least they believe in whatever they believe in enough to actually do something about it.
though in fact what they do may have the opposite consequences 🙁
Sorry, maybe they feel strongly about one day competing for GB in shooting so it's an easy way to get paid coaching.
There are, as usual, the 'its what they joined for' posters here in stw-land.
There are tens of thousands in the Armed Forces. I can't tell you why they all joined because they all have different reasons. If you decide you don't want to do that sort of thing, then thats fine as you have your own reasons. Please don't assume that everyone joined up for the reasons YOU think they joined up for. They probably didn't. I can't explain what part of a person drives them to 'serve' in whatever role, but it is there in quite a few people. You may not believe there is honour in that, but many do. At least they believe in whatever they believe in enough to actually do something about it.
i'm not sure i 'support our troops'. each one of those who joined up knew what the dangers would/could involve if they were ever called up for tour. and if any of those who joined had any sense they'd know that they are the potential cannon fodder of those in power who do not care about a few thousand lives in order to achieve what they/the people pulling the strings in the background want.
I knew all this when I joined up and still went ahead and did it.
I joined because I enjoyed soldiering, wherever that took me. I was well aware, as were my colleagues, that we could end up 'up the sharp end' as it were. None of us had a problem with that.
In fact, a lot of us were first in line to volunteer for tours 'up the sharp end' or for certain duties/postings which guaranteed a bit of action and a break from endless training.
I ended up spending almost all of my 13 years in operational units and thoroughly enjoyed it all - even the bits that possibly didn't look so enjoyable to people from outside the forces.
Most soldiers aren't looking to be heroes and, I'd guess, that if you asked most of them what they were fighting for in Afghanistan the reply would be "my mates" rather than some political reason.
Rather than having people back home brand them heroes, I'm sure most of our troops in Afghanistan would prefer:
1. More troops, so they could actually dominate the ground properly.
2. Better kit, see above
3. Better welfare facilities for their families back home.
4. More cutting edge weaponry - but maybe that's just me 😀
I don't think I'd stand up and applaud our troops at an airport, but only because I'd have been embarrassed if people had done it to me in the past.
Regarding the "Red Friday" concept at the end of the link on the first post above, I can confirm that wearing something red on a Friday is a popular gesture in Canada.
I returned from Canada 12 months ago and certainly in Alberta you would see a lot of red polo tops and shirts on a Friday. I suppose it also helped that the color of the Calgary Flames is Red. Most cars over there also had a "Support our Troops" sticker on the back.
Also, much in the same way as our repatriated soldiers pass through Wootton Bassett, the Canadian fallen (of which there have been almost as many as British) all travel along the same stretch of road. The Canadian govt has renamed this road the Highway of Heroes.
12 months ago the Canadian population was split almost 50/50 on the govt's decision to send its Armed Forces to Afghanistan however the support for the troops themselves was significantly higher.
agree beamers, the amount of support i saw for the canadians was impressive to say the least. they seem to place a lot of emphasis on it (including the bizarre french radio station at kandahar!)
The Canadian govt has renamed this road the Highway of Heroes.
better than "Highway of Dead Returning Service Men and Women Sent to Die In Foreign Lands - Where Their Presence Was Not Wanted or Specifically Called For - In Order to Appease and Facillitate a Secure Supply Of Oil For Our Southern Neighbours"