Last night I met mates of mine with whom I have shared so many experiences. Most of them are still actively enagaged in the TA even though they are all now in their sixties (sorry Dennis)! We had a lovely evening and a really nice meal which we do once a year. They then spend the whole weekend doing the 'right' thing supporting each other and let's face it they are the bedrock of British society.
This made me think, because after that they spend the rest of the weekend engaged in TA activities. I love them all like brothers so why do I not join them? The answer to that is that I do not know. I made a conscious decision that I did not want to be an 'old'soldier and when I left the service then I left for good. Yes I could have earned very good money trading on a very high reputation but I wanted to quit at the right time. In my opinion I had no more to contribute so that was the end of my military career.
Tomorrow all my brothers will attend our local church in uniform and I will do what I always do and watch the proud men and women walk down to the cenotaph and place their flowers in their designated spot. Every year I cry watching these elderly heroes (male and female) strut their stuff because I realise that they are the last of a generation which we will never see again. They pass by with rows of medals, some of them limping along in time to the march wearing row upon row of bravely earned medals.
For me the parade will once again be ruined when good old Gordon Brown, who has done more than anyone in history, to besmirch our armed services, marches forward to deliver a wreathe. He alone has cut back the Armed Forces to such an extent that the standing of living of our heroes can almost be described as squalid.
Believe you me this man is no friend of the Armed Forces and they all know it. When I was a soldier one could expect a good standard of care for the family and when I was away doing 'my thing' I knew that they would be looked after. Today the quarters are a shambles of the standards which I would have accepted.
When the poor guys who have copped it return then they have to beg for adequate compensation. Nobody (apart from the British Legion) ever represents them because they are not an ethnic minority in need of pity/sanctity or politically correctivity!
After all they only give their lives or their limbs for their country and yet so many are living in destitution while the ethnic visitors from countries like Afghanistan live like pop stars!
Make no mistake this is down to Gordon Brown! He hates the forces with a passion! You don't believe me; then just ask when was the last time that a NoLab Cabinet Minister visited or even acknowledged a wounded or dead soldier. They do not visit the wards (there used to be military hospitals until NoLab came to power) and if anyone can prove me wrong I will readily apologise.
The British Army is overcommitted. How do we keep recruiting such magnificent soldiers in this era of social injustice. People like Gordon Brown and Geoff Hoon spit on our soldiers perhaps it is time that the young soldiers of today spat back!
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