Militarisation of our society

Azie if everybody thought that marching about with guns was a bad thing, we would have no army to protect us.
The repatriation of fallen UK soldiers through Royal Wootton Bassett and Carterton were those (Army towns) showing their appreciation / respect for the dead.

I can never work out whether we are so influenced by America becuase we watch so much American media, or because higher-ups copy, or something else.

I think it is the american influence.

I absolutely agree with you Trisher. It has been going on for some time. Remembrance Day was given due respect but other than that, we all believed war was a thing of the past (won't say anything here about one of the founding aims of the EU, ahem).

I think one of the things that heralded, or was part of, the change was Wootton Bassett and the parades of people welcoming (?) home the bodies of British soldiers from Iraq. That has continued in Carterton, Oxon. Also, Prince Harry and his involvement in the armed forces and the Invictus games. Nothing wrong in appreciating the bravery of soldiers or those who gave their life up in the World Wars but encouraging our young people to think that dressing up in uniform and marching about with guns and drums is a good thing is, to me, chilling.

Extra word in above post. Remove 'themselves' from the penultimate line.

I am the daughter, grand daughter, niece and great niece of professional soldiers. I have never in my life heard any one of them, or anybody else I know in our armed forces, glorify war.

Generally those who glorify war are those who would never be prepared to to face up to the dangers and privations being in the armed services can involve themselves, but like bathing in the reflected sacrifices of other people, more courageous than them.

Edit - brilliant trilogy

I've read Pat Barker.

I don't think they are typical of the Forces in general willsmadnan, but of course if they had seen colleagues murdered by McGuinness or had to retrieve bodies of innocent people including children killed by the IRA perhaps that may have influenced their views.
Don't forget who had to go in and clear up the mess of body parts left after an IRA bomb.
Things like that will never leave someone.

Moronic is not the right word to use.

And no, I am not an Army wife and never was.

Most of us had a relative who died in WW1,many of us in WW2 but trisher's posting is referring to the glorification of war amongst professional soldiers of today ....quite a different animal. I'm well aware there are several ex army wives on GN, but my only connection with anything military is knowing a young couple quite well over the last ten or so years who lived in our village in France and had both newly retired from the army. All I will say is, although I am fond of them on a personal level, as 'friends ' on Facebook their militant postings chill me to the core. The postings from their army friends after the death of Martin Mcguiness was nothing short of despicable....and yes I know you 'ex-service grans' will give me thousand reasons why the remarks were justified, but a man had died, and a family mourned him. I was so disgusted (not just with that incident) I have blocked my friend and his moronic brainwashed ex-comrades.
I have a grandson, and I would move heaven and earth to persuade him not to enlist in any of the services,

Something else that everyone should read, along with the Great War poets.

Yes dj. Really well written and moving.

Trisher, have you read the Regeneration trilogy by Pat Barker?

Chewbacca, you said GNHQ reached a new low today.
I was questioning whether you really meant that.

I think that the poets and many of those who died in the wars would not be impressed to see the marching and the military presence at any service. Like it or not the impression given (and certainly promoted by politicians) is that there is something heroic and glorious about fighting. Even if individuals don't intend to glorify war their actions sometimes do this.
As I said many of the men I grew up with had fought and none of them chose to act as some do now. It has been said that they had no choice about fighting. That is true but they had a choice about what they did afterwards and most of them rejected militarism. The idea that one shouldn't criticise military charities or wonder why they are now so prominent just shows how brainwashed some people now are.

Or maybe respect would be a better word.

Nope dj just a sense of decency

GNHQ?

Excellent post iam64, you've explained perfectly as to why we continue to honour those that fight in wars, wherever they are from. GNHQ reached a new low today with the inference that buying a poppy, or supporting Help for Heroes, was done only for the donors self appeasement. Shame on those that think it, or say it.

What a moving post, Iam64.

One of my grandfather's was captured and spent over a year in a German prisoner of war camp during WW1. He spoke movingly about that war, he stressed to me that his captors "were lads, just like us, no they didn't steal the Red Cross parcels, they could have but we shared them. Towards the end we boiled grass and cooked rat together, they'd nowt and neither had we". He also expressed pride that "your generation wouldn't just march off to war as we did. We knew so little, the Germans had their Keiser, we had Kitchener - our country needed us the German lads and our lads all believed that. It was a while for us to realise it should never have happened". My other grandfather (also aged 19) was selected to follow the fighting and try and identify the dead bodies.
My father told us he was lucky to miss all the fighting, wherever he arrived, it was over. Only after he died did we find letters from one of his Marine friend's sons talking about his father's action along with our father in hand to hand fighting. None of my relatives glorified war. My father was incensed by the invasion of Iraq, which he and all his pals saw as an illegal war, they shared the view that Blair should have been prosecuted as several Nazi's were at the Nuremberg trials.
The poets who emerged during WW1 have left a legacy that can't be forgotten, neither should we forget the thousands of young men killed in that awful war. That's the point of Remembrance Day, it isn't to glorify, its to commemorate and remind us, less we forget.
Sorry for this preachy post - I loved my grandparents and my father and credit them with helping me grow up and reminding me what prejudice is.

iam64 nailed it. If you don't want to donate to Help for Heroes, or buy a poppy; don't, but don't insult those who do by suggesting that those who do, only do so "to make themselves feel better". A pretty low comment, imo.

Well, trisher that was just one of the poems read at the Remembrance Service here last year. When everyone remembered and prayed that the horrors would cease and we could have peace around the world.

Perhaps we should do away with politicians then we wouldn't have any wars. Everyone in the world be allocated a little piece of land to grow their crops, keep their goats, hens (except for those who don't want to) and follow the Ten Commandments so that no-one coveted anything that belonged to anyone else and everyone living in harmony.

I forgot!! That is from one of the Abrahamic religions, differences in opinions about religion of all kinds can be the cause of wars.


rosesarered you are right, here we go again

Iam64 agree 100% with what you say!!

Very appropriate at the moment, trisher.