War Heroes

To FlicketyB - That is a wonderful storyFlickety - It is sad that
she had to go through all that , it must have taken some doing , but
wonderful that she came through it successfully . I agree with Sel
would she even need to try today ?

And to jeni and Sel - thankyou so much for your comments on my
Water Colours - it is such comments that hopefully may get me going
again after over two years .

harvatt I second jeni's comment about your paintings, they're beautiful.

Prompted by your post which is very thoughtful and moving, I was looking at the provision of care for the wounded. I didn't realise the issues that were thrown up by a Newsnight programme earlier this year. Help for Heroes actually comes in for quite a bit of criticism about the way they are using the money they've raised. Vast amounts are being used for capital building projects rather than direct help to the injured. Those new centres probably wouldn't have been built without this money but it seems as if the MOD has found a handy pot to raid.

One thing that struck me reading was a comment that these men are trained not to complain, not to ask. It's wrong as you said. We owe them whatever they need to try and rebuild their lives.

I like your paintings of flowers

Yes Sel , At that time I admit I was thinking more of the present
conflicts rather than WW1 & WW2 because that was a war forced upon us .
I lost a relative then and was also bombed out in WW2 , so I have every
sympathy with your family's circumstances . I was also trying hard to put
a point across without causing upset to any family.
The son of a close friend of mine is back in this country having suffered
a severe injury from a road side bomb , so I am well aware of what it is
like . The fact that we will not change anything as was intimated earlier
does not hold water for me . I believe we still have to keep on trying -
keeping the pressure on government in whatever way we can or
conditions will always continue unchanged . Even small changes will help someone in some way.
For what it is worth , those are my thoughts .

Yes Sel , At that time I admit I thinking more of the present conflicts
rather that WW1 & WW2 because that was a War forced upon us . I lost
a relative then and was also bombed out in WW2 , so I have every sympathy with your families circumstances . I was also trying hard to put

Your Grandmother's ethos FlicketbyB could be contrasted with the other thread I'm posting on 'typical DM story' or some such. Where did it go? Today, your Grandmother wouldn't suffer but would she even need to try?

harvatt your concern moves me greatly and I so agree. My Father served in WW2, my OH in Vietman. I'm not sure, if the you take the case of WW2, was there the money to support all that had been conscripted into that war. A land fit for heros? You are, no doubt thinking of more recent conflicts, those that we entered into for dubious reasons. Nowadays the Forces draw from those who can't possibly get a job elsewhere and who have believed the rather slick advertising on TV. As I said before, they are boys. Now them come back, having done their duty and feeling part of a family and are faced with reality. No support. You're on your own. Charities try and pick up the slack but it isn't enough. When you see the reality in everyday life (and Headley Court isn't far from me) it's heartbreaking.

My grandmother was widowed in the WW1. She was left with two small children, an elderly mother and sickly sister to support. Her pension was meagre and she had been a dress maker and returned to that and took in lodgers and did a variety of other home based jobs for the rest of her life to supplement it. She also made sure her daughters had every opportunity to get an education. They passed their scholarship and got to grammar school. One trained a nurse and rose to a senior position, the other made a career in insurance until she married and had children and later became a teacher. My grandmother refused any financial help from her daughters and everything they gave her ended in the Building Society to be shared between her grand daughters when she died.

Thanks for making your point jeni , I appreciate what you are saying ,
but by the same rule , like so many other things this does not always
make it right .

They never have and I doubt they ever will. It's not only governments, it's local councils as well.
I used to be an ex officio member of several county war pension committees the arguement was always about disregards. Some councils disregarded war pension income and some did not. War widows also had a raw deal as well.
At least PTSD is now recognised as a genuine war disablement.

Yes jeni it is genuine , I do not see how it can be read any other way .
It horrifies me when I see soldiers standing at the entrances of supemarkets and shopping malls with buckets . Yes I agree with Sel , the
War Heroes Charity is doing a marvelous job and so well supported , but
I am now in my eighties and cannot remember seeing soldiers out with
buckets. All charities do a wonderful job and without them we would be
lost but in the case of our Services - if we cannot support them and their
families in their hour of need we should not I believe , send them out in
the first place. The financial back up should balance the amount of War
personelle sent out to War Zones surely .
What goes unnoticed also is their High Standard amongst all this ,
obviously I do not have the space to go into it all but on the TV for example
last night I saw the RAF Reg. and an RAF Band marching . Did anyone
see it ? and did you see the " Out Of This World " shine on their boots and
creases in their uniforms . When you think standard issue boots have a
crocodile skin finish on the leather, which they smooth in whatever way
they can . Our Services keep up this standard of professioalism
throughout - surely our government should be equally professional in
their support of them

So very sorry harvatt, but this country has never ever looked after her own. Not ever.!!

You can go back to the widows of WW2, who stoically lived on a pittance.
Can't go back to WW1, do not know enough about it.

The way this country looks after her own is a disgrace!!!!!!!

I agree with everything Harvatt has said, unfortunately from personal experience.our DS is in the forces and has been to all the war zones in recent conflicts, our forces lads and lassies are very poorly treated, our lad told us they would try and so to american naffis when they could as they had much better food and conditions, our lad was at Lyneham until it closed last year and he and his family were having to live in a condemned damp house, which left them all with constant colds etc. What a way to treat people who are giving their all for this country, and they don't complain because it is very badly thought of. The repatriations through Royal Wootton Bassett were from Lyneham and the timing always meant that the school buses were held up on those days waiting for the cortege to go past this really upset our grandchildren and they can't have been the only ones, now they are at Brize Norton, and the repats. go through Carterton, where they now live, luckily they can now avoid seeing them, Thank God our son has always come home safe, but spare a though for all the families too, they all need our support.

Harvatt no, you are not wrong. I think since they moved the repatriations from Wooton Basset, bodies coming home no longer make the news. And, no, they shouldn't have to rely on Charity. Having said that, the Help For Heroes charity has done amazing stuff. I think it was ever thus wasn't it - men coming home from wars to little support? Some are mere boys, it's heartbreaking.

Yes, I think it's a genuine post, jeni - harvatt has posted before on other subjects. There has been a lot in the press recently about the lack of support for injured and disabled members of the armed forces - plus the extremely basic accomodation supplied for their families. I think he definitely has a point.

????????????GNHQ!
Is this a genuine post?