I think there is a very clear difference between the conscripts of WW1 and WW2 and the paid volunteer forces of today
For starters cowardice is not a death sentence anymore and people have a choice on joining
Everybody in Afghanistan and Iraq joined the military in peace time knowing the risk involved, they are not fighting for queen and country and to protect their loved ones, but a for political ideal and one that many do not agree with.

Ian E. Kaye is a good author of war time poetry, written from the perspective of the lads in the trenches
Not the arm chair heroes who are always so proud the wear their poppy
It’s annoying to listen to all the rhetoric about heroes when so many of those war graves are filed with teenage boys whose sole contribution to the war effort was cannon fodder for the generals
I’d suggest a long careful walk around a war graves site, before you choose to lump in todays professionals with the young conscripts of the world wars

FFS At least make some effort, modernise it for the youth to understand.

"He done
a Johnny Foreigner.
Proper, innit".

R.

The ramblings of those who have never experienced conflict or the tragedy of war. Whether by choice or by force, life is life.

Once you are in you go where you are told, like it or not. In 1982 the the line ups at the recruiting offices stretched down the street, men and women wanting to support Britain in a cause that some supported and others did not. Perhaps they did not reaslise what would have awaited them had time allowed. The military goes where it is sent, whether defending the homeland or helping others in need, persecuted by aggressors. What greater sacrifice can man make when they lay their life down for another.

Whatever, there are children today that don't have fathers, mothers who lost children. There are servicemen who continue to suffer the burden, physically and mentally.

Wars will never stop, there will continually be those who are willng to take the risk of the ultimate price so others may live and to help relieve suffering.



http://www.lastpost.be/

Is this a brief description of the rest of the post?

They certainly won't stop if people allow themselves to be manipulated by cynical incompetent bastards like the 1982 Prime Minister of the UK.

"Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori" ("It is sweet and noble to die for one's country")
What greater sacrifice can man make when they lay their life down for another
Wars will never stop, there will continually be those who are willing to take the risk of the ultimate price so others may live and to help relieve suffering.

This is the rhetoric of generals, politicians and religious leaders

The young and the naïve will believe it sign up and as was said “Once you are in you go where you are told, like it or not.”
Only then does the cannon fodder realise his real value and his own mortality

You need to grow up with the military, rather just be in it to see it for what it really is

So what you're essentially saying there is that The Man is a co**s*cker ?

R.

The words I want to write to describe your stupid comment, I can't on this forum!

In my final year of service with the Royal Air Force this year, I spent time at Headley Court (Look it up!). I was humbled to be in the presence of some of the bravest men and women I have ever had the privilege to meet, all of whom had returned form Helman Province or Basra. Despite their loss of limbs or severe head trauma, and all they had sacrificed for their (AND YOUR!!!) country, they remained loyal and proud to have served in the British Armed Forces. Their fallen friends were not so lucky to return home.

You can thank them and the thousands of people just like them who laid down their lives for idiots like you! Be it WWI, WWII or ANY of the many global conflicts since!!

Lest we forget…….

Sounds serious. A lot more serious than you do.

their governement..... not the same thing anymore

these wars are fought for politicans and their ideaologies, they have very little to do with protecting your or somebody elses country from hostile invasion,
at least the Falklands had that going for it....

Oh come on everyone - I think the inital post was done in "good faith" given the date. Lets just . . .not forget . .

Sorry...got to say it...

<snip>!!!

Feel free.

but isn't that just the case so many things were done in "good faith"

Its the reasons why that count......

No. WWI - conscripts who believed the old lie. WWII - conscripts who didn't believe it. Both wars fought in defence of my country. Since then, professional soldiers who took their chances in foreign adventures conducted for various reasons unrelated to the defence of the UK.

I'm sympathetic for their injuries but no more or less so than if they'd sustained them while driving a bus.