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British troops: Is this a homecoming fit for the heroes of H
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Post British troops: Is this a homecoming fit for the heroes of H 
See the following articles in the Independant:

British troops: Is this a homecoming fit for the heroes of Helmand?

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article3081845.ece

Patrick Mercer: Give our troops what they want

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article3081846.ece

Hamish

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I am sure every ex Service man/woman will feel our troops do deserve recognition, however only the Media would draw comparison whith the victory parade held for those returning from the Falklands War. That war was over, ended, finito, the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars are ongoing, and therefore many of those returning now could be going back. The time for big parades is when it is over.

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Redcapfred wrote:
... however only the Media would draw comparison whith the victory parade held for those returning from the Falklands War.


Read the article again Fred. The Independent is making a very important point - and it has little to do with parades. They are championing a cause much more fundamental, much more important, than parades. Here are a couple of other quotes:

"He didn't want tickertape or garlands, he just wanted normality and a degree of empathy from uncomprehending civvies."

"Many, however, could do without a parade, and the bother of polishing boots and buffing up the buttons on their uniform."

"What they would prefer [as opposed to overt parades - my assessment not a quote] is an acknowledgement of the trials they have been through by the public; and that the Military Covenant, which says that in return for risking their lives soldiers are well-treated and – in the event of their deaths – their families looked after, is honoured."

PJMers can relate to all this. When I returned to the UK I felt like an intruder. Nobody understood. Nobody cared. Why should they? HMG had kept it all very quiet.

One of the reasons the PJM is so undervalued by Government and civil servants is that PJM service constituted a part of of one of Britain's Forgotten Wars. They have little understanding of what went on. HMG had encouraged silence about those operations in the Far East. It certainly didn't suit the Government to allow it to be known that we had been fighting - and dying - on the wrong side of the border ... in Indonesia.

And if those operations had been officially labelled as a War rather than an Emergency/Confrontation, the London Insurance market might have had something to say about the claims they were paying out on.

Thus, on the one hand, those FE operations were officially never a "War" (for the reasons meantioned above) yet on the other you are not allowed to wear your PJM because it is, allegedly (according to the Cabinet Office), a "Commemorative WAR Medal"!

In my view, we need the media (and campaigns such as ours) to raise these issues ... we can be questionning and cynical, of course. That is healthy. But we still need the issues placed in the public domain so that they can be debated. HMG won't - unless it suits them - as we PJMers know only too well.

Barry


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BarryF, who fought for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia
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I take your point....And agree !

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Post Homecoming 
This may have escaped your notice, but, when I came home from Borneo/Malaya, I, like many others, landed at Stansted Airport and caught the coach that was laid on for us to Victoria Station.

From thence, to my father's married quarter at RAF Andover, where I had a spot of leave before joining the Submarine depot Ship, Maidstone.

I do not recall any bands, waving welcomes, official recognition... not that I begrudge anyone their dues.. but, in that high profile situation... marching in impecable formation, as they usually do, there are certain elements about who would just love to plant a roadside bomb.

If you have any doubts of the veracity of that statement...just ask the household cavalry... and we will certainly remember that.

Yours Aye

Arthur

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Also a good point !

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""



Last edited by StanW on Sun Feb 10, 2008 4:42 am; edited 1 time in total
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It's a different world now Stan, as you so rightly say... sadly.

Yours Aye

Arthur

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