Are you wearing yours yet ?

[Mesquite]

I too will be wearing a poppy in support of all that have given the ultimate sacrifice to allow us to sit here and have the freedom to actually debate if we will or won't be wearing a poppy.

And Hammock man.... Woodstock may have expressed his personal opinion but at least he didn't insult anyone with it, whereas expressing your personal opinion did. Sometimes opinions like that are best kept to yourself if you have to insult someone.

 

[deeps]

Yes - always and for a variety of reasons.

1) It ****** the conscience of a nation every year without fail. In this democracy in which I choose to live we all have a collective responsibility for the downside of our foreign policy action whether we agree with it or not. You can't just walk away.

2) The British Legion is still a damn good cause doing real good in peoples lives. Ironically improvements in medical care at the front line mean that a higher proportion of wounded serviceman now make it home with horrific injuries that will require a lifetimes care. They would have died on the battlefield in earlier conflicts. Don't suppose for a minute these poor beggars are lying around Selly Oak relaxed in the knowledge that they have an index linked pension !

3) A selfish one. It makes me extremely grateful for what I have. That I can walk in the woods, hold my baby daughter, swim in the sea, shout at Radio 4 and all the other things that I sometimes take for granted.

4) I get to remember just a few individuals I knew well and served with who will never do 3 above. It is often just down to luck and I am grateful it wasn't me.

 

[snoop Ex member]

Each year I do a wall display based on Remembrance Day in my classroom. This year is slightly different in that I don't have a traditional classroom, so I have taken the poem from the first post, and superimposed it on a background. These will be printed at A3 and one placed in each of the cubicles in my area of school.

I firmly believe that the youth of today need to be educated about life, and this will go a small way towards that goal.

Simon

That's really good Simon, well impressive

I wear my Poppy with pride every year, to me it's a little thing that means a huge amount, i mark Remembrance weekend by going to the Brecons & climbing Pen 'Y' Fan & having a beer.

It's heart warming to find that the majority of folk who have posted also feel the same as i As a few have already said,

They fought bravely so we could voice our opinions loudly

 

[Man of Tanith]

Every year my Grandfather (served in the royal navy in WW2) and I have a contest to see who can "buy" the other a poppy first. I wear mine with pride although I'd dearly love to "buy" Grandad one before he gets me one
Regards
Sam

 

[Graham_S]

I will wear one.
I've lost friends.
I will remember them.

Chips is entitled to his opinion, but he should remember that the only reason he is free to express it is the sacrifice of those who "knew the risks"

"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them. "

That piece of poetry always brings a tear to my eye and a lump to my throat

 

[ecobandit]

a lot of people suffered so you could enjoy what you have today,I don,t agree with todays conflicts,but I am humbled by those people who gave their lives,they deserve our respect,chips you are pathetic!

 

[galopede]

Firstly, I'm a great supporter of the poppy fund and the work they do. I'd just like to tell you of my late father.

He volunteered at the start of WW2 and served most of his time on HMS Indefatigable, an aircraft carrier based in the pacific. During his time he had several near misses, once when a Kamikaze struck the bridge and a large chunk of it missed him by inches (had the luck of the devil) and even worse, when he was bitten by a rather nasty spider on leave in Queensland and nearly died!

When it was all over and he got back, quite a while after the rest, he was asked several times to join the Legion. He refused point blank and never set foot in one for the rest of his life.

He said he and his mates had been through hell for years and he'd seen many of them die. He never wanted reminding of it. He never bought a poppy either.

Read into it what you will.

Gareth

 

[Tadpole]

I will wear one or three with pride, my grandfather was in the RFC, I’ve lost great uncles, and uncles at the Somme, Arnhem, and Burma. I’ve lost friends in the Falklands and the first gulf conflicts. And whilst that is sad and difficult for me to understand, it is worst, as I have friend and relations who survived.

Without the legion, those people who lived through would have suffered much more than I will ever know, When the dreams get too much, there was someone to help, when the pain was too much, there was someone who really understood, when the loneliness and isolation was over powering there was someplace to go, and share the companionably silence, with others who helped by saying nothing, but listened.
In short until you have been there, where they are you cannot know the price they paid just by surviving.

The poppy and remembrance is not only for the dead, it is for those that survived, which was, for many, a burden almost too heavy to bear.

 

[ScarletPimpernel]

Even those who choose not to buy a poppy may be interested to know that Morpheus Rising, a band that includes a serving soldier, are releasing a record in support of Help 4 Heroes. More details at An Ordinary Man. No connection etc., other than having served, and visited Selly Oak and Headley Court, and so seeing why their support is needed.

 

[Sniper]

I will wear one with great pride and more than a little sorrow, as an ex serviceman who has lost many good friends and comrades during several tours in Northern Ireland and the Falklands campaign it's not just about WW1 & WW2 it's also about the many conflicts that the forces have been involved in over the last century. Losing friends who had chosen to defend our nation is bad but for someone to ignore their sacrifice to me is shameful. I shed a tear when I hear the Last post sounded on Remembrance Day and think of those that lost their lives whilst in the service of their country, there but for the grace of God go I. But lives were given so that people can voice their opinions freely and openly even when it does not agree with the majority but common decency and compassion would be a better display than apathy and demeaning opinions voiced on the subject, obviously common sense and discretion is also lacking.

 

[Womble_Lancs]

I don't normally wear a poppy because I am very good at losing them. I do, however, still put my money in the pot.

A friend of mine, Stevie, also ex-Forces, wrote a song called 'Lest We Forget' and performed it at a Remembrance Day event. You can hear it on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/stevieoneblokeonemandolin

It never fails to make me cry.

 

[Womble_Lancs]

The new lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro Novum Laborum mori.

Surely this would be equally apt for the Iraq war?

Dulce et decorum est
Pro ex-patria mori.

 

[jungle_re]

That is your choice and you are entitled to it. The irony is that you are entitled to many of your choices in life because of the efforts and sacrifice of those who you refuse to commemorate. That is my view.
All the best, Aaron

Well put.

I am disappointed with you view point Chips. As an ex solider i agree you join knowing the risks but i know of not one who joined chasing the coin; nor do i know of a rich solider. When i left doing the same job without any risk i tripled my income. The risks are known but the rewards and care after are few. If you had seen clips from the amputees during the Para Olympics or the rugby game at Twickenham you would have seen how gracious these men and women are, holding no blame and not looking for any sympathy. If they had suffered these injuries in normal civilian jobs the financial payout is far higher, these people can often no longer work and require care which the financial payout is unable to cover. The very least these people deserve is to be treated with humanity and to be correctly looked after by the state to which they served.

I hope you view is not widely shared among your peers.

Will

 

[303Brit]

These, in the day when heaven was falling,
The hour when earths foundations fled,
Followed their mercenary calling
And took their wages and are dead.

Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood,and earths foundations stay;
What God abandoned these defended.
And saved the sum of things for pay.

A.E. Houseman

 

[hiho]

got one of those card/paper ones. now to look for the enamel pin badge so that i might be able to wear for more than 5 mins without breaking it....

 

[mick miller]

It's possible these days to set up a direct debit,visit www.poppy.org.uk for more information.

Sadly I see the vendors less and less these days. It wasn't all that long ago that you would find poppy's in almost every corner shop and post office and as a child they were available in schools. I'm not sure if that's even the case now. I seldom see the kids round my way wearing one when the time comes around. That saddens me.

 

[IanM]

New sellers of poppies are always needed. Why not volunteer to sell poppies? Just call your local Royal British Legion branch. Why not join RBL and support them all year? Put something back. You don't have to have been in the forces.

The work that goes on behind the scenes is phenomenal. Support is given to ex services personnel and their families even after the death of the service member. Many are alone without relatives. There is no need to be a RBL member.

Hospital visits, home visits, food parcels, wheel chairs, lifts, representation with TPTB for pensions, grants, etc. and on and on. Total support.

Sorry, biased, the Missus is secretary of the local branch and I am involved with the attached club. Help is always needed, the old en's are dropping like flies and few ex service are joining these days. The branches countrywide are under pressure and many are closing or merging with other branches because of lack of numbers.

If you are ex forces or not join in, subs. £12.50 a year plus whatever time you wish to give.

 

[Chips]

I'm only back because of other's rudeness.

Why, tell me, is it so important we speak english?

As a final point, if no one fought, there would be no wars.

 

[ScarletPimpernel]

Why, tell me, is it so important we speak english?

The quotation posted earlier is largely allegorical, and alludes to a war fought for national survival, and to prevent the spread of fascism (and specifically Nazism) through Europe and beyond. In that respect, maintaining our national identity, which includes our language, our laws, our democratic system and our religious tolerance, was and remains important.

As a final point, if no one fought, there would be no wars.

This may well be so, but the reality is that for many different reasons people do fight, at many levels, and for many reasons. I fear that your post demonstrates a fundamental naiveté - perhaps you have never been in a position where someone or something you held dear has been attacked, or perhaps you are able to shut yourself off from what goes on in the world.

You may like to reflect upon another quotation: "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing" - (Edmund Burke).

Those of us who have seen conflict know that in some circumstances doing nothing may not be an option.

 

[falling rain]

Hang on folks, it's not 'have a go at Chips day'. If that's what the guy believes then let him believe it.
I wonder though if Chips has any ancestors or relatives that served in any past wars. Napoleonic, 1st, second. (even if you have never met them because they perished before you were born) There's a good probability that you do mate. (Scotland has a long proud tradition of very good infantry regiments. Kings own Scottish, Black watch, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to name just a few) IF there's a place we go, after we are gone, and we meet up with our dead ancestors you'll get the opportunity to tell your ancestors your ungrateful views. I hope that you'll have a long healthy life, and free from any conflict, and when your time comes, maybe you'll have realised that thanks to ALL our ancestors and bretheren still alive and fighting still. (to preserve our freedom). You may find a moment to thank them for giving their lives, to help ensure you could have a long and pleasent one.

Too right I'll be wearing my poppy. I already am, and will be attending the rememberance day service in St Giles, Oxford on rememberance sunday as I always do.

God bless every last one of them past and present.