War medals

[soulman101]

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/18...ar-medal-probe
Top Police man wears a Falkland medal , but he was only 15 when the conflict started.
If you have earned a medal you have a right to wear it.
I once asked my Dad if could take his medals to school , as the teacher asked all the pupils to show them and talk about them.
My Dad said as soon as got home from the war he put them all in the dustbin . They reminded him of death, his army mates who was killed and the Germans who he killed.
Dad only spoke about the war, a couple years before he died after having a stroke .
I remember having a pint with him in his social club and one of the old gents always wore a blazer with his medals (or was they his)
He was always telling war story's, you would have thought he was special forces.
Dad said to me quietly , he has never seen any action never mind been in it. If he had you don't talk about , unless maybe to other veteran's. turned out he had never left the shores and had served his war time in the store's
Many years after i was having a drink with old vet and told him what had said and bottling up all the horrors, then I looked at this old chap and there was tears rolling down his cheeks.
He said he had never told a sole and regretted not telling his late wife. He was like my Dad who used wake up with the nightmares , they call it Post dramatic stress now.
Well anyone he told us , that his officer had ordered him to shoot 2 badly injured comrade's who only had less than hour to live from their injuries , so the Japs who they was retreating from wouldn't cut their necks.
In my opinion the officer should have done it.
If you have won your medals wear them with pride , if they are your dads cherish them if it was their wishes

[BaggieSingh]

Good post Lloyd
An incredible inconceivable time that these young men had to go through
We surely can’t even comprehend the emotions and hardships these brave individuals had to go through along with anyone at home during the war being shelled and bombed and having houses falling down around them

In a time when it was about resolve and a stiff upper lip there are a generation of people who had to learn themselves how to cope with feelings and hardships that they couldn’t even have previously thought about.

It’s absolute madness that these things occur in life and the more I was about previous wars and what people had to go through the more I feel indebted to these that have gone before us, I also like you feel those who paid the biggest price never really look for recognition and reward but are often left to their own devices and have had to wear their deeds like a millstone, mostly due to the stiff upper lip mentality, that won us the war
Imagine if that hadn’t been the mentality we would have folded and felt sorry for ourselves rather than the heroic events we hear about, just a shame of the knock on effects later in life, maybe we as a society should have done more to help or celebrate these people ?

[Dubbag]

Thankfully many have spoken. These are important testimonies by the eye witnesses. Some great work has been done to collect the memories of these heroes before thhey passed away. The stories are a light to just how humanity should respond to the behaviour of beasts dressing as humans. Least we forget and it happens again.
Some truely great resources on the internet...the below link is one of my favourite stories..worth less then a half hour of your busy day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdspB_oNQII

[Omegstrat6]

Have read quite a few books on various wars either written by veterans or compilations of their memories. Whether these are from the Great War, WW2, Korea, Vietnam or Afghanistan they always impress me with tales of great courage, endurance, fear, horror, guilt and camaraderie. Such memories are, I think, important and the sacrifices of these young men and women should not be forgotten but unless you have been in such situations yourself it is surely impossible to really comprehend what they went through. That most veterans only speak of their experiences to other veterans is then understandable. In addition, war also of course creates situations that normal, peacetime, codes of behaviour cannot be applied to.

Fortunately, I am of an age when neither my own parents or grandparents saw active duty -though my paternal grandfather was a Special Constable in Birmingham and had to deal with some pretty horrible things after the bombings. Like everyone else in Britain, however, a great many members of my wider family served or died in various wars and I doubt there are many families in the country left untouched. I have been privileged to also have known veterans from the Great War and listening to them talk together was very moving but don't think they would have been so open if it were just myself there. My next door neighbour growing up was a smashing bloke but he had served in Burma and was clearly very affected by his experiences there and never wanted to talk of it.

As for medals, the vets I have known kept them in drawers and only wore them -if at all-if they attended a remembrance day gathering.

[baggieal]

Good posts and medals should be worn with pride. As mentioned on another thread the Americans treat their veterans and present military like Gods where we do nothing!

All veterans should be proud and receive priority help.

[Leicesterbaggie]

The sad thing is that not too many who lived through the Second World War are still with us. It is therefore more important that we remember the sacrifices that they made. My parents lived through it and in many ways were fortunate. As my father had been in the Welsh Guards, prior to joining the police force, he was called up to train recruits. This meant that he didn’t see action but what he found difficult was that he got to know the recruits that he had trained and knew that so many of them would never return. Mind you, living in London as they did, wasn’t easy not knowing where the next bomb would fall.

[SCOOP115]

Possibly for the same reason, my Dad who served as aircrew in the RAF in WW2 never had any medals to show, even though he served in the far east during the war. He hardly spoke about his time there and when asked about medals, his answer was always that he didn't bother applying for them How true that was I don't know.

[mickd1961]

Good posts and medals should be worn with pride. As mentioned on another thread the Americans treat their veterans and present military like Gods where we do nothing!

All veterans should be proud and receive priority help.

You need to ask a Vietnam veteran how they think they’ve been treated in the USA.

[baggieal]

You need to ask a Vietnam veteran how they think they’ve been treated in the USA.

No idea! But that’s a tiny percentage of the largest military in the world. Our veteran’s in this country receive no help and treated like
s hite

[soulman101]

Dad had a visit every year from an force's charity called Blesma for disabled soldiers. British limbless ex service men's association
Dad never asked or received anything from them , but the same ex soldier came for many years and they spent a good couple of years having a chat, cup of tea and bite to to eat . I think he looked forward to the visit.
When the ex soldier died another one came right up to Dads death , they sent a lovely reef for Dads funeral and kept in touch with our Mom.