I am not British.
I'm Northern Irish Catholic..
Dead right I'll be buying a poppy. One every day.
I'm not patriotic for England or the British. In fact I am extremely partisan in my (Irish) nationalistic views (without violence).
I have seen war at short distance in my homeland. (Northern Ireland)
I have suffered very near and very personal... and I've seen many others suffer.
The army (in my view) is a home for many young men, who don't have a lot of prospects and have no-where to go. The army recruits them and turns them into cannon fodder. It keeps down the young men on the streets and it reduces unemployment amongst the most potentially criminal age group (17 - 24). Once they've got them, they've got them by the balls (metaphorically, the same applies to the young female recruits).
Governments use the forces to control the youth work force.
Where there is a world wide recession (as there is now); governments channel youth into the forces.
Simply it keeps them off the streets, when there's bugger all else in prospect... and it's a controlled cost and a budget.
They grab a prospect of a descent life in their hands. They take the Queen's shilling but they could do so much worse. They could do nothing; sit on their arses claiming un-employment benefit.
Hippymum89; I'm a really old hippy chick. I don't remember a lot of the late 60's or anything much up until about 1979.
All war is wrong and unreasonable. I knew it in 1969; and I understand it even better in 2012.
Dying is no better now then it was back then.
The army kicks people out when they've had their use of them; and they're no longer of use.
These people have little emotional or physical support subsequently.
Forget the politics or the war that they were fighting..