To post this for the anti Poppy brigade?

[Jakebullet]

Just posted on Facebook by a poet friend of mine

The whistles could be heard
Along the trenches below
The young men weren't ready
But they had to go
Some held photos
Of loved ones back home
They charged together
Yet died alone
The bulkets n bombs
rang loud in their heads
Yet forward they ran
Running over the dead
A war against tyranny and for freedom they fought
A price was to be paid
Yet could never be bought
But their actions
Should be remembered
Even tho with regret
By wearing The Poppy
LEST WE FORGET

By Billy Isherwood

Love this poem......it's been in his head several days and this morning was finally written down.

Okay IABU

Still too many young men dying in wars they have to go out and fight.

i especially love the overuse of 'yet'

They don't have to go and fight. They choose to join an organisation which may put them into that position but they don't ave to join it in the first place

The problem is that the poppy is both a symbol of non political remembrance and a sign you have donated to the Royal British Legion.

As the years have rolled on and the soldiers of World Wars have died, the RBL´s support has moved on to supporting the veterans of more recent (politically more confused and non conscript using) wars.

Personally, I'm happy to wear my poppy for my Grandfather injured in the trenches, the great uncles I never knew and my Nan who mourned them.

And I am happy to wear my poppy for those killed and maimed in modern wars, trying to protect the freedoms I and my DDs as women in a Western Democracy take for granted

Do I wish I lived in a world where conflict and violence were not used to solve disputes and where reasoned debate triumphs, of course I do, but as long as extreme religion and extreme political views are tolerated in any country on Earth, wars are inevitable.

yep but they chose to join up. theyre not being conscripted and i will not be forced to wear a poppy just so i dont get lynched. doesnt mean i dont donate to the poppy appeal i just dont advertise that fact

Jake: I don't think anyone is disagreeing with:

Still too many young men dying in wars they have to go out and fight.

They are disagreeing about why we go to war.

Do you know war is econically attractive for some.

The woollen mill and uniform manufacturers become multi millionaires in the WW1.
How terrible to make such a fortune from misery and death.

I don't wear a poppy. Nor do I donate to the poppy appeal. I think the original intention has been utterly sullied by its association with colonial and post-colonial conflicts, and I'm really uncomfortable with the fetishising of the military in Britain today.

Too many people die on both sides. Lots of them are innocents.

This is part of a song, John a Brown, by Bob Dylan.

"Don't you remember, ma, when I went off to war
You thought it was the best thing I could do?
I was on the battleground, you were home, acting proud
You weren't there standing in my shoes

And I thought when I was there, Lord, what am I doing here?
Tryin' to kill somebody or die tryin'
But the thing that scared me most, when my enemy came close
I can see that his face looked just like mine"

And I couldn't help but think, through the thunder rolling and stink
I was just a puppet in a play
And through the roar and smoke, this string, it finally broke
And a cannon ball blew my eyes away"

As he turned away to go, his mother was acting slow
Seein' the metal brace that helped him stand
But as he turned to leave, he called his mother close
And he dropped his medals down into her hand"

Totally agree. That's why I hate the link to HFH

YABU. I don't wear a poppy for my own reasons.

My late GF, who fought in WWII, also disagreed with the poppies. He thought they glorified war.

i only wear a poppy when i am at work as it is the custom and expected of staff at this time of year

i do not wear one outside of work hours. i find everything around the poppy, rememberance day etc problematic to say the least, but i don't wrote doggerel or harangue strangers about it

i would prefer not to wear one, ever, but would then be asked 'where's your poppy?' and that is not a conversation i feel like having

rather exciting to find i am part of a brigade though. wheee.

An interesting article from a WW2 veteran on why he wont be wearing a poppy again after this year.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/08/poppy-last-time-remembrance-harry-leslie-smith

I think it's terrible that you are expected to wear one at work. I work in a school, very few members of staff wear poppies, as most don't agree with them

I find thevlevel of compulsion around poppy wearing bewildering . Surely choice and freedom is what was apparently fought for in these wars?

DS is out collecting in town today with army cadets. I am very proud of him. He spent yesterday evening polishing his boots and ironing his uniform. He hopes to join up in a couple of year's time

My money goes in the tin every year. I hope that the RBL will be there for my DS if he were ever to need them.

YABU.

At least a less Hallmark poem might have got a few more YANBUs.

Anyone see Lady Gaga struggling to put her apparently compulsory poppy on after she performed on TV last night? Ridiculous.

Not everyone who was involved in the first and second world wars were conscripted. Both my grandfathers saw active service, both joined voluntarily. My Nan joined the Women's Royal Air Force voluntarily.

When the riots were on, the majority of MN were shouting for the military to be brought in. Who was there when the Fire Service were on strike, manning the Green Goddesses? Oh yes, that was the military again. Who were called in when G4S fucked up, so the Olympics could go ahead, oh the good old military. Who do you think will be there if the prison officers strike, that'll be the military. When the people needed the humanitarian aid after the floods in Pakistan it was the military again, who provided it. Who helps with the floods and extreme weather in this country, that'll be the military.

But regardless of all the good things they do, people won't wear a poppy for those who have lost their lives because they don't believe in the politics and reasons behind the war.

My DM & DF were in the Armed Services WW11, my GPs in WW1.
My parents didn't apply for their medals and they were both anti-war.

However, they wore poppies.

Maybe there should be a campaign for white poppies, but on the other hand it could be career suicide for some of us.

erm CHOICE its all about choice

The very thought that a white poppy could be considered career suicide is deeply troubling. Do you mind saying hat sector you work in, pax?