Why I No Longer Feel Comfortable Wearing a Poppy

[Geckos48]

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/madeleine-fry/poppy-day_b_4169581.html

very eloquently put. Exactly how I feel about the whole debacle.

November 11th should be for those who selflessly gave their lives in the World Wars, not those who chose to fight dubious campaigns abroad.

Because I was there FannyFifer, I know what I did and why I did it. Those reasons were not dubious.

I LOVE the White Poppy Appeal.

I have bought 25 and will be distributing them.

Dubious campaigns like the Falklands war you mean, OP?

And fancy riding around in tanks blowing stuff up, my arse. Do you actually know any service personnel?

Girl 9 explains to congress what drone bombers have done to her family.

You cite 'ownership' of a piece of land we STOLE from the country it is all but attached to as an example of a non dubious war?

Laughable.

STOLE from what country, OP?

Anyway, regardless of whether you agree or don't agree

surely we can ALL agree that the veterans of the first and second world wars (and their families) should have their own day of remembrance?

Rather than having this contention?

I would suggest looking at a map.

No, I don't agree with you.

I would suggest reading a little history.

just going around in big tanks blowing people up because you fancy it (basically)

What a ridiculous and ignorant thing to say.

All the weapons of mass destruction were the reason excuse to go into Iraq, didn't find any though.
You don't think that was dubious at all?

You don't believe the WW veterans 'earned' their own day of remembrance?

Wow, Just Wow

I honestly thought people had more respect for those who gave their lives to keep this country safe from attack.

I really did.

I am totally behind the idea of their being a separate day for those others who have fought in wars but I dont agree with them all being on November 11th. That is a special day for the WW veterans, as should the poppies be.

Buying and wearing a poppy while condoning the opposite of peace in the world is just so amoral.

The Falklands is not the only war we have fought (for goodness sake it was 20 odd years ago) and I did not agree with it nor do I agree with it now.

We 'owned' the Falklands like we 'owned' India. The moral thing would have been to make it independent or return it.

I honestly thought people had more respect for those who gave their lives to keep this country safe from attack.

I have plenty of respect, thanks.

Bleating by someone who spouts ignorant nonsense won't change that.

I remember all soldiers that fought to make the world a better place. Whether that is the veterans of WWI and II, the soldiers fighting terrorism in NI, the soldiers in FRY where everyone was then enemy, the soldiers who went to Iraq and deposed a genocidal manic or the soldiers currently serving in Afghanistan, trying to stop the Taliban and Sharia Law.

I support the families of those soldiers who may have suffered hardships due to their soldiers' sacrifice.

The RBL is a bloody fabulous organisation that helps ALL military, ex military, spouses and dependants - no matter their service, creed, colour, religion et al. They do NOT put conditions on their support, they just give it. Oh and the Poppy production itself is completed by able bodied and disabled ex servicemen and their families. People who couldn't get jobs elsewhere - Remploy (something else the Government has now fucked).

those who gave their lives to keep this country safe from attack.

Like the 200-odd British personnel who died in the Falklands you mean, not to mention the severely injured survivors.

I understand how you feel but given that so many WW1 ad WW2 veterans are now dying I feel we should still be supporting those who re sent abroad by the Govt to fight during campaigns (however dubious these campaigns might be).

Why don't you ask those veterans what they think rather than trying to "campaign" on their behalf?

From what I've seen, most seem to think they were just doing their job. Much the same as veterans of more recent wars.

You think the lady who wrote the article above is 'spouting ignorant nonsense' she seems pretty far from that to me.

I can't believe people dont agree that the WW veterans deserve their own day, or that people who dont agree with war as it stands now should not have a day where they can give thanks to those who gave us our freedoms all those years ago.

Regardless of your stance, you must see that it makes sense.

I have lots of reasons for not wearing a poppy. I have worn one in the past.

I'm uncomfortable at the elision between the world wars and more recent conflicts. The recent revelations about collusion in Northern Ireland, for instance, make it clear that these are vastly different situations, incomparable in my opinions. I think to lump them all in with the WW1 memorial day (as Poppy Day originally started out) is ill-judged and historically insensitive.

I also think that the RBL and Help for Heroes etc, while admirable institutions in their own right, distract attention from the fact that ex-servicemen should be treated better by the governments that send them into conflict zones. This should be part of military budgets in my opinion, and not shifted over to the responsibility and generosity of the public.

LtAllHallows I'm sure you don't mean to suggest that only service personnel can understand the whys or wherefores of armed conflicts. Do you?

I wear my poppy with proud I also have a poppy necklace my dp wears his poppy with pride we both ex army and proud of it

I thought that there are no WW1 veterans alive.

Regardless of your stance, you must see that it makes sense.

I don't have to see anything. I do not agree with you. End of story.