Simon Campbell

Posted at 1227 hours on 28/07/09 | Posted in Life

For God’s sake support our troops

Recent weeks have again seen terrible losses of life in Afghanistan. We, the people, are responsible for them being there in the first place, so for God’s sake, lets support them…

Last year I wrote a very emotive post about the war in Afghanistan. Thankfully, James has now returned safe and sound but many more have since perished or sustained horrible injuries.

The news is full of speculation and debate of whether they have the right kit and if they should be there at all.

I agree with much of what is being said. If they are out there it’s our duty to provide them everything to make their lives safer and more comfortable.

If the Country can’t afford it, we shouldn’t be there.

But imagine being out in ‘theatre’ reading all this stuff; it must be really shit – totally demoralising.

We are either in or out. Currently we are in and therefore we must support them, not only with kit but psychologically.

45 Commando, Royal Marines

We recently attended Jim’s medal parade up at RM Condor, Arbroath. It was an awesome site seeing the whole unit together. We were (and are) immensely proud that our son had contributed to the ‘success’ of the deployment; we are proud he is a Royal Marine; we are proud that the United Kingdom has such an amazing outfit.

His immediate and extended family listened in awe at the many tales of daring doo James and his comrades recounted, mainly centred around blowing stuff up, saving each others lives and assisting in casevac (evacuation of the injured) operations… No surprisingly, many of them were far more concerned about being maimed than killed.

What was not quite as awesome were the maimed and injured who were also on parade collecting their medals. The extent of the injuries varied but inevitably they will effect them and their families, mentally and physically, forever.

Again today we have heard about the MOD trying to reduce compensation for injured service personnel. So thinking about whether we need more helicopters out in Afghanistan, what about more care homes and support for the soon forgotten and lightly reported injured some who will (and do) live with suffering for the rest of their lives.

Trying to be practical about a highly charged subject, surely the cost of caring for them and their families should be factored into the overall budget.

If you build a nuclear power station, you look at the total cost over the life of the project from initial consultation to the ‘safe’ disposal of the waste and decommissioning of the site at the end of its life.

If the Government can’t look at the total long term cost of our military operations, then we shouldn’t be there at all – period.

Help for Heroes

I was introduced to the Charity, Help for Heroes, by our friend Dianne McLeish, who is currently serving in Afghanistan with the Royal Air Force.

Help for Heroes was the idea of Appeal Chairman Bryn Parry and a group of friends and relations, many of who have connections with serving servicemen and women. Bryn and his wife Emma wanted to do something to help the wounded and came up with the idea of a sponsored bike ride.

They mentioned it to some friends who mentioned it to some more friends and suddenly Help For Heroes was born and growing fast. A flurry of visits to various offices led to the campaign being blessed by the head of the army, Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt.

Help for Heroes does wonderful work for soldiers and other servicemen and women both directly and through its support of other service charities.

In brief

• We, the people, are directly responsible for our forces being deployed. If we don’t like it we have the power to force the politicians to change ‘our’ policies.
• If they are there, we need to support our armed forces with the finest kit available and if they are injured, support them and their families.
• If the Country doesn’t have the money to its honour its responsibilities in full, we shouldn’t be there.

Help our Heroes…

Hero is a very overused word but in this context it’s the only one that fits the bill.

Whilst all this politicking drags on please help out now and donate.

4 comments

1. Danny Smith on 04/08/09 at 1543 hours

   Very well said. I think there are too many people everywhere trying to ignore the whole thing, although public support for both the Forces and Help for Heroes is noticeably better than it was a few years ago.

2. Simonski on 04/08/09 at 1617 hours

   Thank you Danny.

   There is now a groundswell of support. We just need to keep plugging away. We can effect change - YEAH!!!

3. Dianne McLeish on 24/08/09 at 1104 hours

   Like it Simon it says it all.  There is a lot more public support for the troops now than there was a few years ago thank you all for your supportand I speak for all of us here in Afghanistan.  I am proud of what I do and off the help I give to the troops here and at home.

4. dave fish on 16/02/10 at 1913 hours

   hi mate. i feel the same way
   i’ve pasted a flier for my site below. see what you think. best wishes dave fish

   http://www.bigthumzup.co.uk

   Needs your help to send a big british thumbs up our lads out there on the front line

   Bigthumzup is a new website which aims to raise the profile of our frontline troops and we need your help to do it. With your help we can send a massive vote of confidence to our armed forces which will hopefully rise above the politics and let them know that we are behind them. All you have to do is log on to bigthumzup at the above web site address and follow the prompts to send a big thumbs up and a big vote of confidence to all our armed forces out there in Afghan. Bigthumzup has no political affiliations, does not fundraise, and has the sole aim of letting the guys out there know that we appreciate their dedication and commitment and the sacrifices they make on a daily basis on our behalf. So, if like us at big thumzup, you read the papers and watch the news and want to let our lads know that you appreciate their efforts, regardless of the politics,  then log on to bigthumzup and tell them! If you like the site and think it’s a good idea, let bigthumzup know by filling in the feedback link on the site. Whatever your views are on the rights and wrongs of the war in afghan we at bigthumzup think the guys out there deserve more recognition of their efforts and hope that the site will help to raise their profile in a positive way and let them know that the folks back home are thinking about them!
                    

   FORGET THE POLITICS-REMEMBER THE LADS

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