I asked some of my British colleagues whether or not others were comfortable with the term 'Veteran' or being referred to as one. I'm not. This is a comment I got in reply from a colleague ex British Army medic, and all round good guy (where's my bloody book?!).
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It's because when you were growing up all that while ago, a veteran was a crusty who had served near 5-years through Normandy to Japan and back to Berlin while slaughtering the enemy on a daily basis from beneath their half-deployed parachute canopy throwing the daggers of shot-in-the-air comrades; or had shot and killed their first of many at a range of 3 feet in an enemy ambush in densest Borneo; or had faced off the bad guys in Suez in a lone tank with a track blown off by a 1.4lb'er and an issue of just 4 rounds; or swam through burning oil after a 100ft escape via a torpedo tube; or was on the Hood during its finest hour...etc.
Perhaps you feel you do not measure to up to that childhood awe of the term, "Veteran"; the men who served to protect your freedom and jump the queue in Woolworths as grumpy old gits to whom we 'owed a debt' and an oz of tobacco, and who looked nothing like the glamorous actors in your favourite movies because they were REAL soldiers, sailors, and airmen.
Face it, you ARE that grumpy, crusty old git; you gave your time to Serve in some overly-hyped leaky, sweat-stained old 'boat'; you worked to improve the care of the wounded; you did your best to throw daggers; and you faced DMETA without loosing more than a handful - or two of marbles, and you sat watch while others slept just knowing you were there while peers dozed through life in a glaze of ignorant 'normality'. Top it all, you even volunteer to preserve the memory and memories of Veteran kin safe on Her Venerable Ladyship, The Alliance. YOU are a Veteran. Get over it. Wear it with dignity and wear it with pride. Just saying. God Bless You, and all who HAD to f'ing Suffer to Sail With You x
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It's because when you were growing up all that while ago, a veteran was a crusty who had served near 5-years through Normandy to Japan and back to Berlin while slaughtering the enemy on a daily basis from beneath their half-deployed parachute canopy throwing the daggers of shot-in-the-air comrades; or had shot and killed their first of many at a range of 3 feet in an enemy ambush in densest Borneo; or had faced off the bad guys in Suez in a lone tank with a track blown off by a 1.4lb'er and an issue of just 4 rounds; or swam through burning oil after a 100ft escape via a torpedo tube; or was on the Hood during its finest hour...etc.
Perhaps you feel you do not measure to up to that childhood awe of the term, "Veteran"; the men who served to protect your freedom and jump the queue in Woolworths as grumpy old gits to whom we 'owed a debt' and an oz of tobacco, and who looked nothing like the glamorous actors in your favourite movies because they were REAL soldiers, sailors, and airmen.
Face it, you ARE that grumpy, crusty old git; you gave your time to Serve in some overly-hyped leaky, sweat-stained old 'boat'; you worked to improve the care of the wounded; you did your best to throw daggers; and you faced DMETA without loosing more than a handful - or two of marbles, and you sat watch while others slept just knowing you were there while peers dozed through life in a glaze of ignorant 'normality'. Top it all, you even volunteer to preserve the memory and memories of Veteran kin safe on Her Venerable Ladyship, The Alliance. YOU are a Veteran. Get over it. Wear it with dignity and wear it with pride. Just saying. God Bless You, and all who HAD to f'ing Suffer to Sail With You x
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