[quote="claret2018"]What has football got to do with the war?[/]
I will start with Tommy Boyle a footballer and Burnley captain whose later life was not helped by his war time memories. Like so many who played the game and watched it and many still do.
I suggest you turn up at 305pm next season around this time
Remembrance Day & football
-
claret wizard
- Posts: 985
- Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2016 11:20 am
- Been Liked: 264 times
- Has Liked: 90 times
Re: Remembrance Day & football
I think there”s a wider problem of commercialisation of charities. They behave like commercial organisations and compete for the available charity funds to maximise their revenues. They pay people big salaries to drive those activities but rely on volunteers and donators to realise them.
I”ll caveat what I’m about to say by highlighting I’m ex Army, knew all about The Italian Campaign as my Company at Sandhurst was Salerno and we were taught about it. Some of the bloodiest and prolonged fighting of WWII and the poster who’s Father had been there put so well the suffering those men had at the time and for the rest of their lives. I’ve not bought a poppy for many years, I’ve found the Royal British Legion to be a let down over my time out of the forces. The hierarchy seems mainly to be an ex Officers Club and the few times they have been required to help have sadly been lacking. They were behaving like this way before the wider commercialism of charities that I mentioned above. My own Father (now deceased) was in the Pacific during the Nuclear testing program and during the 80’s and 90’s the Legion did pretty much nothing for this band of Veterans. Sticking with an establishment line, pretty much the same with the Gulf War casualties who carried psychological and syndrome problems but which are invisible wounds.
I’m sure there’s great people in these military charities but the reality should be that the Government should be funding these programs, and not leaving it to quasi-commercial bodies. If they spent a tiny percentage of what they spend on the weapons that cause these symptoms on the aftercare then the tawdry scenes of walking poppies will soon disappear and we can focus on an act of dignified Remembrance.
I”ll caveat what I’m about to say by highlighting I’m ex Army, knew all about The Italian Campaign as my Company at Sandhurst was Salerno and we were taught about it. Some of the bloodiest and prolonged fighting of WWII and the poster who’s Father had been there put so well the suffering those men had at the time and for the rest of their lives. I’ve not bought a poppy for many years, I’ve found the Royal British Legion to be a let down over my time out of the forces. The hierarchy seems mainly to be an ex Officers Club and the few times they have been required to help have sadly been lacking. They were behaving like this way before the wider commercialism of charities that I mentioned above. My own Father (now deceased) was in the Pacific during the Nuclear testing program and during the 80’s and 90’s the Legion did pretty much nothing for this band of Veterans. Sticking with an establishment line, pretty much the same with the Gulf War casualties who carried psychological and syndrome problems but which are invisible wounds.
I’m sure there’s great people in these military charities but the reality should be that the Government should be funding these programs, and not leaving it to quasi-commercial bodies. If they spent a tiny percentage of what they spend on the weapons that cause these symptoms on the aftercare then the tawdry scenes of walking poppies will soon disappear and we can focus on an act of dignified Remembrance.
This user liked this post: Lord Beamish