Dicriminated against for wearin their uniform?

[Gromit]

[i]Members of the Armed Forces are suffering abuse and discrimination on Britain’s streets just for wearing their uniforms

Six per cent have been attacked in the street, while 21 per cent have reported strangers coming up to them and shouting abuse.

In one case, a member of the Royal Navy was told by his son’s head teacher to stop wearing his uniform on the school run because it “upset the parents”.[i]

http://www.telegraph....el-unappreciated.html

What do you make of that?

[TTG]

Agree with the above post.

[NOX]

Sorry Phil, unless someone is utterly stupid they will realise that being in the army takes away all free will about whose wars you fight and why, therefore they are totally complicit in sticking their noses into other people's countries.

'I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight.' I think it was Patten said.

[Nibble]

Sorry, you feel like that, nox, I hope you feel that your right to say it, hasn't come at the cost of many military & civilian lives in support of the conflicts and wars,whether you personally believe they were right or wrong, which have given you the opportunity & right to say what you want.

Having, personally been in many conflict zones, and been & seen the difference your someone is utterly stupid makes to the lives of the people caught in the area, I find your assertion as to something you know the square root of zero about, i.e the individuals circumstances as to why they serve this country to be both irritating and facile.


<Rant over>

[NOX]

...and the fact that (ex) soldiers feel the need to rant and impose their views on others without bothering to read or understand the point I was making (which is that service people are NOT by and large stupid) is pretty irritating and facile, but then I don't expect you have ever lived in a country occupied by an army, or seen your family and friends hauled off under internment have you? I have the greatest respect for the fact that members of your armed forces need treating with the same respect as everyone else- shame you don't respect the opinions of people who disagree with you about something ( and you didn't fight for my rights to say anything mate-in fact British soliders have tried their hardest to prevent it in my country for the last few hundred years or so).

[Nibble]

Been there!!!!!

[NOX]

Bet you have ;-)

[andy-hughes]

Military service is a seriously emotive subject, as this, and other debates have shown on the AB.

It is shocking that anyone is abused for their occuptation, and it should not be allowed to continue.

[Philtaz]

Your 'point' NOX was that soldiers stick their noses in where it's not wanted.
Not the case and you know it. Governments send troops to wherever that government deems it necessary for them to be or they are 'invited' there, as per Afghanistan.
Soldiers don't go to countries of their own volition, they are tasked there by politicians and governments, but I'm sure you were already fully aware of that.

[emmie]

Sad day when our service personnel get treated that way. As to occupation of other countries i am of the firm belief we should not have been any where near Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, leave well alone. But as Phil points out they are sent and you cannot say no if they wish to remain in the services.
As to being in any part of Ireland i feel the the same, we should have stayed out. Too many lives lost and for what exactly.

[murraymints]

nibble..were you are you military ??...I thank you for all your work..people do not understand what a sacrifice you make and risk life day after day !! I do not agree with war but appreciate what others do for me...and my country..stay safe boys !!

[Nibble]

As now ex-military, I feel the politicians spend a lot of time trying to "sort" out the issues & problems of the world, but with the limited knowledge of the real issues of the world - thus by default of all our ignorances & self-belief in what "we" do - the actual situation can be exacerbated by dint of armed conflict resolution, and left in a worse place that previously enjoyed. BUT harassing the members of any countries armed forces for the failings of the policies & objectives that have led to the involvement of the people serving in those forces does nothing to make the initial assessment of situations more equable for the people suffering in war zones & areas of conflict. The failing of policy in these areas is no more the fault of military personnel than the failings of any policies in any other sphere of working life, and as such should always be condemned, IMHO

[NOX]

Be honest though Phil- you can't seriously expect anyone to believe that you thought when you joined the army that you might not be sent somwhere to do somthing that you didn't personally agree with? I would imagine that nearly everyone who joins appreciates that will be a fact and that they decide that it's acceptable- therefore however you dress it up they are totally complicit in poking their noses into other people's countries. I would never join an army except in time of war to protect my homeland or the country in which I was living for exactly that reason, I don't want to be someone else's pawn in some political gameplay. Soldiers do go to other people's contries of their own volition because they joined the army. I've strangely never been to Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq etc etc etc- because I didn't join the army, it's quite simple.

[emmie]

soldiers aren't just stationed abroad, they serve here too. In times of crisis the army get called out. I would imagine that being spat upon by your own countrymen and women very dispiriting.

[NOX]

I agree Em, I think it's truly appalling, no-one should have to put up with being treated like that because of their choice of career.

[China Doll]

I wouldn't find the need to abuse someone on the street because of their occupation, but that said, I also don't subscribe to the idea that because you were in the army you're a hero. I think hero is a term bandied around too much frankly and has lost a lot of its meaning as a result. I think it's bad that some people seem to think someone obviously being in the army gives them license to go up and abuse that person, I don't understand that mentality.

I would really appreciate it though if someone could explain to me why these people were wearing their uniforms in public places though please? (Genuine question, I thought most army people were at bases etc, and don't understand why someone would be taking their kid to school daily in their uniform or in to shops).

[mrs_overall]

China, I was wondering the same thing.
You don't get traffic wardens, uniformed police officers etc doing the school run in uniform - it is not allowed.
There will always be morons who want to have a pop at anyone in a uniform to show what "hard" men they are.

[emmie]

It's strange to me that no one on earth in Britain, i hope, would thinking of berating, spitting on the old service men and women who make up the Chelsea Pensioners, who proudly wear their uniform. They were once in the armed forces, so i fail to see why younger members of the armed forces be treated differently. Or don't some of the pea brains get the fact that this is a career for many, not some jolly to go out and kill johnny foreigner and their offspring.

[paddywak]

Chinadoll at one time it was quite common to see servicemen on leave wearing their uniforms it was only in the 70's, I think it was, after a series of I.R.A. attacks on off duty service men that the practice was stopped

[jno]

yes... going through that list...

Military personnel might well be refused mortgages if it's thought they'll be dead 30 years before paying it off. The government needs to guarantee their payments if it doesn't already.

Pubs can impose dress codes ("no bare feet") but they ought to be obliged to post it outside. Ditto other shops, in fact, so people who don't like such rules know to take their business elsewhere.

People wearing uniform on the school run can wear what they please; other parents can take a hike. But why exactly you dress in your admiral's uniform to do the school run, I don't know.

[emmie]

paddywak is quite correct, service personnel were told not to wear the uniform as that made them an obvious target.