The wearing of the poppy is to remember all of the fallen regardless of what conflict ...or is that YOUR interpretation of it Bonymaen. Correct me if im wrong but my understanding is that Rememberance Day is to honour only British victims of war.
Remembrance day is for all the fallen. We observe it twice a year. In April for ANZAC day and now in November. I am a teacher and all my class brought money last week to donate and each wore a poppy on their school uniforms. It is the way the are brought up and needed no encouragement. Year 6, 11 years old.
...I dont want to labour the point but when you say ALL do you actually mean everyone who died -allied and enemy soldiers alike. This taken from Wikipedia suggests otherwise: Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty.
Personally I'd have worn the poppy - however I don't believe someone should be forced to wear one or be criticized for not wearing one.. It's personal choice - and I am sure if you spoke to the lad, he appreciates the sacrifice those who fell made to make the world a better place....
im with tha man above me.......its a choice thing really>>>>>i`d wear em for the fella`s in world war one for sure them guys deserved it>>>>>>>the wars since the 2nd WW is a fking joke tho and myself i`d have em(our forces) on trial for murder not congratulate them
I agree its a choice... but got to askwhen you would have our forces on trial for murder do you mean the politicians or the soldiers? Also do you mean everyone since WW2 right up to the current serving soldiers?
agree with swansman, and to a lesser extent rubber, i have my own views on the wars we are involved in at the moment, to me the people fighting the first 2 world wars are the heros, its a different sort of respect to the respect i have towards those fighting wars in afghanistan and iraq, which is not about defending this country, and for other reasons which we can all speculate on. i commend their bravery and choice to put the lives on their line, but not the wars they are involved in. whether i wear a poppy or not isnt the issue for me, you should be free to make your own choices, ironically what the men it commemorates fought for in WW1 and WW2.
I lost two grandads in ww2 and have lost my uncle to the war in Afghanistan but i agree that it's a choice to wear the poppy and you should in no way be criticised for not wearing one.
tbh bony i`d start from the top down so your a long way from being dealt with but yes in any illegal war your have 2 answer for any deaths
As I said on the Newcastle board (I think)... McClean is well known in NI as a bit of a twat. You can take the footballer out of (!) 'Derry' but you can't take 'Derry' out of the footballer! Some of the stuff he says on Twitter makes this no surprise. It's the product of self inflicted community segregation I'm afraid.
The Only war I want to be involved in is a renewed Gun powder plot! Only this time lets make it a bloody good job of it, in blowing up that Westminster whore house!...................... please log in to view this image
i wear a poppy for the warriors on all sides who had 2 be put into the hell of the first world war,where toffs from afar would give orders knowing common men like me and you would die in blood and mug soacked fields in the middle of knowhere and for no real reason other than a few yards .......i hate fking war
here here rubber, a complete waste of money and lives. put their kids out their and see how they change their tune..... on the tannoy in the CCS it said that the troops were keeping our country safe by going to afghanistan...... how exactly? not too sure about revolution dragon, besides its a very attractive, iconic building even if it is populated by self serving buffoons
I think the condemnation of James McLean is ridiculous really. People have questioned his understanding of history and his mental capability’s due to his decision not to wear a poppy. It has even been suggested he shouldn’t be allowed play in England because of this decision. Im Irish and here is an Irish perspective on this. I spoke to many of my friends last night about this. We asked if in the same position as Mclean (asked to wear a poppy) what would we do. Most said they would just wear the Jersey and get on with it and apply no significance to it what so ever. Others said on principle they could not wear the poppy. Of those who said they would all bar none said they would never buy a poppy or wear one in their everyday life but to avoid the hassle would wear the poppy. In effect an empty gesture. People in England must understand what the poppy represents in Ireland. It is for most Irish people I know whether correctly or not seen as a gesture of support and solidarity with the actions of the British army. What the poppy represents depends on the perspective of the individual. English and indeed British people are more than entitled to show their respect for the loved ones they have lost in wars in the past centuries by wearing a poppy or employing any other form of commemoration they see fit. However those who have suffered at the hands of the British army surely cannot be expected to wear a symbol commemorating members of an army which caused suffering to their people/nations. James McLean grew up in Derry and as a result will have a very different view of the British army than someone living in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Sunderland or elsewhere in Britain. His reality is equally valid as those living in Britain surely and indeed more so given the British army were active where he lived and grew up. Many have argued that the poppy commemorates those who died fighting for freedom and has no relevance to the issues in northern Ireland. At the time of the first world war it was claimed the British army were fighting for the freedom of small nations. This is viewed very ironically in Ireland given our own nation was being denied freedom at this very point in history by the British state accomplished by the use of the British army. There were many other nations outside Ireland who were in the same position including one very large one India. Another point which has also somewhat ignorantly been made is that only for the British army Irish people would be speaking German. Any evaluation of history would surely declare such a statement laughable. I reckon all the peoples of these islands have more to thank the US and Russian soldiers for our continued use of English than any actions of the British army though they also deserve much credit. The bigger point here however is that the British feared the loss of their language, culture and way of life if the Germans successfully invaded. The fact that the British army prevented this is perceived quiet correctly by the British public as a laudable achievement. However in Ireland an invading army and foreign power succeeded in robbing our nation of our culture, language and way of life. That power being the British!!! Those who claim James McLean is an ignorant bigot for not wearing a symbol which surely is not mandatory in Britain must consider their own ignorance first. Educate yourself on the actions of successive generations of the British army and it will be easy to understand why James McLean CHOOSE not to wear a poppy. PS no reasonable person in Ireland blames any British person alive today for the actions of the British army historically in Ireland. To do so would be foolish. Had Ireland the power Britain had in the past would they have behaved any differently. Highly doubtful. Still horrendous crimes were committed of that there can be no doubt.
It might be a waste of money but some wars were necessary to ensure the freedom we have now, If we didn't fight for what we believe then we would be walked all over by dictators and would all be speaking German, tell the Jewish people we should not go to war, I dont think they would agree....Every conflict has a reason and if that means going to the Icelandic waters to defend out fishermen or going to the gulf to protect our interest and stop a dictator from repeating his act of gassing 10,000 innocent victims and going to Afghanistan to protect the afghan people from the Taliban then i would go to war tomorrow....some on here who are not ex service men dont understand why we go to war and are talking nonsense... There are good reasons why we go to war and i have been in 3 conflicts where there was nobody who complained and did their duty....
