"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Tuesday 1 December 2015

NOW WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT IN A GUEST POST

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WEIRD STUFF HAPPENING": 

Shell Shock was the post-WWI name for the condition. During the war, those with "cowardice" as the condition was called were forced back to the front. Those that failed to do their duty were executed by firing squad. This was the British military discipline at work. 25 members of the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force) were executed for cowardice or desertion. In 2006 the British Defence Minister pardoned 306 Commonwealth soldiers that were executed for these crimes. Two of the 25 Canadians were not pardoned as they also committed murder. A strange thing considering they were there to kill Germans.  

Shell Shock is a mental condition. When the Government created the DVA hospitals (Westminster in London, Ont.; Sunnybrook in Toronto, etc.) they included a Psychiatric wing. In London, the PI (Psychiatric Institute) was a large building with fenced off balconies (to prevent patients from jumping). 

As we progress through world wars, police actions and peace keeping deployments, the effects are the same. But now we call it PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).  

TV shows rarely show the reality. MASH was an attempt to comment about the Vietnam War - Korea and Vietnam were not the same. Hogan's Heroes was quite an amazing thing in that 2 of the prominent NAZI characters were played by Jews.  

Despite the American jingoism, shows like Band of Brothers and movies like Saving Private Ryan give real insight to the lives of the ordinary infantryman. If you discount the "love scenes", Paul Gross' Passchendale was a realistic view of the battlefields in Flanders and Arras areas during WW1.  

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Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 1 December 2015 at 14:51

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

New names for old problems. Shell Shock was also used to cover men who had been in Japanese prison camps. Some of
them never functioned " properly " again.
There was a man living on our street was was never seen outside - maybe he went out at night. It turned out, he
had served on a submarine during the war. He spent the days reading old western novels the neighbours collected
for him. Sad, sad life that no amount of " insurance "could repair.

Anonymous said...

There appears to be a concerted effort to help the military brought on by the information
about how many have committed suicide. I do not know how effective this will be but
it seems long overdue.

Anonymous said...

From the DND web site:

Who participates in the Supplementary Death Benefit Plan?

Regular Force members and Class "C" Reserve members who are serving or receiving a pension are eligible to participate in the Supplementary Death Benefit Plan.

How does the plan work while you are serving?

If you die while serving, your beneficiary receives two times your annual pay, rounded up to the nearest $250, if your pay is not a multiple of $250. You pay $1 for every $10,000 of coverage.



Anonymous said...


At least 14 people were killed in San Bernardino, California earlier today and as many were injured, when three gunmen opened fire.

They are still at large.

Many Syrian refugees are pleading NOT to be sent to the United States. So far 20 state governors have said they do NOT want any of these people.

Anonymous said...

Auroran

Anonymous said...


THE AURORAN December 2, 2015

LAV continues to roll to Cenotaph park

"A light armoured vehicle (LAV) used by the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan will take its position at the Aurora Cenotaph next year following an aborted u-turn from Council.

...

Going into last week's Council meeting, local lawmakers faced a motion from Councillor John Abel responding to these concerns, calling for a further report on alternative locations for the "purpose-built machine."

However, an impassioned delegation by Col. Kirk Corkery of the Queen's York Ranger, accompanied by two uniformed serving members of the Regiment who served in Afghanistan, led Councillor Abel to pull the plug on his reconsideration."

This is the same Councillor Abel who fought a valiant and losing battle to save "three heritage trees" last year. It appears the councillor is un-Abel to stick with his 'guns.'

The Cenotaph is a perfect, dignified and symmetrical memorial. Placing one LAV close to it destroys the symmetry. Two LAV's would be more aesthetically pleasing.

And Col Korkery should bear in mind that the original hundreds of these pieces of equipment were inadequately constructed from the standpoint of their armour and were responsible for numerous wounded and dead members of our armed forces. It was only after this had been experienced that additional heavy steel was added to reinforce them and make them better able to perform the function for which they were originally intended

Anonymous said...

19:02

Glad to read your couch military designer comments.

The LAV was never designed for IED infested areas in Afghanistan. They were originally designed for the European theatre. So, your statement about "originally intended" is false. Yes, they were reinforced once in theatre but so were the US versions of the SAME vehicle. You have to adapt to the enemy.

At least they are no going to put an Iltis there.

Anonymous said...

17:20
I can understand the reluctance of the Syrian refugees to travel so far to the States, Imagine you get your family safely away from the bombs
and gun fire only to run into the ranting hatred of a bunch of angry Americans who do not realize that home-grown
horrors kill far more Americans. One day they are cursing third generation Mexican families, the next morning the
target might be Cubans who fled there decades ago, but mostly it is non- Christians, For now.

Anonymous said...


11:45

This particular piece of military equipment goes back to the early 60's, as I recall.

It has been deployed by dozens of countries in one form or another and is constantly getting modified to meet the needs and terrain in which employed.

"Original intentions" on there part of any military are usually never carried out. Soldiers love to tinker.

Anonymous said...

Trump gets scarier by the day, His followers lack only some sort of uniform.