An apology

Friends,

Last night I made a couple of jokes, that on reflection, I wish I had not made.

The point of these comments was to raise, what I believe to be, a serious issue regarding the way we are treating our Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen serving overseas. I accept that my method was ill considered and unnecessarily crass and hurtful. For that I am sincerely sorry.

I do not wish to attempt to justify myself, so I will not. However, I will try to explain my thinking and leave you to your own judgement.

I have extensive experience of dealing with members of the armed forces and have found within their ranks men and women of all types, classes, religions and attitudes.

They have not all been 'good' or 'heroic'. In fact most have been ordinary people doing a job of work. A job, they enjoy some of the time and loath almost as much. It has been a career option choosen for almost as many reasons as there are people who choose it. Few, if any, have picked the military for the glory and the honour. None have enlisted to protect 'my' way of life. Most have described poor prospects, unhappy family life or the need to make a fresh start away from various difficulties. These reasons, in no way, lessen the respect that we as a nation should have for these service people.

The servicemen I have met, and know, have included drunks, gamblers, womanisers and petty criminals, they have not been 'role models' but then that is not what they are there for.

The point I am slowly getting to, is that the hagiofying of average men and women into 'heroes' will make a readjustment into ordinary post-operational, life much more difficult for these guys and girls. Raising our expectations of them to such absurdly high levels will mean that they are no longer able to make mistakes. The 'Afghan War hero caught....' headlines are being prepared as you read this. and this is not right or fair.

A postman or milkman is 'allowed' to beat his wife without bringing the national press into the equation, nobody will vilify him for bringing 'dishonour' or 'shame' to his colleagues. Yet this is exactly the kind of reaction our forces will be subject to when they do return. Constantly watched, constantly compared and constantly critisized for being human, when we have created saints.