Peace Protests

[2Lt_Martin]

I‘m sure most of you have seen the peace protests going on across North America and around the world, (much to Iraq‘s delight). Just thought I would put the question out to the board, Has anyone encountered any sort of backlash about being in uniform / being part of the military (I say military vice CF because as soon as some civy sees a uniform they seem to get tunnel vision. And if there is a conflict happening somewhere in the world, and you are wearing a uniform you must be involved in some way.)

How have you handled this type of incident? Any advice for those of us who have never had to deal with this. I‘ve received the occassional snide comment and have just let it go in one ear and out the other. It‘s almost as though some of these people feel sorry/compassion (not sure of the right word here) for Hussein‘s regime. Not sure how to react to these people, any input/advice is appreciated

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Ignoring them is the only thing to do; if they are stupid enough to equate a soldier with war, they cannot be reasoned with.

We had the Sherman tank and Universal Carrier in front of our armoury vandalized last week; some idiots spray painted peace signs and slogans on them.

I wrote in to the local paper but haven‘t seen it published yet. Basically, I wanted to publicly ask the people who did this what they thought they were accomplishing:‘

a) soldiers don‘t set foreign policy, they follow legal orders
b) soldiers are the ones that do the dying in a war, and are generally the last ones who want to go
c) you don‘t just run out and buy touch up paint for 60 year old equipment painted in vintage markings; the monuments are effectively ruined
d) President Bush isn‘t likely to read the anti-war slogans on a tank in Calgary, but you can bet the widows of war veterans, their families, and others who still honour the memory of our war dead will indeed see how these memorials have been desecrated

Basically, I have to ask - why preach to the choir? What idiot thinks that ruining a war memorial and painting graffiti on the front of an armoury will change anything? We pray for peace as much as any scumbag civvie - moreso, maybe.

 

[2Lt_Martin]

Wow and I thought snide comments were bad; that‘s pretty brutal defacing a monument.

Especially in the west after having the PPCLI recently return from Afghanistan you would think that would be fresh in people‘s minds. How quickly some forget about the sacrifices made.

I guess your correct that I am preaching to the choir here, but we do have some really great singers.

 

[Jarnhamar]

I‘d have to agree with my buddy michael here.
Smart people speak because they have something to say, stupid speak because they think they need to say something.
Most of the people who will make ignorant and rude comments are the latter catagory. Worst thing is you can sit them down and explain basically what michael just and it will go right over their head.

Some military people don‘t help our image though like reserve guys walking around town swearing every second word talking about killing people or my favorite, RMC students at the bars.

Thats such a shame what they did to that tank.
I guess its kinda like south korea. They hate the military and want them gone until they‘re threatened and then they fall over themselves thanking you.

 

[2Lt_Martin]

RMC students at bars = trouble I‘m guessing, hmmm I bet there are some good stories out there. <-- Should start a new post on this.


Your right on target with your comments about hating us one minute and praising or begging for help the next. Whichever is convienient at the moment.

 

[humint]

Yes, ignore them! If they can‘t differentiate between soldiers and policy makers, than they can‘t differentiate between their head, their @ss, and a hole in the ground!

Last month, a group called Homes Not Bombs tried to send out a letter to all CF members, the point of which was to encourage us to quit the Forces. Not sure if anyone here received it at their forces email, but it was posted on the net and via email chain letters, etc. Anyway, the letter went on to say that the war (??) was illegal, etc., and that the group would "support" anyone who left the Forces in protest.

The letter didn‘t specify whether the support it mentioned was the financial or the moral kind.

The whole thing was just plain silly. Did they actually expect people to leave their jobs and career? How outta touch are these people? They should be talking to the politicians, not us!

 

[SNoseworthy]

Yes, ignore them! If they can‘t differentiate between soldiers and policy makers, than they can‘t differentiate between their head, their @ss, and a hole in the ground!

Nicely put humint!

 

[combat_medic]

For the past month or so, I‘ve been doing the new PLQ course on weekends in downtown Vancouver, and several times when driving to or from the armouries, I‘ve had people shove posters at me saying "Stop the War on Iraq" or people muttering "baby killer" at me. For the love of God, I‘m a 23 year old medic in the reserves, how many babies could I have conceivably killed, even if I DID have the inclination? I usually just shrug it off, but sometimes I just wish I didn‘t have to behave in uniform.

For anyone interested, there‘s a great speech here from a Vietnam vet talking about war protesters post Sept-11th. It‘s very American, but echoes a lot of the sentiments posted here.

 

[ninty9]

We had the Sherman tank and Universal Carrier in front of our armoury vandalized last week; some idiots spray painted peace signs and slogans on them.

Really? I haven‘t been down to the armoury in a few weeks.

Thats so disrespectful. They just put the Sherman out there last summer. Hopefully they‘ll get fixed up soon.

 

[PTE Gruending]

These sort of things (defacing War Memorials) sicken me. Good points have been made by all of you across the board, and I just wish the public shared your sentiment.

Is a disrespect for the Military a specific Canadian problem? When I look at the American media that we seem to be bombarded with everyday (books, tv, film, music, etc), it seems like although there is strong anti-war sentiment in the U.S., at least there is a respect for the Armed Forces.

Now I‘m not not even opening up for the debate on whether War on Iraq is an appropriate course of action or not. But it seems that the Military is of importance in the States. Since joining the CF last summer I have had numerous discussions with friends, families, peers, etc about the Military. It seems that their is a general public concensus that it is not an important issue. Many do not see why there is a need for a strong Canadian Military, or support sustained levels (or increases) in funding.

It is all reflected in Canadian politics as well, with the NDP gambling by enstating a new leader whom the party hopes will capture the support of the Urban populance (Layton). His current platform includes a freeze on military spending. Are we going backwards here? Does this reflect the viewpoints of the majority of Canadians? I sure the **** hope not. It seems as a whole, the Canadian public has no sense of national pride, which reflects upon the CF. It‘s this general lack of dignity, complacency, and ignorance that almost makes me want to move South at times.

When will we learn that the Military is a necessary arm of the government, and a means of pride and strength for a nation? Instead it seems that the ignorant masses lump in CF members with those responsible for unpopular international military conflict, which may or may not have anything to do with Canada.

Let us not forget the sacrifices of the war vets/deceased which grant us freedom. As well as the militaries of the "modern" world (U.N., NATO) which keep the world from descending into chaos and anarchy, where fear and evil are the rule.

 

[BestOfTheBest]

I just got back form an excerise with army cadets this week and while i was going home on the bus a group of people were like looking at me in this werid look, as if they just wanted to kill me or something because i was wearing full combats with a rucksuck on my back.
and this was all beside the dnd building in ottawa.
My uniform CLEARlY SAYS CADET ON IT but i was getting alot of rude comments by people just walking by me

 

[Jarnhamar]

Maybe they were making those comments because they knew you were a cadet

(Kidding of course)

 

[Korus]

I started BMQ in Edmonton at the same time that 3 PPCLI returned from Afghanistan. For the entire month, people where honking at us and waving as we bused back and forth from the garrison (where we had our shacks) and the armouries (where we did most of our training). It was really interesting to see a positive attitude to the CF, something I never expected.

Now to see things about turn, and have people vandalize the Calgary armouries, call soldiers baby killers, etc... Sounds like some people saw a movie about vietnam war protests in the 60‘s, and want to give it a try.

 

[Jarnhamar]

You guys are more disciplined then me. I found myself a nice assault charge when some friends and I went to a seperation demonostration and someone was burning a canadian flag.

I guess it takes a big man to walk away from that stuff, im not a very big man.

Kingston is a great city for having indepth conversations about the military with students who know ‘all‘ about the military and how it works.

 

[Marti]

i think that most people are smart enough to differentiate between the military and war. i was training with my reserve unit on the weekend at the above mentioned vandalized armouries, and there was a peace protest being organized next door. sentries were posted to ward off further vandalizing, but when i asked them about it later, they said most people smiled, waved and said hello. there were a few oddballs who asked them ‘who owns you?‘, but the biggest problems came from photographers and cameramen who tried rushing inside the armouries to use the towers to get an arial shot of the crowd. i think most people are on side with us, it‘s just the people that aren‘t are so vocal about it we notice them more than the others. then again, when it comes to judging people i‘m an optimist so maybe i‘m way off.

 

[Jungle]

Something that struck me about last weeks demonstrations was the group of Iraqi children in Baghdad. They had a large group of kids from the scout movement demonstrating, and one of them was shown carrying a sign that read: "Death to Bush"... quite the "pro-peace" statement, especially coming from a child.
Strangely, there were no comments from the anti-war movement.

 

[PTE Gruending]

Not to mention the burning Bush effigy‘s....

 

[Pugil]

We had seen millions of people protesting against war all around the World but we havent seen any pro-war protest so far, not enough evidence to justify it?

 

[muskrat89]

Actually, Pugil there has been pro-war protests, here in the US. They don‘t get much coverage, in the news....

 

[Korus]

Here‘s a website worth checking out. Most notably, click on the "Click for more photos" link to see more anti-protester posters.

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