Gnashing of Teeth!

If there was a single news item that was destined to spoil my day it was the interview of the ever popular ex soldier, ex-Lance Corporal Joe Glenton formerly of the Royal Logistic Corps.  This sanctimonious excuse for a former soldier is going to “return his medals” or his “veterans badge”, I’m not sure quite which given the conflicting reports on the television.  In any event if I had my way I would have demand them back the day he was convicted of going absent without leave and disobeying a lawful command which  resulted in this useless article serving a well deserved six or was it nine months military detention.

This is a man who now pontificates on the manner in which the war in Afghanistan was, is and should not be fought.  This is a former logistician who served ONE six month tour in Afghanistan and then refused to go back.  All I can say is that he should not have joined up in the first place if he was going to pick and choose which orders he was going to obey, which oath he was to take and which battles to fight or not.

He brings shame on his regiment, the army and his country as well as on himself for he is NOT a proud example of a man at all.  He is supported by a fringe of left wing unpatriotic wasters who would rather see the world spin out of control in a nice liberal free from control nanny state.

Glenton, stuff your medals and badge where the sun don’t shine and let the real heroes of Afghanistan wear theirs without your slimly shadow casting itself over them.

NOTE:

Joe Glenton was a British Army Lance Corporal and war resister from York. He argued that the war in Afghanistan is illegal under international law and faced court-martial for Absence Without Leave as well as charges related to his protesting the war. After pleading guilty to going AWOL for 737 days at a court martial, on 5 March 2010 Glenton was sentenced to 9 months in the Military Corrective Training Centre,  the UK's military prison in Colchester. On pleading guilty to going AWOL, charges of desertion, disobeying orders and bringing the Army into disrepute, were all dropped.

By way of contrast, Wootton Bassett (Wikipedia)

Recent history

In the early twenty-first century, the bodies of fallen UK servicemen and women from the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places, having been repatriated to RAF Lyneham, usually pass through the town on their way to John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, in readiness for the coroner. This has led to people assembling along the route of the funeral cortège initially from the local area and occasionally some mourners with a connection to the dead. On 12 October 2008, a parade was organised by the armed services to thank the town for their support.^[9]. This drew national attention to the town's salute to the fallen; and relatives/friends not attending the RAF Lyneham ceremony choose to pay their first respects at Wootton Bassett, joined by representatives from their towns and other, unrelated visitors, leading to speculation that the event had become a form of 'grief tourism'^[10][11]. On Friday 29 January 2010 HRH The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall visited Wootton Bassett to lay a wreath at the War Memorial and to meet local people.^[12]

The War Memorial in Wootton Bassett is a simple pedestal topped by a bronze of hands holding up a globe. The erection of the memorial was quite recent, and was the vision of local girl Jay Cunningham who felt that the memorial garden in the cemetery and the memorial hall on Tinker's Field were not a prominent enough memorial.^[13] After a successful five year publicity and fund raising campaign, the memorial was unveiled in October 2004. The design was chosen by public vote, designed by Lance Corporal Alan Wilson of the Wootton Bassett army cadets with the bronze sculpted by artist Vivian ap Rhys Price^[14] from nearby Calne, 10 miles to the south.

In 2009, Wootton Bassett made headlines after radical UK Islamist group Islam4UK suggested the town as the site of a proposed march. The proposal, led by Muslim extremist Anjem Choudary, came under widespread condemnation from British citizens, including Muslims, politicians, and the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Some right wing citizens, mainly from outside of the town, said that they would "defend" the town if they felt they needed to.^[15] However, on 10 January 2010, Islam4UK announced that it decided to call off the protest, claiming that the publicity generated had "successfully highlighted the plight of Muslims in Afghanistan" and so "no more could be achieved even if a procession were to take place in Wootton Bassett".^[16]

In May 2009, the Royal British Legion honoured Wootton Bassett with a special award in recognition of Legion members who turned out to honour hundreds of fallen British servicemen and women being repatriated from Iraq and Afghanistan^[17]. In 2009, it was revealed that the Queen had spoken to Gordon Brown about the possibility of granting Wootton Basset Royal Patronage, making it the third 'Royal' town in the country, after Royal Leamington Spa in Warwickshire and Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent^[18]. However, the news was received with mixed reactions. Whilst over 2,600 people signed a petition on the Downing Street website calling for Wootton Bassett to be 'officially recognised in some form',^[18] Wootton Bassett Mayor Councillor Steve Bucknell stated royal patronage would not be welcome, claiming that whilst local residents were "humbled" by the honour, "we didn’t expect anything...[in return]...and that is still the case".^[19] On 21 December 2009, Wootton Bassett received one of The Sun's "Millie" awards for its tributes to the fallen. The award was presented by HRH Prince William and received on behalf of the town by Mayor Steve Bucknell and British Legion treasurer Ann Beavis and Cross Keys landlady Kirsty Lambert.^[20]

In March 2010, in another example of the national symbolism of Wootton Bassett, there was a mass parade of bikers. Associated charity fundraising is reported to have reached £100,000.^[21] Motorcyclists from The Royal British Legion Riders Branch, many of whom are former service personnel, attend every repatriation held in the town.^[22][23][24]