10-29-2015, 04:26 PM
If I could offer a UK perspective, on a bit of a tangent...
It's only relatively recently that 'Support Our Troops' message has really gained a lot of, well, support here and it's probably fair to say that we've copied it from the US.
It's a topical question as Remembrance Day is a couple of weeks away and we're now well into the 'Poppy Season'. Traditionally, you used to see poppies being worn in the week around 11/11 but now you'll see them being worn earlier and earlier (news anchors and politicians seem to compete with one another to wear them first) and with it has come an almost sinister pressure that, if you're not wearing a poppy by mid-October, you're somehow disrespecting service personnel and, by extension, you're supporting terrorism. That view is fortunately mostly restricted to our right wing press (i.e. about 90% of it) and a small but vocal bunch of racists who try and hide their racism behind a sort of militaristic patriotism. There's an almost daily diet of false stories that poppies are being banned because it might offend someone (these days it's usually Muslims who get the blame).
Where any discomfort exists in supporting the armed services, it's mostly down to who you're indirectly associating with. It certainly isn't caused by the soldiers, sailors or airmen themselves.
It's only relatively recently that 'Support Our Troops' message has really gained a lot of, well, support here and it's probably fair to say that we've copied it from the US.
It's a topical question as Remembrance Day is a couple of weeks away and we're now well into the 'Poppy Season'. Traditionally, you used to see poppies being worn in the week around 11/11 but now you'll see them being worn earlier and earlier (news anchors and politicians seem to compete with one another to wear them first) and with it has come an almost sinister pressure that, if you're not wearing a poppy by mid-October, you're somehow disrespecting service personnel and, by extension, you're supporting terrorism. That view is fortunately mostly restricted to our right wing press (i.e. about 90% of it) and a small but vocal bunch of racists who try and hide their racism behind a sort of militaristic patriotism. There's an almost daily diet of false stories that poppies are being banned because it might offend someone (these days it's usually Muslims who get the blame).
Where any discomfort exists in supporting the armed services, it's mostly down to who you're indirectly associating with. It certainly isn't caused by the soldiers, sailors or airmen themselves.
