Shame in Britain: Disabled veterans jeered at swimming pool
The London Telegraph has a Sunday morning blood-boiler. Britain has a potent strain of moonbat virus going around. What would Churchill do?
Injured soldiers who lost their limbs fighting for their country have been driven from a swimming pool training session by jeering members of the public.
The men, injured during tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, were taking part in a rehabilitation session at a leisure centre, when two women demanded they be removed from the pool. They claimed that the soldiers “hadn’t paid” and might scare the children.
The incident has sparked widespread condemnation. Adml Lord Boyce, a former head of the Armed Forces, said last night the women should be “named and shamed”.
“These people are beneath contempt and everything should be done to get their names and publish them in the press,” he said. “It is contemptible that people who have given up their limbs for their country should be so abused when they are trying to get fit again.”
It comes after calls for the public to do more to welcome home troops back from tours of duty and to recognise the bravery of those fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The vets had come to the public pool in Surrey because their military hospital’s therapeutic hydro-pool was not big enough to swim in:
The servicemen were about to begin their weekly swimming therapy in closed-off lanes when they were verbally abused by the swimmers.
One woman in her 30s was said to be infuriated by the lane closures saying the soldiers did not deserve to be there when she had paid.
It was also reported that others complained that limbless servicemen were scaring children at the centre.
The atmosphere was said to be so tense that the soldiers’ instructors removed them.
Charles Murrin, 79, a Navy veteran who saw the incident, said: “The woman said the men do not deserve to be in there and that she pays to come in the pool and they don’t. I spoke to the instructor in the changing room afterwards and he was livid.”
The troop-bashing there has a history. According to the Telegraph, residents in the hospital’s neighborhood initially refused to convert a home into a six-suite hostel for injured soldiers’ families to stay in. The local council later approved the project.
Question their patriotism?
Absobloodylutely.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Trackbacks
- Rhymes With Right
- They Should Be “named and shamed” « Unclemeat
- J Rob's House of Opinions
- CDR Salamander
- Ruminations of a Christian Conservative Geek
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Categories: Veterans
Riehl World View
» Bet: Ratings Fail - Oprah/Obama Christmas Special
Mudville Gazette
» The five-year planNewsBusters.org
» Oprah To Do Primetime Christmas Special With The ObamasRiehl World View
» Dowd: Dem Elites Displeased With Obama As Palin RisesStop The ACLU
» SEALs Charged With Assault for Arresting Top TerroristGay Patriot
» The O So Hip Obama
Tommy
I went into a public-’ouse to get a pint o’ beer,
The publican ‘e up an’ sez, “We serve no red-coats here.”
The girls be’ind the bar they laughed an’ giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an’ to myself sez I:
O it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, go away”;
But it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but ‘adn’t none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-’alls,
But when it comes to fightin’, Lord! they’ll shove me in the stalls!
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, wait outside”;
But it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide,
The troopship’s on the tide, my boys, the troopship’s on the tide,
O it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide.
Yes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap;
An’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.
Then it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, ‘ow’s yer soul?”
But it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll.
We aren’t no thin red ‘eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An’ if sometimes our conduck isn’t all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don’t grow into plaster saints;
While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, fall be’ind”,
But it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind,
There’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind,
O it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind.
You talk o’ better food for us, an’ schools, an’ fires, an’ all:
We’ll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don’t mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow’s Uniform is not the soldier-man’s disgrace.
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
But it’s “Saviour of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot;
An’ it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please;
An’ Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool — you bet that Tommy sees!
Kipling
It appears the mother of the year from Olympia took a vacation.
A proper response to this self-centered woman would have been that although she may have paid in the coin of the realm for a single visit to this public swimming pool these patriots had paid for a lifetime pass to that facility with their blood and missing limbs.
DL, Thats a polite way of saying what I’m thinking. To bad the lifeguards didnt have tasers.
Sorry Michelle, you have to be more specific. Ward or Winston?
[All caps and shouting to the very top of my old lungs]
Why is that B**** breathing the air of the best men and women ever to walk the face of earth.
Naming and shaming should be only the start. In such cases, I am an avid proponent of banishment.
Sorry for yelling, MM; I get upset sometimes.
I love that poem by Kipling..
damn near timeless
How sad. Clearly, the media attention about the war has inspired some cretins to new depths of vile behavior.
What’s the going rate to use the pool? Reckon I can pony up for at least one soldier and if I can buy the traitor’s time too she can find another pool.
To me it’s that or let the lady pay the same price the soldier paid but then that would muck up the pool filters until she healed.
The value of human life continues to decrease. Now we know human limbs are worth less than the price of a pool visit. Of course, the horrors those service members suffered in the process of losing those limbs, doesn’t count.
Those that complained are nothing more than a ‘useless waste of skin’.
These evil women should have no problem getting themselves a regular piece in The New Republic. Maybe they can call it “The Liberal-bag Diaries” and use it to boast about laughing at disabled vets, and how their “anti-war” lunacy has tarnished their humanity.
Dave, once again your verbal acuity shines through. My reply would have much less eloquent and more succint.
I think the use of two words in the proper order would have served the purpose quite well. I’ll let your imaginations pick the two words and put them in the proper order.
I agree these soldiers have more than paid their admission with their blood and bodies to their Queen and Country. This woman needs to be publicly ridiculed for her shameful public display. Too bad they still don’t put people in the stocks in the village square.
A recent special on cnn of all places..
about the us government VA abusing
amputee vets by low balling their claims.
One instance was a beaurocrat
actually taking a scissors and cutting
out his signature on a VA denial letter.
The UK vets aren’t being treated much
better so it seems.
Those soldiers have paid a price for a lifetime. The women should have been saying thank you and telling their children about the heroric sacrifices those men had made for their country. What is wrong with these people? I can’t comprehend such callous stupidity.
I agree…those women should be publically humiliated.
So, I wonder if this woman would or did complain as loudly if the neighborhood Muslims closed down the pool so that they could let the women folk have a little swim one afternoon like they try to do here? I have no idea if it occurred there, but if it did, would she put up the same sort of stink? Or would she be a typical Liberal and go on about their “rights” and how “multi-cultural and beutiful” it is to allow them their “freedom” to practice their religion.
I am all for the person wanting this woman shamed in the paper. Her face should be plastered in the newspaper, the news station, billboards, the pool bullitinboard and everywhere else with a note in boldface telling everyone that she is a person who cannot be bothered to share a pool with men who gave their limbs for the protection of Queen and Country in the War against Global Islamic Aggression. She should be shunned in restaurants, shops and everywhere else she goes.
And the same should be done here for every single one of thse traitorous types you see protesting in the streets of America, spitting on troops, sitting in front of trucks, dropping babies on their heads etc.
Sure, they have their First Ammendment rights, but then again, ” We Reserve the Right To Refuse Service…”
Tim,
Remember my father’s philosophy … there are 2 ways to tell someone to go to Hell … one way you just make them mad … the other way they look forward to the trip … try to go through life making them all look forward to the trip …
Just trying to do what I was taught growing up …
This is so depressing and indicative of the degree the rot is spreading. Interesting that once again we see the “For the Children” line used — the children would be frightened, etc. Obviously, had the person not been a soldier but simply someone who is handicapped she would not have dared protest. So the meaning is clear.
One hates to extrapolate from a single incident but these kinds of things keep piling up and over time a trend does reveal itself. What will it take to reverse this evil? At times I know; at other times, I don’t want to know.
He said a mouth full. Those ingrates are beneath contempt.
In The Moral Compass, William J. Bennett pointed out this inscription discovered on an old stone sentry box on the Island of Gibraltar:
A few patrons at the Leatherhead Leisure Centre in Surrey were just being more impatient than average.
What is really interesting is that the contact e-mail address for the Centre has a .gov.uk suffix.
It sure sounds like the Centre is at least sponsored by the government and is not a private enterprise.
When did Code Pink go to Britain?
the person running the pool should take those children and bring them over to those soldiers, introduce them and allow them to know them, know the sacrifice they made, know what they did and gave up so that they can play, swim and grow up in that country as their parents and grand parents did before them. Let them know the sacrifices they made and others made before them. It wasa a wonderful opportunity missed. An opportunity to shove what filth that sow was slinging back down her festering gop. What about the children? Well lady, sounds to me like you should be considering the environment and getting tied. The only thing offensive to the children that I can tell is having to deal with you and anyone that thinks or sounds like you. I can quarantee that there are far less kids that worry about amputees in a pool before she made a fuss about it than after.
But as we all know, Karma is a bitch, and Europe is not a place that is unknown to sudden Islamic syndrome. She just may be the next victim of The Religion of Death and have to rehab in a pool after having a limb or two blown off in the Underground during the next time those little Mohammeds decide to send a message of love. Wouldn’t that be poetic justice. Who do you think would be the one whining about discrimination against the handicapped then, Hmmmm?
This story is both sad and maddening on so many levels – like the decline of pride in the Brit armed services by the people, the lack of compassion, the insensitivity –
Very, very sad.
It’s the darn ME generation. Selfish and arrogant. And stupid.
I wish someone had pushed her in the bloody pool. What a dispicable, selfish, and petty individual…
grrrrrrrrr
Despicable indeed.
Generally, tasers and open sources of water don’t mix. But I applaud the sentiment behind your statement.
Exactly!! My first thought when I read what they had said was “they sure did pay to be there~with their limbs!!”
As far as scaring children goes~if I had been there with my children and it had scared them (b/c let’s face it, sometimes things like that will upset children b/c they are little and don’t know any better) I would have sat down with my kids and explained what had happened to the men and why they needed to swim there. I would have asked the instructor if my children could say “thank you” to one of the men. Then the kids could see that there was nothing to be scared of.
Yes, sometimes the unknown scares children, but it’s the parents JOB to make it UNscary for them, not kick out the “scary”.
What would Churchill do? I think he would just mock them in a slighting way. Here’s what Churchill said in a radio address to the anti-war crowd during WW2, six months after the war began: “There are still thoughtless dilettante or purblind worldlings, who sometimes ask us: ‘What is it that Britain and France are fighting for?’ To this I answer: ‘If we left off fighting, you would soon find out.’”
Just another case of Slimey Limey antiwar bias which is so fashionable over there.
Yup just another zero who doesn’t have respect of any kind for a hero.
If not for the soldiers, those “ladies” may as well get measured for their new burqas. See how they like them apples.
That’s exactly what those b*tches were afraid of.
If the children had come face to face with men like that, if they had the opportunity to hear the soldier’s side of the story, instead of the hateful anti-military invective they probably hear every day, those kids would have grown up idolizing soldiers.
Perhaps the kids who saw the limbless soldiers at the pool will pick up something about this matter from the conversations of the adults in their lives and wonder “why did those angry young women hate those wounded men?”
Wonder if this is the same pool that has the muslim only women days? Maybe these B***ches should only go on those days!
How sad that a “teachable moment” was lost.
Children are naturally curious about — not afraid of — people who have visible disabilities. Of the many injured people I’ve worked with, the overwhelming majority would have been pleased to talk to a child about what led to the amputation/spinal cord injury/scar/fill in the blank.
Will pray for that…
I never knew Muslims swam!
Of course…hence the burkini!
Man, the Surrey public pool sure must be a pricey place if it costs more than an arm and a leg to swim there.
Both of the young English Princes are in the Military, that means these men are their Brothers in arms. Why isn’t there a statement from the Royals? Let them set a high watermark, and see if any of their loyal subjects, can measure up? In fact let all the Royals make a statement, about the treatment of wounded military servicemen, being treated anything but noblely. I thought the English were supposed to be so Superior and All? These women are sad human specimens.
I’m not surprised such things happen here in the UK. The problem in the UK is the lack of a strong political right. Here, it is seen as terribly wrong to be right wing and you are quickly equated to Nick Griffin and his racist + anti-semite party the BNP.
No one over here has the courage to stand up for their country, for their own culture. Instead, everyone seems cowed by multiculturalism and accepting every other culture but their own.
In Oxford where I’m at, we had weekly protests by what would be equivalent to code pink at the height of the war. No one ever organized counter protests, and what is most annoying is that while the general public will support the Poppy appeal, the kind of “support” they give is akin to Hillary’s support for the US troops.
Yes, Britain is screwed. We need another Winston Churchill or Margaret Thatcher. And I say this as a foreign born immigrant!
Well said pgtips #39.
All the political parties are squeezing themselves so much into the center that in this political climate winston churchill or Margaret Thatcher would be seen as extreme right wing. I hope journalists get comment from the politicians over this incident and they condemn the screeching whales in the swimming pool!
One good thing to come out of this incident is that it has heightened the profile of the Help for Heroes campaign in a twisted way.
Less and less, as recent elections have shown, in Britain and the rest of Europe. Yes the ideas are a little strong, but had the BNP been heeded three decades ago then people wouldn’t have to be turning to them now.
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the – Web Reconnaissance for 11/26/2007 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…
“Deja Vu all over again.” Yogi Berra
The did exactly the same crap to my generation.
Chuck
SSgt. USAF ‘62-’70
I wonder if the women involved were even “English” or some imported variant of citizen?
The woman and anyone else that complained is a waste of human eggs and sperm.
Semper Fi
I would be pleased to punch her in the nose.
Twice.
At least.