Wounded Iraq Vets Heckled And Jeered
Daily Mail and Independent:
(London) - Soldiers who suffered appalling injuries, in Iraq and Afghanistan were verbally abused as they swam in a public swimming pool.
During a weekly rehabilitation class at a council leisure centre, 15 servicemen – including several who have lost limbs or suffered severe burns – were heckled and jeered by members of the public.
One woman was so incensed that the troops were using the pool at Leatherhead Leisure Centre in Surrey that she told them they did not deserve to be there.
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 unpleasant scenes broke out at Leatherhead Leisure Centre in Surrey when the wounded veterans, who are at Headley Court Military Hospital, had to use the 25-metre public pool because the hydro-pool at the defence rehabilitation centre is not big enough for swimming.
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.”
It is not the first time that Headley Court neighbours have been accused of poor behaviour.
There was uproar earlier this year after residents objected to planning permission to convert a home into a six-suite hostel for injured soldiers’ families to stay in. The local council later approved the building work.
The incident comes weeks after the Help For Heroes appeal was launched to raise £5 million to build a full-size pool and gym at the centre.
Labour will today aim to repair its battered reputation with the Armed Forces by offering all military veterans priority NHS treatment, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
The concession, ordered by the Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, will be available to the estimated 4.8 million ex-servicemen and women, sources said last night.
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WTF??????
This just pissed me off. Wtf is happening to the Brits?! Have they lost their fricking minds?? How dare they treat their own soldiers this way! Horrible!!!
November 24th, 2007 at 7:37 amWay to ruin a good Saturday morning, now I’m fucking pissed off.
November 24th, 2007 at 8:36 amQuote: 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. 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.”
HEY MISS! I think they paid the ultimate price to have the GA DAM RIGHT TO SWIM THERE! If I catch anyone, and I mean ANYONE heckle, laugh, or ridicule any of our wounded soldiers/Allies soldiers I will be in there FACE and then they will have to DEAL WITH ME! PERIOD!
November 24th, 2007 at 8:57 amHey danielle, if you think that this does not happen here in the United States you are sadly mistaken. I will try to find the video that I sent to Bashman that has a Code Pink bitch say, on video, that our troops were the terrorists. And this was outside of Walter Reed.
It’s days like this that I am glad I was not there because I would be in jail, and in todays political climate I don’t know if I could find a sympathetic jury.
November 24th, 2007 at 8:57 amCan I question their patriotism now?
November 24th, 2007 at 9:01 amWe should reassess the policy of non-violence in the face of such evil minded people. It is times like these when faces should be smashed and limbs broken.
November 24th, 2007 at 9:20 amMany of those on the extreme Left know no shame. I hope the British government will come down hard on people like this who disrespect the brave servicemen and women who have sacrificed so much.
November 24th, 2007 at 9:48 amThere are way too many people in this world that truly do not have any idea or appreciation of what military men and women provide for them every day. Too bad that bitch did not get clocked for it.
deathstar
Can I question their patriotism now?
I am right there. Fuck these people. They are too ignorant to have valid opinions on anything with this kind of b.s. coming out of their mouths.
Howie
Sadly, there really are many assholes in the U.S. that say and do stuff worse than this to our veterans. Especially the code pinkos. They should be fed to al-Q.
November 24th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Spoiled shit heads who do not have a clue.
November 24th, 2007 at 9:49 am@Future0311 (the infidel)
Way to ruin a good Saturday morning, now I’m fucking pissed off.
————————————————–
Good way to burn off some of those pumpkin pie calories, eh, Future?
I don’t want to be anywhere around people like this when “Hell To Pay” comes down the pike for them …
A fucking bloody shame.
November 24th, 2007 at 9:50 amSounds like the nearest base to this pool needs to have a “OFF DUTY” Pool Day. Let these pieces of pansy garbage even dare to throw a cross eye.
At some point if the US and the West in general wish to survive we are going to have to confront and deal with the internal disease of the self hating suicidal form of liberalism that has so engulfed us.
November 24th, 2007 at 10:00 am
How dare they insult men like that!!!!!!! They have paid so much and all they want to do is be able to swim, and they DO deserve it, and more. So to those who feel like that, FOAD. 
November 24th, 2007 at 10:01 amI never thought it would come back to this. Whatever happened to pride for country and those who defend it? how could you ridicule or talk shit to someone who lost a limb fighting for your ass in a far off country. They were over there in a dusty dangerous part of the world while the rest of us are here and not in danger.
We really should revise the protocol for how we can deal with people like this. I would be on someone like a pitbull if i heard them talking this shit to a wounded vet. let the cops come pull me off, fuck it
November 24th, 2007 at 10:01 amLow life scum. I not only question their patriotism, I doubt they ever had any. They are just low life scum cowards.
November 24th, 2007 at 10:04 amEveryone needs dress down anyone at anytime anywhere if you encounter the about sh*t in person, act, get in their face, humiliate them in public, drive them to a physical reaction if you can, and then unload the rage
How about a brighter side:
http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-112107-al-solider’s_wife_touched.26e5ed59.html
November 24th, 2007 at 10:39 amThere is a special place in hell for those people. I agree with Steven in NC… if you encounter people like this, they need to be confronted. Someone needs to act on behalf of the soldiers who’ve given so much.
November 24th, 2007 at 10:51 amIncredible, what the hell!!!!! are these women selfish bithces? they must be and also ingnorant too… would they have said the same to physical handicaps that were not ex-soldiers?
November 24th, 2007 at 11:04 am@ everyone here . . . good points all around - I’m in!!!
November 24th, 2007 at 11:11 amRegarding my brighter side link above
This happened at my local post office.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Let’s face it. The post office can turn into a stressful place at times. Tuesday, the wife of a soldier serving in Iraq couldn’t stop crying. The Charlotte woman’s tears however, were tears of joy.
“One of the ladies that was in front of me, I guess she noticed the address in my package,” said Trisha Petersen.
Petersen was in line waiting to send a holiday package to her husband Jeremy in Iraq when a stranger handed her $20 to pay the postage.
“I was like, ‘no, no, please–thank you though.’ And she said, ‘no, thank you’ and she just walked off. I said, ‘okay’ and started to well up a little bit,” Petersen said.
Like tears, the generosity started to pour.
“Then another lady came out of line and she gave me some money and she said ‘thank you again.’ I lost it,” added Petersen.
Carmel Road post office workers were touched, but not surprised.
“We see that all the time in here. They tend to talk and it’s a kind of like a neighborhood feeling in here,” said Margaret Blackann with the U.S. Postal Service.
Jeremy Petersen is serving his second tour of duty in Iraq. The newlyweds married in June and have spent little time together.
“We met through correspondence on December 19 of last year,” Petersen said.
The soldier’s tour ends December 2008.
“I want him to know that he’s loved and that people are thinking of him and even people that he doesn’t even know, know and appreciate what he and the other soldiers are doing,” Petersen said.
try to link here:
http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-112107-al-solider’s_wife_touched.26e5ed59.html
November 24th, 2007 at 12:02 pmThankfully the report you read here is a serious exageration of what actually happened based on an incorrect report in a local newspaper. There was actually only one idiot who approached pool staff and the PTI complaining that the soldiers were taking up too much room etc. The stuff about people jeering and complaining that limbless soldiers were scaring children turned out to be false.
There were many complaints from the members of the Army Rumour Service website based on the press reports and the replies confirming what actually happened from the pool staff and the council are here.
http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/t=82901/postdays=0/postorder=asc/start=120.html
November 24th, 2007 at 1:19 pmfrom my previous hometown
http://monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071124/NEWS01/111240023
from my current hometown
http://louisville.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2007/09/24/tidbits1.html?jst=s_cn_hl
more info on Patriot Gala :
http://www.patriotgala.com/
Real world supporting the troops
November 24th, 2007 at 1:24 pmWell, there is no law against stupidy. Although, there should be the upholding of moral virtue in the society to either deliver a crushing blow to the grill or a combat boot to the mid-section, when people like this woman decide to insult us, the warrior class!
November 24th, 2007 at 2:35 pmI read the comments and it doesn’t look like they are saying this is just a misreported incident. But I could be wrong. I’m glad that you are doing some fact checking. We all know how inept “journos” can be at Times. (pun intended)
I noticed this comment and it gave me a sense of pride.
“Yeah but we also need to give them the benefit of the doubt. Lets try and find out the facts.
After all we all know how journos can make us look bad , and on the flip side paint a positive perspective.
We need to hear from someone that was there…”
This is a statement that reflects the maturity and open mindedness that only a soldier would have. Only a soldier would propose to defend a woman who might be misrepresented although I doubt she was. It also speaks volumes about the mistrust that soldiers have towards the media.
November 24th, 2007 at 3:20 pm@drillanwr: In that case, I burn calories every day, as I tend to become at least slightly pissed off with everything I read about jihadis when I come here.
I stand up to these people every time I see them slander our troops, online or off. They get physical, somebody just might go to the ER, and it won’t be me.
November 24th, 2007 at 4:42 pmIt is obvious that she and her fellow ignorant asses have never read Michael Yon and know nothing of the Brits bravery and sacrifice.
As for the missing limbs…..these asses deserve a day in Afganistan covered and with the highly probable chance of being beaten while out getting necessities.
It seems the only way to learn is to live it. So be it.
November 24th, 2007 at 5:36 pmAgreed; These Men Paid far more than the Biotches in this story! These womens Kids should be required to take Respectfulness Counseling in order to reverse the stupidity they’ve been forced to endure from their Mothers! And for their lack of Respect the Mothers should be required to do community service on an NHS Military ward!
November 24th, 2007 at 6:06 pmYou have some people who will bitch about anything no matter what…If all was said to be true her money should be refunded and her ass kicked out of their
November 24th, 2007 at 9:26 pmSCARING THE CHILDREN???
“complained that limbless servicemen were scaring children ” yea those veterans were making sure that those “scared children” we not gonna have to go to iraq or afghanistan 10 years from now. by gettting the job done on their watch and not leave it for the next generation. never be ashamed brother.
November 24th, 2007 at 10:42 pmThank God, my family fled England for DelMarVa in 1635. Anti-war=anti-military, universally.
November 25th, 2007 at 1:01 amEngland is another in the long line of countries that WILL be Muslim.
November 25th, 2007 at 6:23 amIf the button to start a fist flyin’, butt kickin’, and yes if need be a shooting war against these retarded ass, unappreciative, and self absorbed asshole liberal fucks on planet earth, was near my fingers, it’d have been started long ago and this is just one more pathetically shameless act of disrespect on the part of the insane folks that make up the modern day left. I’d love to knock a bucket of teeth out of all these idiots. Fuck them!
November 25th, 2007 at 6:26 amthere is still, seemeingly, a lone voice of reason over there. Not all of those Brit’s are too far gone, though sadly many are. That once proud nation now a shriveled mass of liberal lunacy and self-absorbed pukes
http://www.melaniephillips.com/diary/?p=1688
November 25th, 2007 at 11:04 amWith their leader of the Anglican Church not even realizing the ignorance of his opinion, kissing up to muslims while burning the US, the bastion of liberty in the world, no wonder these ignorant Brits act the way they do. Englandistan, here they come.
November 25th, 2007 at 12:11 pm