OK, so maybe the title of this post isn't entirely fair, since I know the same thing could happen here in cities such as San Francisco. But
this is just unconscionable.
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.
She became increasingly abusive, screaming that it was wrong for staff to rope off a lane exclusively for the injured personnel from the nearby Headley Court rehabilitation centre.
The swimmer, thought to be in her 30s, is understood to have said: "I pay to come here and swim – you lot don't."
There were several witnesses to the incident who didn't like the manner in which the vets were being treated.
Linda Sinclair, of Leatherhead, also witnessed the abuse.
She said:"It was a few people that were complaining and it made me cross. I really felt for those soldiers."
But did any one of them tell the abusive ingrates to sod off?
4 comments:
I am not so sure that this incident is about people being aganist the troops or anything like that as is being painted in the right wing press here, more the case of a nasty, spiteful bint who would of raged against anyone who happened to be taking up a bit of the pool.
The saddest fact is nobody told her to shut her big, fat ugly mouth.
That concealed weapons permit would of came in handy...
This is NOT how Brits thank their troops. It's important to make the difference between a random loon and the national psyche.
If you were around on Remembrance Week you would see every other liberal Londoner wearing a poppy, incredible displays of honour and the recent homecoming of Afghan troops:
http://drinksoakedtrotsforwar.com/2007/11/23/an-english-thanksgiving/#comments
and here:
http://adirtymartini.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/11/remembrance.html#comments
As I acknowledged in the opening line, the title wasn't entirely fair.
I just wish that even one of the bystanders who claimed to have been disgusted by the loon had spoken up.
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