Can it be true that it is "not the job of a US MILITARY CHURCH to recognize the British Military?

Question

"what do you want? a pity party? its not the job of a US MILITARY CHURCH to recognize the BRITISH MILITARY. please, go sit in on a british service and tell me if they mention all the US troops killed in this war...NOPE NOT LIKELY. we dont have a responsibility to them so blow it out your 234. "

A question was asked earlier and I was working on my reply when..NOTHING.. the question was deleted...? But, this reply had shocked me and I had it in my response before question deleted... hence and accurate quote from ALESHA A !!

I remember the questioner said that a US Chaplain in Virginia had offered prayers and thoughts for the U.S. PILOT ONLY involved in a blue on blue incident in AFGHANISTAN recently.

NOT ONE WORD OF CONDOLENCE for the 3 YOUNG British Soldiers or the injured or their grieving Families..?

Common Decency dictates RESPECT for ALL deaths for ALLIES in combat together?..

I believe it when the soldier said he WAS IN THE CHURCH along with BRITISH colleagues...

Did ANYONE stop to think that ANY 1 of these 3 soldiers killed in this incident MIGHT have been a FRIEND of ANY of those British troops in that Virginian Military Church today?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6964919.stm

Think on ppl before you answer, I CAN EMPATHISE with that pilot.. he has to LIVE with that fact for the rest of his life.. yet, do I condemn him?

NO, I do not. Accidents happen in war.

And, as for UK Chaplains, and UK Military Chaplains, ANY person wearing green or beige uniform and is killed automatically receives the UTMOST RESPECT irrespective of which allied country that person is from.

SIMPLE AS !

Re sgtirish

The Service was held in a Church on a MILITARY BASE in Virginia.

The Congregation were Military soldiers and thier Families, and, I don't doubt, possibly some civilians who might work on the base AND the 20 odd British service personnel who, if memory serves me correctly... and I'm fairly certain it does.. they are there on some training deployment alongside their American counterparts... some en-tente cordial mission perhaps? building bridges METAPHORICALLY SPEAKING perhaps? Learning to WORK TOGETHER perhaps?

Whatever.. the british soldier said they were there, and I believe him.

Irrespective of WHERE or WHAT Church, RESPECT WAS DUE to the dead soldiers, the injured soldiers and thier Families of that incident AS WELL AS the pilot NOT JUST THE AMERICAN PILOT !!!!!!!!!!

SIMPLE AS !

Re AP
I've made some enquiries and indeed not only did the Chaplain KNOW where were British troops on the base AND THAT THEY WERE IN CHURCH, indeed the reason given was that the Chaplain was not given authorisation to include basic respect for the 3 young dead soldiers in his address....

Ho-hum !..I try not to get bogged down in the politics of EVERY situation in life today, but this is hard to deal with ppl - truely it is.

Authorisation for basic respect...? PLEEEEEEZE !!

Answer 1

Relax, anger is one of the leading causes of high blood pressure

Answer 2

I thought God was supposed to love everyone. I thought the church was there to help anyone and everyone.

This is why religion leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Religion only really supports those that believe in God, even though its clearly founded on the principle of helping all people. The first story from the bible I heard was the good samaritan story. Even enemies are worth helping. If you believe in God, a prayer is not to much to ask for 3 souls is it?

And this is typical American arrogance. Those pilots were probably high on speed, they used an entirely inappropiate aircraft (the F15 is not a capable CAS jet. Had it been an F16 or a harrier or an A10 then thats more like it) to 'support' our troops and they paid the price.
The families should get a public and personal apology form George Bush, the pilots, and the senior American commander in Iraq.
This should go for all Blue On Blue situations.

It just goes to show though how much respect the British Armed forces and the British people get from the Americans. If something doesnt change soon then we should leave them to sort there own mess out.
If they cant learn to shoot straight and identify Allied units then they can shovel their own ****.
There are plenty of other worthwhile fights the Brits should be in. Dharfur, Zimbabwe, the yob culture here.

Answer 3

A Chaplain in Virginia is going to tailor the sermon for their specific congregation - a congregation made up of local Virginians. I don't believe there is any more to it then this.

It is a poor assumption to assume that the Chaplain was intentionally disrespecting the tragic loss of life of British servicemembers simply from hearing him lead a prayer for a U.S. pilot. I am sure that if he had known there were British servicemembers in attendence he would have administered to them as well.


Try not to listen to people on the internet that say things like the person that upset you. That's the reality of the internet. True reality is, that the U.S. people and the British people have a long history of selflessly sacrificing in the defense of each other during times of war - even though tragedies occur.

God bless ALL the Allied warfighters for the risks and sacrifices they take.


The fact that the Chaplain was administering to U.S. servicemembers and their families on a U.S. installation within the U.S. in itself explains why the sermon wasn't geared towards British servicemembers. Your logic of blaming a Chaplain for not knowing there were British members present in the congregation is faulty and serves no purpose other than to try and spread hate.

It was a sad tragedy. Simple as that.

Answer 4

MEH, stupid answer girl, I think you are fully missing something here. The see the issue in this case is that the 3 British Soldiers killed were killed by one of your American pilots. To make this simple for you, you see they were killed by an ally and not the enemy. Yet the American chaplain totally ignored them in his prayers. So what has 10 Americans dying every day got to do with this issue. They are not killed by British soldiers. God you are thick

Answer 5

I do feel sorry for the US Pilot involved. He will have to carry that round for the rest of his life. In fairness he may never get over the mental anguish.

I feel sorry for the families of the 3 British soldiers involved and for the wounded soldiers.

Friendly fire has been happening for many many years (bows & arrows). it has only been a recent development that people are told it was a friendly fire accident. in the past it would have been a tactless telegram announcing that such and such had died as a result of enemy action.

In answer to the US Chaplain only offering prayers for the Pilot, it was tactless, careless and thoughtless. However how many prayers are said in UK churches for the lives of the soldiers of other nations also peace keeping in Afghanistan ?

Had a UK pilot bombed as US taskforce would the USA be quite so understanding ? Publicly yes, but there would be disenting voices calling for justice as there are in the UK over this incident.

I wonder what percentage of casualties have been caused by friendly fire incidents over the Afghanistan & Iraq conflicts, and of those how many are US errors and how many UK errors.

Answer 6

may be it's me but i can't seen to get a coherent paragraph out of what ever it is you just typed.please think it out before you type it out.thank god i am well phased in 5 year old boys incoherent blather.i gather that you are angry and offended about something.seems to be about the three british soldiers that were killed.not quite sure what you are trying to tie in about the "us military church" but as the us military isn't a church at all. that is where you lose me.please clarify so that we can actually answer your question.

Answer 7

Being an ally is no garuntee the US will like you, respect you, help you or thank you any more. Being an ally merely means the US won't attack you on PURPOSE. Disgusting, but there you go. Had it been the other way round (unlikely) you'd never hear the end of it in the states.

Answer 8

i feel sorry for the families of these men, also the pilot, i understand how tough it must be for him, to learn that happened, even though it might not be his fault (being given clearance to do so)

of corse we should respect all fallen Miltary hero's they paid the ultimate price

Answer 9

It's a real shame that there are so many tossers in the American military. Without them there wouldn't be as many 'friendly fire' or 'blue on blue' incidents. Maybe American forces should be taught restraint at some point during their training ... at least until they've identified who the enemy are.

Answer 10

i bet they dont say anything about the other sides losses either despite the 10 commandments saying thou shall not kill.

A church in an amry is hippocratic even by religious standards

Answer 11

The American Military doesn`t care who their pilots kill.
If they did they would have had ALL the pilots in Courts Martial for EVERY blue on blue.