VC Won in Iraq

[Towards_the_gap]

no wonder 1 PWRR got so many gongs, they deployed right into the thick of it in June, and in the first couple of weeks had taken something like 100 casualties, just from the amount of contacts theyd taken.

 

[fusilier1887]

My friend is in the same company as Pte. Beharry, was injured in an ambush on a tank convoy too, I guess it was the same one.

 

[ArmyRick]

God bless Private Johnston Barry, first and foremost he saved his brothers in arms...

 

[Michael Dorosh]

A Victoria Cross is a terrible burden for a 25 year old man to have to given, and then carry for the rest of his life.  I hope he does it as well as Smokey Smith or Dave Currie.

 

[winchable]

Don't follow you there Michael though I'm certain there's a good reason for it.
Why is it a terrible burden?

 

[Infanteer]

I see what Michael is getting at.   This fellow is going to have the "crush" of attention, media and otherwise (Hey, Mr Beharry VC, we need you to go to a thing with the Queen, hey, Mr Beharry, we need you at this Gala - wear your VC, etc, etc), for doing what most squaddies would do in the line of duty (save their mates) if given the chance.

 

[winchable]

Ah, I completely understand.
I imagine it would make it very difficult to simply be a squaddie anymore, which is part of the allure: "one of the lads"

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Don't follow you there Michael though I'm certain there's a good reason for it.
Why is it a terrible burden?

When you're 25 years old, been in combat, awarded the highest decoration you can possibly get - what do you do for an encore?

Filip Konowal swept offices on Parliament Hill ("I used to mop up with a rifle and bayonet, now I just use a broom.")  The Prime Minister saw him one day and made him his personal office-cleaner.  He later killed a man in a barfight, and was let go for reasons of insanity (his war wounds were judged to be the culprit, in the days before PTSD was diagnosed).

Arthur Richardson turned into an opium addict, and apparently demanded rank and privileges in the NWMP due to his VC after his return from the Boer War.  I suspect he never adjusted to civilian life.

For every story of fame and fortune, there is a story of someone else who couldn't adjust.

The young Private will be a spokesman for the rest of his life for the Army, his Regiment, and all the brave men who have won the VC in the past.

He will have the dubious pleasure of knowing that military buffs around the world are watching for news of his death, so they can update their websites...

Smokey Smith - the hell raiser who was put up to NCO several times, and demoted just as many - was told right after getting his award that he would have to change.  He was no longer just plain Smokey Smith, but Smokey Smith, VC.  By all accounts, he lived up to it well, and continues to do so.

 

[pcain]

If I remember the story correctly: Frederick Topham was briefly a Toronto police officer after the war, until it became clear that the chief of the day expected him to sit at the front desk of police headquarters all day, every day, for the rest of his career, so that they could show off his medal. He was all of 29 at the time.

He quit and joined the hydro company, where he spent the next several decades as a lineman.

I like the sound of Topham: he sounds like a cranky low-BS personality. He told Rideau Hall, which was trying to book him to come to Ottawa for the ceremony, that he expected to be given the medal by the King, and if that wasn't going to happen, they could send it to him by registered mail.

(The circumstances of his VC aren't all that different from Beharry's, when you come down to it.)

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Great example, pcain, thanks for sharing it.

 

[Scants]

Here is the Operational Honours and Awards List which includes the full citation of Pte Beharry's actions.


http://www.operations.mod.uk/telic/ophons05/ophonslst05.htm

 

[thomastmcc]

the guy deserved the medal all right ,no question about it , interesting the metal for the medals comes from the crimean guns and there is only enough left for another 85 VCs ..

 

[Infanteer]

the guy deserved the medal all right ,no question about it , interesting the metal for the medals comes from the crimean guns and there is only enough left for another 85 VCs ..

After that, they'll start using scrap medal from a shot-up Iraqi T-72....

 

[Peter]

That is outstanding and as said before normally the member recieves it posthumiously.   As far as the SAS thing goes, a member may have recieved it but we would never know the details and quite possibly if it were to happen.

The incident in question, involved a Cpl. in the SAS who took out a defended cave of insurgents with his knife as his weapon had jammed in the first few seconds of the contact.

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

The news stated that this guy was the first in 25 years to recieve the VC.

 

[Infanteer]

First since the two awarded in the Falklands (both of those were posthumous).

 

[Michael Dorosh]

First since the two awarded in the Falklands (both of those were posthumous).

The last living recipient was in 1965.

 

[winchable]

Astounding.
When you read on the history of the VC it becomes even more incredible.

I will be in the UK in the near future and I'm going to look in to talking to him (though I recognise that it will be near impossible)

I reccomend that everyone really read into how much is required of a VC recipient...

 

[Gramps]

Hopefully people dont take too much offense to this but, I dont believe he "won" a VC. As the article states he was awarded the VC. Most people who are awarded such medals and decorations are running on pure adrenaline and fear or just the ability to think under an extremely stressful situation at the time of their actions for which the decoration was awarded. Im not saying that anyone who has ever been awarded such a decoration does not deserve it in fact I believe that the vast majority of people who wear such decorations deserve it and much more. I also think that people put way too much emphasis on someones value by the amount of medals on their chest. I have worked for people who become "star struck" when someone has a rack with a lot of coins on it but the real value of anyone seving in uniform should be defined by their work ethic, and how they lead or treat others around them.  We should also not forget that some people have been known to write themselves up in order to receive a prestigious award.  I hope I dont ruffle too many feathers with this (that is not my intent) but people should judge the soldier not the coins.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Hopefully people dont take too much offense to this but, I dont believe he "won" a VC. As the article states he was awarded the VC. Most people who are awarded such medals and decorations are running on pure adrenaline and fear or just the ability to think under an extremely stressful situation at the time of their actions for which the decoration was awarded. Im not saying that anyone who has ever been awarded such a decoration does not deserve it in fact I believe that the vast majority of people who wear such decorations deserve it and much more. I also think that people put way too much emphasis on someones value by the amount of medals on their chest. I have worked for people who become "star struck" when someone has a rack with a lot of coins on it but the real value of anyone seving in uniform should be defined by their work ethic, and how they lead or treat others around them.  We should also not forget that some people have been known to write themselves up in order to receive a prestigious award.  I hope I dont ruffle too many feathers with this (that is not my intent) but people should judge the soldier not the coins.

This is true enough.  I also avoid use of the word "won" in any context dealing with the VC.  Hope I did so in this thread - I usually say "VC recipient" or "VC awardee".  Many men "win" the VC, but very few have it awarded to them, if you know what I mean.