Piddingworth Greg Benton |
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| 'Piddingworth...where St. George's Cross is not yet banned.' --Mark Steyn |
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| Honour all men. Love the Brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the King. (1Peter 2) |
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| Trust in the Lord and He will give you the strength & courage to do your Duty... Rose West Leonard |
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| OF DUTY & SENTIMENT Knowing The Difference |
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| Lady Patricia, The Right Honourable, The Countess Mountbatten of Burma |
| HRH The Princess Royal. |
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| Canadian soldiers on duty in Afghanistan |
| England expects that every man will do his Duy. Admiral Lord Nelson |
| It has, sadly, become almost perverse. Marking the tenth annivesary of the death of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, the media is saturated with coverage and analysis of her life, her painful story, awful death and of the mourning of the Princes William and Harry, her sons culminating in a splendid memorial service in the Guards Chapel. From the very beginning, Diana and certain other members of the Royal Family have been the fodder for the most vulgar sort of journalism and exploitation that has the ever-thirsty public continually soaking it all up with their all and self-important 'feelings'. It is well-known now that Diana herself as well as the Prince of Wales fed and used the media as a means of playing out what ought to have been a very private, albeit sordid relationship. Little chance of that. As touching as much of it obviously is, the hyper-pumped mythology of emotion about Diana as 'the people's princess' and 'queen of hearts' has become rather sickening and not only because it is an enormously distorted reaction, both of her personally, as well as the 'office' she temporarily occupied, but because of what it reflects in the public at large. Much is made of Diana's charitable work and favourite causes that no one doubts was very worthwhile. Some, however, have even thought her to therefore be a 'saint' because of them. Hardly. Saints lives are marked with self-sacrifice and transformation within the community of people to whom they are servants. They don't jet back to Kensington Palace for a party and photo shoot and indulge their appetites. What has clearly become lost in this generation is both a sense of proportion for what is 'greatness' and the appropriate sentiments for those among us who have been called to serve and and 'do their duty' in whatever capacity it is that they have the privilege to occupy. It is well-known, but little celebrated, that as Princesses go, no one can match the utterly remarkable life of service and commitment to her duties as that of Anne, the Princess Royal. There is no doubt that she has some personal 'favourites' among the many charities that she supports or that she might prefer to be doing 'this' rather than 'that' from time to time but that is not the criteria for the 'duty' that comes with service. The focus of her work is not her...it is her work. Much the same could be said of Lady Patricia, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, who recently was awarded the Canadian Meritorious Service Cross for her 30 years as Colonel-in-Chief of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and the enormous amount of work and travel associated with that appointment. 'Duty' was not something new to Lady Patricia, as she also served as a WREN in the second world war and has given of herself to the service of the Crown and people in a variety of other ways since. Duty is not defined by sentiment; even if one can become very sentimental over some things that truly 'tug at the heart'. Duty rules passion, rather than the reverse. It is the offering of the self to a cause greater than the self whether to God, the Crown, country, the community or a charitable work. When the great Lord Nelson announced to the fleet that 'England expects that every man will do his duty' in the pivotal Battle of Trafalgar, he wasn't appealing to the sympathetic sentiments of the ratings in their awful responsibilities. If he did, I rather think the outcome would have been somewhat different. His call was much deeper and truer, for that is what duty is. In Canada, since soldiers in the war in Afghanistan are being killed-in-action, there has been a similar outpouring of emotion among many when each of the fallen is brought home. Even some of the fallen soldiers' families fuelled the public response by demanding television coverage of their son or daughter's body being unloaded from an aircraft and into a waiting hearse. Why? Some said: 'He belongs to all Canadians.' and 'Canadians deserve the right to grieve the loss of their soldiers'. In other words, the Soldiers of the Queen have become 'The People's Soldiers'; a phrase that bears a remarkable resemblance not only to the aformentioned Anthony-Blair- defined 'Diana', but to certain soviet socialist republics of recent memory. There is a real disconnect in this generation between the 'stuff' that inspires a soldier to serve his country and the majority of the population whose notion of military culture is largely restricted to Hollywood movies or the fantasy of some politicians. This sentiment has sinced merged with another sentiment, i.e., the 'Support The Troops' movement. Started in Canada by some wives of serving soldiers in Afghanistan, the Support The Troops campaign, modelled after the American tradition of 'yellow ribbons', has morphed into 'Red Fridays' that invite citizens to gather with their ribbons and wearing 'red' shirts to demonstrate that they 'Support The Troops'. It has also become controversial in many places because some view the symbol and decals as implying political support for the war in Afghanistan. Thus, when certain cities' police and fire services demanded that the yellow ribbon decals be put on their vehicles, there was outrage by those whose political sentiments are not precisely with where those 'troops' are at. Isn't all of this a little embarrassing? When a country has to make a special appeal among her citizenry to demonstrate their support for their military, does it not suggest a rather glaring weakness, not only within the body politic but within the culture; not to mention a complete and utter lack of understanding of 'duty' and especially as it applies to a soldier doing his duty? Now, a very sincere and respectable Toronto journalist, recently promoted the idea of naming a portion of the highway from Trenton to Toronto as the 'Highway of Heroes' to honour those fallen soldiers whose bodies are transported by hearse from the base at Trenton to the mortuary. Some people, with flowers and posters, occupy many of the overpasses along the route to 'salute' the most recent casualty of war. Police and Firefighters from some places assemble on the overpass and, standing to attention, salute the body as it passes. It was rather difficult to watch in one newsclip as a police constable, performing his best possible American-style salute, energetically chewed gum; his jaw frantically going to and fro. Hardly a tribute to a disciplined service and soldier. The media, harnessed by political opportunism, and the sentimentalising of it all, have managed to manipulate public opinion and so influence public policy that, what was once was regarded as the exceptional norm, the performance of duty and the fighting of a war, and personal grief, has been artificially magnified into a spectacle. Every citizen ought to support their country's troops, not according to their sentimental preferences, but their duty. One oughtn't to need to wear Americanised yellow ribbons, a red sweater, or anything at all to fulfil that responsiblity. Neither is the rather unsettling gathering of unofficial grievers, like the crowds who poured mountains of flowers over Diana, a particularly healthy reflection of a country's moral and civic backbone. That so many have felt it necessary to do so is not so much a reflection on them or their deep sincerity for a cause that is so obviously good but a demonstration that the country itself has failed to develop within it's citizenry a sense of responsibility...of duty...not only for those who serve, but for themselves. We have institutions, in state, the military and in families to both foster a spirit of respect and duty as well as recognise and 'salute' those who have lived it. It is the leadership of government, of state, of the military and in the community that ought to provide the appropriate expressions of support, grief, and even celebration. That is what is done every Remembrance Day...at every cenotaph... where all the 'soldiers of the Queen' in all the wars are remembered by those who represent them for the rest of us. For decades in Canada, the military, has suffered from neglect and even ridicule because of the policies of certain governments and this has indeed created a void of knowledge and appreciation within a population that suffers equally from not having been taught their country's history, their country's wars, their country's military heroes. As for the Royal Family, there has been a quiet movement away from including and celebrating their visits to their regiments, charities and the like where Canadians could see them 'at work' and 'doing their duty'. It is simply ridiculous that such an illustrious and dedicated servant of the Crown as Lady Patricia is almost completely unknown in the country except for the soldiers she visited and entertained and supported. The more the politicians 'hide' the Crown from the people, the more estranged the whole notion of monarchy, and it's example of duty, will become. The best way to express one's support, of course, is by participating in ways that serve one's country and community. In other words, instead of only cheering and grieving those who do their duty...one might consider doing one's duty by giving something of the self. There are many ways to do this; including putting on a uniform. It would be so much more edifying to our society if those who wish to 'honour' the service of others, followed their example as so many other thousands of citizens, like some members of the Royal Family, do quietly every day. G.B. 1 September 2007 |
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| Canadian Forces Chaplains in their duty, lead a fallen soldier in his return home. |
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| The ribbons on these veterans of war represent their faithful service in having done their duty. |