The passing of a good friend

[Biff]

The attached is an extract from a diary of a very good friend of mine who recently, suddenly and tragically passed away. He served with 22 squadron of the UK army for many years, and saw and experienced things most people would consider to be their worst nightmares.

A typical 22 mob guy, he was unassuming, polite, well-mannered and quick thinking. Unless you got on the wrong side of him he was a medium built average guy. The number of times I've seen 'big' guys, thugs, or pissed twats trying to pick a fight with him, only for him to dispatch them as most people would swat a fly. But he was also a very deep man. An amateur philosopher even. Once a devout Christian he lost his faith very quickly after witnessing the inhumanity of mankind first hand.

He hoped to being editing his diaries and to publish his memoirs after he retired. That day never came. So apologies for any grammatical errors and the writing style. He tended to write these things in a hurry, to capture his thoughts for later editing.

RIP Mike. You had a shit taste in bikes, but a glorious view of life. Your passing leaves a hole in so many peoples lives. And thanks for allowing me access to your diaries, and to, " do what the fuck you like with them slick dick".

[Sniper]

RIP mate, have a beer for him Biff.

S

[bugjuice]

thanks for sharing that. That just reads like something from some really indepth war movie like Saving Private Ryan or something like that. Not nice to have to live thru and see things like that.

And it's a shame to hear of the passing of a good soldier and man, like this. I hope it's not too hard on you Biff..

[Postie]

wow, it just doesn’t even seem real, that humans could do that to each other.
Just like the Matrix, ignorance is bliss. it does bring into perspective how minor our problems are in day to day life.

[Colapop]

And with the going down of the sun, we will remember them.

[Motu]

Yeah,a few people here bleating about speeding tickets and the ''injustices of life'' should have a read,97.5% of us lead pretty boring lives....

[DemonWolf]

Thank you for sharing Biff... Best wishes to friends and family.

[Biff]

Thanks for the wishes guys. I’ll ensure that I pass them onto his family when I see them next. Which is likely to be very soon.

Just a word re' the 'Introduction' included in the document - I never once heard M complain about anything ever. I guess it's a case of getting things in perspective. So please don't feel insulted about anything he says.

If you feel hard done by about anything then you have a right to feel aggrieved, and it's natural. But when someone spends most of their adult life witnessing horrific things, seeing people struggle from day to day - I guess it's kinda understanding that he has such a strong view regarding, what he would consider, petty things. And his opinion, and one shared by millions the world over, is that we comfortable cosseted westerners take so much for granted, and as such moan about the most trivial of things. But if that’s all we know – then we can’t really be blamed for it. Can we?

He wrote most of the diaries I have 'on the fly', in some instances literally. He took to gathering his thoughts on helicopter journeys out of some places, so no doubt he had plenty of anger/adrenaline/frustration etc coursing through his blood on occasion.

[Lou Girardin]

OK he's seen a lot of bad things. But each individual leads his own life, we can't go through life as if we are in Rwanda, Iraq et al.
If these unfortunates were us, they would react as we do. It's human nature.

[Paul in NZ]

Thanks for that Biff.... And please pass on both our condolences and appreciation to these people. We all secretly know this goes on but hope it will never happen here...

As much as what you say is true... Most of these people aspire to the life we lead and i for one don't feel ashamed of that at all. Isnstead I feel proud to be a small part of a very decent civilisation.

You would know far better than I than what really happens in war (I know all i know from war comics) but to me, the event described is not war so much as criminal behaviour at it's worst. ie When there are no consequences, a great many people turn out to be pretty vile.

The worring thing is. Yes, this could easily happen in any country given the right (or indeed wrong) circumstances...

So! This xmas, raise a glass to all those folks that struggled to give us the life we now have and to those that still struggle to keep it that way! Give a prayer to the poor souls that fall victim to these savages and pray for an early demise for their tormenters.

Paul N

Freedom is definately NOT free....

[Fordy]

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched C beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain.

Time to die.

Some people do amazing things that we cannot begin to understand, their experiences can seem as off-world as the quote from Batty in Bladerunner.

I have had the priviledge to meet an ex SAS guy, lets call him Mick that has some tales to tell. But in the pub he's the most unasuming bloke in the corner, only noticable for joining in with the singing later in the evening.

Condolences on the loss of your friend, and one of The Best.

[Ghost Lemur]

Thanks for that Biff.

Please pass on our condolences to his family.

While I might disagree with particular things he wrote, I enjoyed reading his perspective. If it's ok with his family I would love to read more of his writings.

War writings I find hold a lot of truths from which I learn a great deal about the duality of Man.

My Da was in WWII and although not a highly educated man (was a civil servant the rest of his life) was extremely intelligent. He use to drink he tea cold. When they would stop for their break he'd furiously write away in his notebook. They'd pack up and move on and he'd march along drinking his cold tea. At least one of his poems is at Waioru. My dad also has a typed copy he did of it, if I can get him to email it to me I'll post it.

[Dadpole]

Thanks for posting that. Please pass on my condolences. Too few people realise what does happen, and even fewer try to make a difference.

[Al]

Condolences to the family and friends, and RIP dude!

Thanks for the post Biff, be strong...

Al

[oldrider]

Thank you for posting that Mr wriggly Biff.
Unfortunately there is a very thin line between his world and ours.
Things can change remarkably quickly.
For those who think that those things could never happen here, think again.
It's people like your friend who are making our world safe, not the people who live here pretending their bullshit counts for something. Cheers John.