Queen gives Irish soldier medal for acts of bravery

cruasder777

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/queen-gives-irish-soldier-medal-for-acts-of-bravery-2993717.html


A YOUNG Irish soldier who joined the British army has been honoured by Queen Elizabeth for multiple acts of bravery in Afghanistan.

Lance Corporal James White (28) from Cappawhite, Co Tipperary, was presented with the Military Cross by the queen for his heroic acts.

A member of the Parachute Regiment, James joined the army in 2005 after leaving his home in Tipperary.

His father Pat White said his son always wanted to be a soldier.

"He tried to join the Irish army, but failed on the medical because he had asthma as a child, but he quickly grew out of that. He worked here for a bit before moving to England and joined the army." Mr White said. During his service, he took part in two seven-month tours of Afghanistan as part of a 'Special Forces Support Group'. He won his award following three incidents on his last tour.

On one occasion, two platoons were pinned down by enemy fire and he ran across 200 metres of open ground to assist his comrades. With automatic gunfire and RPGs firing all around him, James cleared out enemy positions to alleviate the two platoons.

Another time, he took out an insurgent machine gunner and on a third occasion, he helped the evacuation of soldiers -- who were taking casualties -- by attacking a compound.

James was one of 136 members of the British Armed Forces to make the honours list and received his award from the queen last November.

"His girlfriend, Jean O'Brien, is an officer in the Irish army and she was with him with his mother when he got it," Mr White said.

- Barry Duggan

Jesus Shaves

fair play to him

cruasder777

The indpendent done him no favours by publishing his photo, name and village. There are still nutters out there.

Overature

yeah fair play to him

RMD

cruasder777 wrote: »

The indpendent done him no favours by publishing his photo, name and village. There are still nutters out there.

They really should have left his home town out of it, has little to no relevance to the story and isn't in any public interest. Photo and name I can understand but the home town is a step too far.

Fair play to him, those are very brave acts. Shows how ridiculous the Irish medical is when he can serve in 1 Para with no problem.

xflyer

Given the size of his hometown. I doubt it's much of a secret there and any strangers showing an interest would be spotted easily.

Intrigued that his girlfriend is in the Irish army. That's must present certain logistical difficulties. By officer do they mean NCO or commissioned, I wonder.

arybvtcw0eolkf

And we turned down this soldier because he had childhood asthma!.. It beggars belief sometimes.

Jesus Shaves

at least he gets to fight in a real army now

Poccington

Dorian Damaged Permit wrote: »

And we turned down this soldier because he had childhood asthma!.. It beggars belief sometimes.

The Medical Corps with it's stone age methods and beliefs strike again!

darokane wrote: »

at least he gets to fight in a real army now

Yeah, definitely.

I keep having to remind myself when I go into work that I'm in a fake army. :rolleyes:


Fair play to the lad, not sure if I agree too much on how much personal info was published though. As Crusader said, there's still nutters out there.

Jesus Shaves

Poccington wrote: »

Yeah, definitely.

I keep having to remind myself when I go into work that I'm in a fake army. :rolleyes:

I don't mean that in a bad way, by better i mean't he gets to go to war with better equipment etc, no disrepect to the Irish army.:p

mongdesade

Obviously a man of intestinal fortitude...our loss is their gain

pablomakaveli

Dorian Damaged Permit wrote: »

And we turned down this soldier because he had childhood asthma!.. It beggars belief sometimes.

Does the DF just immediately turn people away if they've a history of asthma?

tac foley

Poccington wrote: »

...As Crusader said, there's still nutters out there.

As the two bombs today in Derry have shown us.....

tac

frostbite

pablomakaveli wrote: »

Does the DF just immediately turn people away if they've a history of asthma?

I think so but if like me if you dont tell them they will never know
Fair play to the lad

kabakuyu

Congrats to LC White.

DipStick McSwindler

This post has been deleted.

DOMESTOS

Yes fair play to him,and one of hundreds of Irishmen in the B.A,Numbers will keep growing whilst the depression rages here.And good to see that the men and women who fought in WW1 and WW2 are getting their recognition now,If it wasnt for them and thousands of others we still would have the Nazis or Red Army ruling the country.And bottom line most people join to put food on the table and a few quid in oul pocket

nqemt

Hi Guys,
In fairness to him well done, but in relation to the article, he lost Irish Citizenship when he joined the British Army, and as he was never in the Irish Defence Forces, the paper hs once again report the wrong facts.

Im not slating him for joing the British Army, 20yrs ago I applied but turned down the offer and after 20 odd years i the PDF/RDF am proud to have served my country as infantry then medical corps.

As to the medical corps there are those who are there who are trying to modernise how things ar done and then there are the old timers and the mindset who dont want change because it means they might actually have to work and there is also the financial constraints.

getz

nqemt wrote: »

Hi Guys,
In fairness to him well done, but in relation to the article, he lost Irish Citizenship when he joined the British Army, and as he was never in the Irish Defence Forces, the paper hs once again report the wrong facts.

Im not slating him for joing the British Army, 20yrs ago I applied but turned down the offer and after 20 odd years i the PDF/RDF am proud to have served my country as infantry then medical corps.

As to the medical corps there are those who are there who are trying to modernise how things ar done and then there are the old timers and the mindset who dont want change because it means they might actually have to work and there is also the financial constraints.

maybe he joined because like many thousands of other young irishmen there was nothing for him in ireland,

Dogwatch

nqemt wrote: »

Hi Guys,
In fairness to him well done, but in relation to the article, he lost Irish Citizenship when he joined the British Army, and as he was never in the Irish Defence Forces, the paper hs once again report the wrong facts.

Im not slating him for joing the British Army, 20yrs ago I applied but turned down the offer and after 20 odd years i the PDF/RDF am proud to have served my country as infantry then medical corps.

As to the medical corps there are those who are there who are trying to modernise how things ar done and then there are the old timers and the mindset who dont want change because it means they might actually have to work and there is also the financial constraints.

You do not lose Irish Citizenship when you join the British Armed Forces.

tac foley

Dogwatch wrote: »

You do not lose Irish Citizenship when you join the British Armed Forces.

That is absolutely true.

My Sergeant Chief Clerk was from Ballsbridge, and his wife, from Delgany near Greystones, was a Staff Sergeant medic.

Both were as Irish as it is possible to be.

As were their three children.

tac

Jawgap

Dogwatch wrote: »

You do not lose Irish Citizenship when you join the British Armed Forces.

If you did, the likes of Robin Roe, George Beamish and his brothers, and Charles Hallaran need to hand back their rugby caps!:)