Poor Private Jake Kovco, 25. (Yahoo 7 article)
It came on the news headlines on ABC tonight. The poor bastard accidentally shot himself in the head while cleaning his pistol. I did laugh because it's so rediculous.
Not that I assume Private Jake Kovco, 25, was an idiot. He, at least, wasn't only 19. Maybe he was hungover? Maybe he'd just had a row with his girlfriend on the mobile? I'm sure he was aware that the first step of Gun Maintenance 101 required checking that the damn thing was unloaded! Maybe his buddies were playing a prank?
(Or it's just occured to me that maybe his girlfreind dumped him on the mobile and he was so distraught he got pissed with his buddies then shot himself in the head)
This comes in the middle of a barrage of shows and documentaries that laud our Australian heroes that survived or died at Gallipoli.
Now, you know, I can't see that poor old Private Jake Kovco, 25, is any more or less of a hero than any other poor fucker that took a bullet or died of dysentry in service to their country.
They all say that Gallipoli was a defining moment in the history of our nation. Fuck that!
I'm really not keen on the idea of a nation that sent thousands to die at the orders of incompetant foreign commanders. It's not a legacy I'd choose as a highlight for my country.
Don't think I'm denegrating the memory of the heroes. I'm not. There were real heroes at Gallipoli (just as there were real people who shat themselves in terror or died screaming for their mums). There just shouldn't have had to have been any.
And when any politician calls on our brave legacy when they send some more poor fuckers off to war it makes me want to puke.
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