Sound of battle
BBC News: Gun battle message shocks parents
The sound of battle is what the parents of Stephen Phillips heard when they checked their answering machine. The 22 year old who is serving in Afghanistan with a US Army MP company, had unknowingly phoned home when he accidentally hit the speed-dial on his mobile whilst in combat.
Turns out the parents had just returned from buying flowers for Stephen’s best friend, who had been killed in action in Iraq the year before. They were understandably distraught, especially to hear gunfire and somebody screaming for “more ammo.”
As for the young man, when he heard the recording, he was embarrassed by the swearing. Good god there’s nothing to be ashamed of. You should hear the cursing when I stub my toe. A little colourful language by men fighting for their country is neither here nor there.
British readers will not be surprised by the tagline in the Sun: “Son’s on the Taliphone.“
Sigh.
Friday, 9, May, 2008 at 11:51 am
Amazing story, Theo. These are the wars of the Nokia Age. On the other hand, this story only seems strange. What’s really, really strange is why if in the middle of a firefight in Afghanistan a soldier can call his Mom on the other side of the world on a phone that weighs less than a pound and costs a couple of hundred quid at most, the British Army is spending £2.4 billion on a radio system that is too heavy to be carried and, an important point, doesn’t really work.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1485212.ece