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Johnson Beharry

For those who may not know, Private Johnson Beharry is a young Grenadian immigrant to Britain, who joined the Prince of Wales's Royal Regiment, got sent to Iraq, and was recently awarded the Victoria Cross by Queen Liz herself. Private Beharry was awarded the prestigious and very exclusive honour for his bravery in saving members of his platoon twice in an incident in Iraq. Said incident was accompanied by serious injuries which have left him with ongoing medical issues, and sadly seem to have destroyed his marriage too.

Beharry was in Grenada last month, where he was met with a hero's welcome and the expected fanfare. Now it turns out that the young man from a tiny village in the country has now been given a £1,000,000 advance for his life's story. One million pounds is nearly five million EC dollars!! Farkkk! My mind boggles! Well all jealousy aside, more power to Private Johnson. Damn, boy! If you got to risk your life, your marriage and your mental wellbeing, you might as well get paid.

Of course, the linked article cracks me up. Don't you just love how writers can make the most simple things sound So!Dramatic!

It was perched high on the hills of Diego Piece, near the shanty town of St Mark, and their only shelter from the torrential tropical storms and scorching summer sun was a flimsy corrugated tin roof.

There was no running water. [His father] scraped a living as a farmer and they survived on meagre meals of beans and rice.

Family friend Johnson Richardson, 37, says: "St Mark is the poorest village in Grenada, and the Beharrys' house was one of the worst equipped in the area.

"Johnson spent his childhood hunting wild animals as a hobby. His parents couldn't afford many clothes or even proper shoes for him. That's why he had to walk the three miles to his primary school and back barefoot, wearing just trousers."

The sweet smell of cannabis pervades the island, and some of Beharry's school friends started dabbling in drugs.

:: eyeroll ::

Anyway, congrats and best wishes to Private Beharry, but here's to the hope that soon we won't have to see any more young war heroes. Or young war casualties.

Posted by YingYang at 2:28 PM