Second estelwen: someone in the UK who has served in a foreign country's armed services isn't a British veteran (even if he's actually a UK citizen). Therefore, if he dies the British military have no business giving him a British military funeral (BTW, I think that's probably a better search term than 'British military burial'). Indeed, it would be a downright impertinence for them to do so
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And in any case, over here we don't normally hold military funerals for men who simply happen to have served in the armed forces years ago. (If we did, an entire generation of British men who served in WWII and did National Service in the 18 years following would have had military funerals!) Those are mostly reserved for people who die while in service. The funeral of a veterans who was a member of a veterans' association would certainly be attended by representatives of the association, and probably the local British Legion, but that would be about it, unless he had been some very special hero or had spent the rest of his life involved with the forces in some way.IME, WWII veterans (which would be the overwhelming majority of male American born between 1915 and 1925) generally do not have actual "military funerals" as nearly all of them identify more with their family and church (or equivalent) which have been their lives in the intervening decades. But they would still often request (or have requested on their behalf) an honor
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Another cultural difference between the two sides of the pond. Nobody over here dreams of requesting an honour guard and flag just because he was a serviceman half a century ago. But then again, many of them have maintained a relationship with their old regiment/corps/ship ever since through its old comrades association, and it is this association that is felt to be the appropriate body to honour the departed at the funeral.
Yeah, US/UK views of military service are wildly different; your perspective seems callous to me and I'm sure ours seems attention-getting to you. Which brings up the very valid point that the OP's character quite likely would view an honor guard from a more British perspective, and refuse it on the grounds of being unnecessary and ostentatious in the culture he has become accustomed to.
It's not callousness. We simply feel that it's the role of the veterans' associations - these men's actual comrades -and the Royal British Legion to commemorate and acknowledge their service, rather than the present-day military. Anyone who still sets store by his time in the services and sees it as part of his identity will be a member of at least one such an association. Sometimes more than one - some belong both to their regiment's or ship's own association and to a campaign one (e.g. the Burma Star Association, the D-Day & Normandy Association, the Malaya and Borneo Association, et cetera
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Thank you for your insight into how the British do things. I know how this would play out from an American standpoint only, so this was a big help. And thank you for the link.
I'm sorry I didn't make it clear, though. The first question was actually for another character, who is British. The American character would not, of course, be treated as if he had been a veteran on the British military and this he would have an American memorial flag. I'm sorry for the confusion!
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I'm sorry I didn't make it clear, though. The first question was actually for another character, who is British. The American character would not, of course, be treated as if he had been a veteran on the British military and this he would have an American memorial flag. I'm sorry for the confusion!
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