Widow: Pay bomb heroes 'the big dollar'
THE grieving widow of an Army bomb disposal expert killed in Afghanistan has called for salaries paid to those who do the highly dangerous work to be like the "big dollar" pay that bankers receive.
Christina Schmid, 35, who lost her husband, Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, of the Royal Logistic Corps, last October, spoke out after the latest fat cat row involving City figures.
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Staff Sgt Schmid, 30, from Cornwall, was trying to diffuse an improvised explosive device (IED) bomb in Afghanistan when it went off.
Mrs Schmid contrasted his pay and pension with those of Barclays' investment banking boss Bob Diamond, who has reportedly landed a £63 million pay package.
Mrs Schmid, who accepted Staff Sgt Schmid's posthumous George Cross last week, is getting a £6,000 Army pension.
In an interview with a Sunday newspaper she said her husband was "talented, indispensable, irreplaceable and had huge responsibilities".
She told the News of the World: "You cannot wave a wand and get people like Oz again.
"And if the MoD really do hold men like my husband... in the highest regard, then why not go the whole hog and pay them accordingly too?" Her husband defused 70 IEDs in Afghanistan and was earning a basic salary of £35,000 when he died.
Mrs Schmid compared his pay to that of Mr Diamond, who has faced criticism over the size of his renumeration package.
She said: "If Bob Diamond's got a talent for looking after people's money, fine. Pay him for that.
"But, equally, shouldn't people like Oz and those guys be getting the big dollar?"
The war widow, who has a six-year-old son Laird, added: "We live in a celebrity culture. But, as far as I'm concerned, men like my Oz are the real celebrities."
Her husband was killed just a week before he was due to fly back to his family in Britain.
Staff Sgt Schmid, who was born in Truro but lived with is family in Winchester, Hampshire, made 64 IEDs safe and found 11 bomb-making centres during his five months in Afghanistan.
More than 1,000 people attended the funeral of the soldier at Truro Cathedral.
As a youngster, the former Penair and Polwhele schoolboy sang in the Truro Cathedral choir, where he had been head chorister.
Mrs Schmid also recalled her husband writing a will.
She said: "He got so upset when he wrote his will out and saw how little he could leave us.
"I remember him crying – and saying, "I'm sorry it's not enough'."
Mrs Schmid added: "He couldn't even bring himself to tell me what the amount was.
"As a man – particularly the man he was – it was so emasculating for him to be able to leave me such a small sum in his will."
Her husband could have earned a six-figure salary working for a security company, but the Army was a vocation for him.
"He would have been incredibly proud to know he had been awarded the George Cross – even though he always said he never wanted a medal," said Mrs Schmid.
"He told me, 'It's not what I do it for. Men walk away with medals. I just want to walk away with both my legs'."
2 Comments
by TimV, Pz
Monday, March 22 2010, 2:31PM
“I believe there is general incredulity and outrage at the "remuneration packages" awarded to Bankers like Mr Diamond, particularly when both taxpayer and shareholder have had to pick up the bill for their incompetence. Outrage that only bankers it would seem, have the audacity to claim a bonus for both success and failure. Incredulity that neither Government or big shareholders have either the will or ability, to do anything about it. If the principle of freely negotiated remuneration stands in the way of these huge settlements, it is time it was abandoned. Meanwhile, despite the almost nauseating weekly expressions of justification and regret in Parliament by our political leaders, their true attitude is evidenced by the paltry pay and inadequate equipment for those in the firing line and the pensions paid to the surviving spouse and family. The contempt in which we hold top bankers, is matched only by the inverse regard in which, the selfless bravery of one such as Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, is held.”
by Tim, Exmouth
Monday, March 22 2010, 9:54AM
“Mrs Schmid rightly points out how twisted our values have become when some are rewarded so greatly for so little, yet others doing the most important jobs get so little. Public service, or service to one's country, is getting harder to find in today's world. Until and unless we sort our values out we are heading for disaster.
The only point of difference that I have with her concerns the use of the word 'celebrity' - for me it has become meaningless and not a state we should aspire to - few celebrities are fit enough to clean her late husbands boots.”