For the first time my Dad, who served in Burma in WW2 was unable to attend his local Remembrance Day service in Chelmsford town centre this morning, where he always proudly recited the Kohima Epitaph following the two minute silence.
My Dad at 89 has recently been suffering with a problem with his foot and although it's much better it remains swollen so he's unable to get his "polished shoes" on. Being a smartly dressed man this, along with the time he would have to stand meant that today, he decided regretfully that it would be best to stay at home.
So there I was at 11am standing in M&S and I felt very emotional. In those two brief minutes of silence my thoughts reflected on how my Dad would be feeling, knowing that he would be thinking about his young brother Len who at 18 drowned when the submarine HMS Vandal sunk in Lochranza on 24th February 1943.
So for my Dad,
When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And
For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today
It is becoming too easy to forget. We weren't part of the wars and I fear our children are too far removed to really understand. It would have been a difficlut choice for you dad, hopefully next year. X
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the younger generations will forget, having visited the war graves in Belgium and France and seeing the flowers laid by the school children. Sadly it's not only WWI & II that we remember but many many conflicts since then! Sorry that your Dad couldn't attend today's ceremony but as long as we remember Len even though we never knew him, he does live on in us Jacqueline.
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