Thank you for your service to our nation. It is much appreciated. So in your opinion what do vets really need? Please educate us.

Many members of the general public who are not aware of the hardships that are often endured by these incredibly brave people, following the sacrifices they have made on behalf of their country will be moved to find out how they are able to help, whether that assistance be by way of offering their time and/or money.

Here in Britain, November is the month when we remember those who gave their lives for us during times of war; this is when you will see red paper poppies being sold in our streets. These are sold by the Royal British legion, a charity dedicated to helping war veterans.

11th November is Remembrance Day, the day when we remember those who sacrificed their lives during the two world wars, and other conflicts.

We have Remembrance Sunday on the second Sunday in November, which is usually the Sunday closest to 11th November. There are special services at churches and war memorials across Britain, and there is a national ceremony at The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, where The Queen lays the first wreath.

We observe a 2 minute silence at 11.00am on Remembrance Sunday in public places, church services and war memorials. At my workplace, and in public places across the land we had a two minute silence at 11.00am on theTuesday, just gone. The silence that falls and the way it is kept is very moving.

I came across this, and thought, it describes a different time,and we no longer have the horses, and most of the trams have gone, but the first stroke of 11.00am can still produce “a magical effect”.

The First Two Minute Silence in London (11th November 1919) as reported in the Manchester Guardian, 12th November 1919.

‘The first stroke of eleven produced a magical effect.

The tram cars glided into stillness, motors ceased to cough and fume, and stopped dead, and the mighty-limbed dray horses hunched back upon their loads and stopped also, seeming to do it of their own volition.

Someone took off his hat, and with a nervous hesitancy the rest of the men bowed their heads also. Here and there an old soldier could be detected slipping unconsciously into the posture of ‘attention’. An elderly woman, not far away, wiped her eyes, and the man beside her looked white and stern. Everyone stood very still … The hush deepened. It had spread over the whole city and become so pronounced as to impress one with a sense of audibility. It was a silence which was almost pain … And the spirit of memory brooded over it all.’

BC, as a matter of fact, I spent quite a bit of time in contact with Washington, DC during Bush’s tenure as I was sometimes homeless or living well below the poverty level raising children and a grandchild while I was seeking service-connected benefits.

Admin: Thank you for your kind words. I do take them to heart.

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