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Last Hussar's avatar

As a Brit I am somewhat uncomfortable with the Yank fetishising of war. The way every soldier gets a 'Thank you for your service'. It seems... suspicious? I know its a different culture, but this seems to mean nothing. British troops are respected (by most) but the 'thank you for your service'... smacks of blind adoration.

For us 11 November is Armistice day. The closest Sunday is Remembrance Sunday. Its not about soldiers. Its about those who never returned. We are reminded that they gave their tomorrows for our todays. Then the Last Post sounds and the nation falls silent.

And then they march, The ones who did come back. Old men, in overcoats against the November air, medals on chest, some in wheelchairs being pushed by a grandchild. And those of my age, solemn faces remembering those left in Afghan and Iraq.

Not just soldiers. Men of the arctic convoys, those who spotted the Luftwaffe as they came in from the Channel. Those who fought the fires during those long summer nights in 1940.

This year as they marched the crowds who had come to pay respects, applauded. I've never seen that before.

One of the major roads in London shuts, whilst the Old Men march. We don't say "Thank you for your service". Across the country we stand in silence as we remember those who made a corner of a foreign field forever Britain. And we watch the old men march, as they remember their mates who they left behind.

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Lefty Mark's avatar

The people who memorialize the "glorious victory" of a war are those who never fought in one.

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