Remembrance Day

A Remembrance Day blip.

I was wandering around the town of Stanthorpe this morning, looking for blip opportunities and saw this tucked away in the entrance to the post office. Jo and I were doing the market and at 11am there was a minutes silence. It is always quite moving when a large crowd of people go silent. The announcer who asked for a minutes silence reminded us that the silence was not to glorify war, but rather to show respect for those who have paid with their lives fighting for their country.

I also spoke to my nephew tonight who is currently training with the SAS here, getting ready for a trip to somewhere sandy. I can't imagine where! He is raring to get into the action which is a bit scary. His stepfather and myself both did stints in the military many years ago. My nephew once told me that wants to keep up a family tradition of sorts. It is very difficult to explain to someone so young that what he is setting out to do is not what he thinks it is going to be. Conflict is extemely confronting. He has the same attitude that I had when I was young though. There is no way I can explain what it will be like for him. He will have to find out for himself and hopefully he will come out of it in one piece. The main thing is though that he is a good kid who has managed to drag himself out of poverty and now does quite well for himself. I am very proud of him.
When he finished his basic training earlier this year I gave him three pieces of advice:
1. Always stick up for your unit.
2. Follow the chain of command.
3. Don't be a hero.

To be completely honest I probably would have forgotten a minutes silence today if I hadn't been at an event in a crowd. That is the same for a lot of people I think. That we have things so easy that we can forget past wars at least in our part of the world is thanks to those who have paid in blood for it.

I have tried to express this in a way that won't offend anyone who reads it. There are lots of conflicts going on around the world and families are losing sons and daughters right now.