Why we must never forget sacrifices made before us
LAST Sunday I stood with about 100 people in the autumn sunshine in the little village of Glynn, about two miles outside Larne. The main road through the village was quiet as it was closed for a parade of ex-servicemen and women, dignitaries, the local band and boys and girls from uniformed organisations who had marched to the cenotaph to remember those who had given their lives in service of their country in two world wars.
It had none of the pomp and ceremony of the impressive Remembrance Day service which I had attended at the City Hall in Belfast a few hours earlier, although a micro light flew past during the two-minute silence.
All around the crossroads at which the memorial is erected, the families from the village - including many young children - stood in silence as the two ministers read out the names of the 26 men from the village who had died wearing the uniform of their country's armed forces. I recognised many of the names because in this settled rural community many of their families are still well known.
Nearly half of them died at the Somme and as we stood in silence I wondered what it must have been like in a very small village for so many homes to have received a telegram on a July morning, telling mothers and fathers that their son had died in a foreign country fighting for his country. Across Northern Ireland on that first week in July, 5,000 homes had that experience as the full horror of that battle was brought home.
During the service, the minister reminded us that Remembrance Day was not just about a historical event which took place nearly 100 years ago. He reminded us that during that very week seven men had laid down their lives in Afghanistan, fighting a war which is necessary to stop that country being used as a base to train terrorists.
We in Northern Ireland know from experience the benefits which terrorists gain from having a foreign country which can be used to set up training camps and provide safe havens for terrorist activities, as the IRA did in the Republic.
While Afghanistan may be thousands of miles from the UK, nevertheless we know that Muslim fanatics from all over the world flocked to it when the Taliban were in control, and then went back to their own country to practice the deadly skills they had learned.
That it why the soldiers who are risking their lives on a daily basis in that country deserve our gratitude and why we need to recognise they are doing an essential job.
They also are entitled to proper support from the government who sent them there, both when they are on the front line and when they return home, many of them injured in mind and body. Whilst there is an inescapable obligation for the Government, the role of the British Legion in helping in a practical way at a local level is very important. Every poppy purchased on Remembrance Day and during the weeks leading up to it represents one way in which we, who benefit from the sacrifices of the past and present, can show our gratitude.
The British Legion have played another important role in keeping Remembrance Day alive. I thought of this as I looked across the floor of the House of Commons on Wednesday. Nearly every member on the government side, apart from the SDLP members and the most extreme left wingers, were wearing a poppy. This contrasts with the situation some years ago when there was a groundswell of pressure from the liberal left to end Remembrance Day ceremonies. They wore white poppies and argued that as we reached the turn of the century we should put the past behind us and stop “glorifying war”.
To the credit of the British Legion, they fought back and won the argument that we had a duty to keep faith with those who had sacrificed all for their country, ensuring the freedom which we benefit from today. As a result, Remembrance Day services are better attended than they were 20 years ago. By their persistence and reasonable approach to the issues, the British Legion have forced the liberal left into retreat.
There is never a time to put remembrance of those who served our country aside. As we repeat during the Remembrance ceremony “at the rising of the sun and in the morning we will remember them”.
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 14 February 2012
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