Does anyone think that the Remembrance becomes more intense, more poignant each year?

In the last year or two the Great War has fallen out of living memory with the last veterans of the conflict dying off. Without their experience and their presence it is all too easy to consign such a day to the history books and move on.

I am normally pretty irreverant about most things but this is one thing that should be held in our national consciousness with the utmost pride and reflection. I am glad it is still a big deal, the less we remember about the horror of war, the more likely we are to revisit it.

Yes and proud to do so.

Why wouldn’t you want to wear one, especially if you’ve made a donation?

I think as you mature you learn a different perspective on loss and sacrifice, the more you’ve had the more you appreciate what was lost by those who fell and their loved ones.

Perhaps it is that – I lost my mum this year (dad just short of three years ago) and I felt almost close to tears during the silence this morning. I guess these hits make you generally more emotional.

i donate and observe the silence, but dont usually wear a poppy

thats my choice, im free to make it because of the sacrifice of others.

My van is wearing mine right now! Shall stick it on my jacket when I go for a pootle on Saturday!

I generally wear one on my work clothes to remember me Grandad I never met. Shot down and killed over Dresden whilst getting the bastids, 2 weeks before the war ended.

I wear one out of respect and to donate, also come from a forces background.

Grandfather was in Army WW2 lost his leg at El Alamein, Desert Rats.

Uncle was killed in the early 70’s in the Army, R.Anglians.

Father served in Germany and various places, R.Sigs.

Wearing mine right now… I’m ex military, working with the military, training them before they go out to theatre. I’ve got friends out in theatre currently and I’ve had friends injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. The friend injured in the ‘stan lost both legs at the knee. His recovery and attitude is nothing short of incredible. I wear mine in honour of those that have sacrificed everything both past and present.

George Leslie Stewart, Cpl., 2nd. Battalion, Scots Guards. Tank Commander, Guards Armoured Division. Killed in action near Falaise, Normandy, France – 6th. August 1944 – Buried in St. Charles De Percy Cemetery “Oh Valiant Heart – We will remember you.”

[my 2p]

One of my grandparents served in the Royal Navy.

I give a donation but don’t wear a poppy.

I don’t really get why there’s a need to advertise that I support the sentiment of the occasion. For me it’s a personal thing.

[/my 2p]

Mine is at home ready to wear this weekend – it is a sticky back one so will fall off if I wore it today. Just after I bought it someone picked my wallet 🙁

I had a normal one but it didn’t last.

My wife dropped hers in the pub and some little kid picked it up and ran off with it.

If so, that’s about the scummiest thing I’ve ever heard.

here’s another scummy story.

When my father was in hospital in Epsom just before he died there was another ex-2nd WW soldier opposite him – he was on his last legs as well but not quite so terminal.

He wanted to sell his home to pay for him to spend his last days in a residential hospice for veterans (in Surrey – I thought it was Starhurst but maybe not).

His son (and the son’s wife) were all for it but his b1tch of a daughter was not, she wanted the proceeds of the house sale after the father had died.

This meant that the old guy was going to have to live out his last days in the ward with no-one with similair experiences to talk to(as my father didn’t last too much longer), whereas in the hospice he would have been ‘at-home’.

The daughter was married and her husband let her get away with it – I would have wanted to knock some sense into her – or review why it was I was married to her.

If possible you should go and see the Warhorse play at the NT (not the film that is just coming out).

It is extraordinary.

For peace.

Because the sad reality is that we have to fight for it.

No – and for reasons I don’t fully understand…

Oddly, for a military family (Navy, Royal Dockyards, Army), my father’s side of the family refused to support the Royal British Legion – and the position seems to have “stuck”

This rather strange attitude dates from Korea. Returning service personnel from Korea were largely ignored by the Legion (not sure if this was general, or just the local branch…?). It was a bit of a forgotten war, the Legion’s membership and support base was centred on WW2 veterans – and it seems there was some disdain for the returning Korean veterans.

So, as I’ve been told it, in a very military town, many Korean veterans would not enter the British Legion, and them / their families refused to support the Legion.

In no way affects general attitude towards rememberance and the Forces. I’m surprised these attitudes have been passed down the subsequent generations – ignorance / stupidity on my part, or remembering both the WW2 veterans on my mother’s side and the shunned Korean veterans on my father’s side….

ETA – over the last 10 years there has been an obvious re-focusing to include the post WW2 servicemen.

Gave a donation but not wearing one after the recent Fifa debacle. Doubt the players wearing them would actually have made a donation, and given our PM waded into the argument despite actively being at war disgusted me.

Yup……i’m ex forces, a lot of my family are forces or ex forces and a considerable number of my friends are ex forces. I spend lot of my working week dealing with the after effects of ptsd on my clients. so yup, I wear one

It’s an empty symbol to me. I don’t need someone to tell me who to remember and when, it’s something I think about quite a lot, and it’s actually rather depressing we have to have a day dedicated to rememberence.

I remember the cost of war. The soldiers, airmen and sailors on all sides who gave their lives for the reasons of a few, civillians (of all sides) who were displaced or killed and the cities that were destroyed.

Currently no, and I’ve not donated either which is a lot crap of me. Can’t actually recall having seen anybody selling them this year, which is strange, then again I’ve not actually been out and about in daylight for the last week (working from home, then spending long days on site). Excuses either way.

There’s plenty of reasons to wear one. Mostly to remember those who died so we could be where we are today. Sad that we don’t seem to have learned as much as we could from (their) previous experience.

Thanks to the various STWers who’ve posted across the last few days to kick the lazy & forgetful amongst us into taking a moment out to remember.

Yep, out of respect.

I came across a website once that had listings of all the WW1 & 2 war cemetries. It also listed the soldiers ages when they died etc. I was in tear reading it. some of them 15 and 16 year old giving there lives.

Makes you think.

I used to have a book which was made up from bits of diaries soldiers had kept from WW1. German, English Russian. It is a brilliant book but cannot for the life of me remember what it is called.

mastiles_fanylion – Member
Does anyone think that the Remembrance becomes more intense, more poignant each year? Is this a media-driven thing, are we (as a nation) becoming more aware of it’s significance or am I just getting older and understand the importance of it personally?

I tend to the view that there is as with everything these days an element of media over indulgence, extreme media mawkishness for want a of a better description and as to the debate over wether or not those overpaid fairy football buffoons should wear them is a prime example and wtf has it to do with David Cameron in the commons?

So yes I’ve always worn one and I do attend Armistice day events when forced to by school or organised group do’s that the kids attend, I’ve also got a lovely big plastic one that fronts the truck of total joy and goes on and off each year.

I’ve never been in the services myself but both my Father and Grandfather served in the 1st & 2nd wars and the Mrs comes from a military family, so I get the picture and these guys did give their all so that we could be free to squander that inheritance on CCTV surveillance, free cash to anyone in the world who wants it by simply showing up here, nothing for the relatives of those victims and nothing for any of them if their business failed as a result of the war.

Yes

Lest we forget

Also for Pte Matthew Adam Thornton, who worked here and died in Helmand earlier this week. RIP

Yes. To show some small gesture of respect to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, some of whom were little older than my children.

I wear one ‘cos i’m really forgetful. 😳

I wear one, out of respect of all of those that where beaten by the clock.

I’ve buried a few good friends over the years, lost in various altercations and out of respect for them, and all, I wear one.

I spent an absorbing two hours with this chap last night. He’s 94 and I’ve known Bert for years.
This photo was taken by an american veteran also visiting the Normandy cemeteries in 2010.

He had just found the grave of Charlie, his best friend from school days, who had been killed on D-Day. Bert survived the landing but had many scary moments thereafter.

Bought one and wear it on my uniform. My dad fought in WW2 and I never met a couple of my uncles who were merchies..
I also get to meet a lot of old soldiers etc through my job and I think they like to see younger generation outwardly paying their respect..
Don’t buy all this glorious dead crap you see on war memorials though. I do think we need memorials to folk who have sacrificed their lives in war but that sorta stuff annoys me. In fairness it’s mostly WW1 memorials that seem to use that sort of language..

I don’t need someone to tell me who to remember and when, it’s something I think about quite a lot, and it’s actually rather depressing we have to have a day dedicated to rememberence.

If we never had an event like this, the memory would probably die over the generations. My eldest child is 5 and they sell poppies in his school. If they didn’t, I would never have thought or taken the time to explain to him what they symbolise.

I’ve certainly grown more aware of the importance and significance over the years. I’m not sure I appreciated how horrific the wars were until I was older (and had kids).