Real Life Champions: No Names, No Pack Drill
This week’s piece could be a list, running to more than 90 names, of those who have died this year in Afganistan. Instead I would like, just briefly, to thank all those servicemen and women who have given their lives this year and in years past, to keep others free. Their names are too many to mention, and their lives will be celebrated alsewhere. Whatever the reasons, whether or not the cause is just, these young people have died for us.
And I would also like to thank those who are currently fighting for us there. And those who are recovering from their injuries, who will never again be able to go there. Names are available, to any who cares to ask. But it really isn’t the individuals who can be remembered. The idea of service, of people prepared to risk their lives for us all, that is something without price.
A week after the London Bombings, I travelled to London by train. I was astonished, appalled and somewhat encouraged, by the presence of policemen at the stations both end of my journey, armed with guns and looking distinctly uncomfortable in their bullet-proof vests. I thanked them for taking care of me. I was more than aware that police officers do not expect to have to protect people fron armed terrorists as an everyday part of their jobs. I felt safer at their expense, and grateful for their service to all of us.
So, this week I am celebrating the un-named people whose lives have been transformed, and not for the better, by the increase in terrorism in our daily lives. You are all champions. Thanks for all you are doing for us. It isn’t a safe place, but it’s safer than it might be because you are prepared to put their lives on the line.
(Dianna Moylan - assistant editor)
