launched its campaign today to "honour our brave service men and women, past and present—and show them just how proud of them we are" by calling on the Government to:~ make Veterans Day a community event with parades in towns and villages and open days at barracks;
~ give priority to disabled soldiers injured on the frontline by moving them to the front of the queue for specially converted homes; and
~ provide education grants for serving soldiers and veterans to get them the re-training they need.
At the launch the newspaper brought together Harry Patch, a 109 year old veteran of the WW1 battlefields of Passchendaele and the last surviving Tommy from the trenches, and Mark Ormrod, a Royal Marine who lost both legs and an arm in a landmine explosion in Afghanistan last Christmas Eve. Mark said, "We share a common ground—to raise awareness for the veterans and hopefully help instil a new sense of pride in all our armed forces. It couldn't be more important."
The newspaper compares the UK event with what it calls the proper Veterans Day celebrations that take place in the USA where the whole of America makes time to salute the heroes who fought for their freedom. It puts the UK to shame.
Link> News of the World: Salute our heroes
Link> AV: National Veterans Day 2008 - Blackpool selected
Link> Veterans:UK
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