Reflections on Remembrance Sunday

We were delighted to be joined by Lt. Col. John Williams (Retd.) who shared his experiences and reflections for Remembrance Sunday. His thoughtful and deeply moving talk resonated with the whole congregation, offering a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made in service of peace. We are pleased to include his words in this edition for readers to reflect on and appreciate.

A lot has changed in the world since I stood here a year ago and, and unfortunately, not a lot of it has been positive. But none the world’s events can stop us coming together as friends, family and a community to remember and celebrate ordinary people who somehow found a way to come together when the nation needed them to achieve exceptional things.

Remembrance is not just about those who wear uniforms, it is much more than that. We are here today, as we are every year, to remember the service and sacrifice of all those who have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life. This includes:

• Members of the Armed Forces.

• Their families, who also bear the burden of service.

• The emergency services.

• And Civilians who have lost their lives due to conflict or terrorism.

However, the reality of Remembrance is people gather for a variety of deeply personal, communal, and historical reasons. Those reasons will perhaps be:

• To honour the fallen – both of the world wars and all conflicts which came after. ·

• Because of a family connection to the Armed Forces. ·

• To take part in an act of National Identity and Tradition. ·

• Or simply to undertake personal reflection based upon an experience they have had.

What is central to every act of remembrance is the acknowledgment of the unquestioned heroism, selflessness, and sacrifice of both those who served and fell, but also those who served and came home, and those who stayed at home and supported our communities – and not just in the World Wars, but all conflict.

A question we must ask ourselves again and again is why do brave men and women fight? The academic reasons describing why wars are fought focus such things as: ·

• defending national sovereignty, normally against the aggressive expansionism of totalitarian regimes (such as in the World Wars, Korea, the Falklands)

• Upholding international law.

• And restoring peace and stability.

The most famous assertion of Carl von Clausewitz, a great Prussian General and military theorist whose works are still taught in Military College’s today, is that "War is merely the continuation of politics by other means" . He describes the ultimate "reason" for a war as always being of political purpose. But this doesn’t describe why people fight – they don’t do it for politicians.

They fight for their families, their communities, their nations – so everyone, regardless of gender, race, religion, sexuality, can have a better way of life once conflict ends. They fight to ensure a better future for themselves and future generations.

This is described no better than by the final sentence of the Kohima Epitaph which you will hear in full as part of our commemorations shortly. The Kohima Epitaph is engraved on a Memorial in the cemetery at Kohima in North-East India which memorialises the men of the 2nd British Division. That final line reads:

“For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today"

If those soldiers in the North-East of India gave their today for the tomorrow we are living right now, how would they think we are doing with this tomorrow they provided for us?

I suspect they may not be that impressed with how we are using their hard-won freedom. I suspect they might be slightly disheartened by the current level of political and social polarization across the world. I don’t think it would be unfair to say global society is more probably more divided today than it has been since the years that led up to the start of World War 2.

I believe Winston Churchill described the society we currently live in best, despite saying it over 80 years ago in 1943 – "Some people's idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage. "

Churchill was highlighting the hypocrisy, which has never been more present than it is today, that many demand freedom to speak but resist accountability. True free speech, and the freedom which comes with it, allows dialogue and not simply one-sided privilege.

Sadly, the choice to wear, or not, a poppy is also a freedom which is being eroded - with people being very publicly being ‘called out’ for not wearing a poppy. It is even now reported in the news each evening who didn’t wear a poppy and why they’re an awful person. People are being accused of things like a lack of patriotism and disrespecting the fallen and veterans. What a load of absolute nonsense.

Wearing a poppy is a personal choice reflecting individual and personal memories. And this must never change. They may also wish to wear a white poppy, or a purple poppy – this is their choice based upon their personal beliefs. The Armed Forces of the United Kingdom exist today, and have always existed, to provide freedom for all people to choose to do with whatever they wish – obviously within the boundaries of the law.

The Armed Forces fight for your freedoms – all of them, for all of you. Not just the freedoms which are easy, the ones we like or the ones we agree with – and not just for their friends, family and people they happen to like. They fight for all of us to able to live every day without judgement or persecution.

But what they didn’t fight for was the right for people to spread hate, and forcing their negative and damaging opinions upon others. In the world today, people are far too quick to judge, and far to slow to listen. They believe their opinions are more important than anybody else’s, and that people might actually want to hear what their opinions are – even if the demonstrably nonsense. Just read some of the comments on social media for a short time, or listen to Donald Trump and his supporters.

So please can I ask, when you are exercising the freedoms provided to you through the blood, toil and sacrifice of others, which I guarantee most of you take for granted apart from one day a year, you stop and think about the impact of your actions upon others. When you think you have an opinion that matters, maybe take a moment before you decide to share it. Please consider the possibility you may be wrong, challenge your sources of information, and don’t believe what you see and read on the internet

Others may wish to exercise their freedom in a way that is different to you – and that’s okay. And doesn’t require you to judge them. Striving to be the best version of yourself, whatever that is, is exactly what it should mean to live in Britain today – a free country full of free people, something that is the envy of 100’s of millions of people in the world today who can only dream of such a thing.

In the past 110 years, millions of people, most of whom you do not know and will never know, fought and many died because they believed you, your family, this community and the country we are very lucky to call home deserved to live free of tyranny and hate.

And, having been provided this freedom, if you are ever in doubt how to use this great privilege – just be kind.

John Williams

original article published in A View from St John's