Armed Forces Abassador Colonel Stephen Boardman MBE DL and Foundation Chaplain Derek Hardman give their messages ahead of Remembrance Day
Saints Community Development Foundations Armed Forces Ambassador Colonel Stephen Boardman MBE DL mentioned:
“The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month: the time our Nation falls silent each year to remember with respect and solemn pride those who laid their lives on the altar of freedom, so that others might live.
For those of us who are soldiers, Veteran or Serving, Remembrance is with us every day of our lives. We remember the good times, the banter and even the black humour – it’s our way of making sense of the things we have seen and done. But we can’t un-see or un-do the past.
The searing heat and dust of the battlefields in Afghanistan and Iraq will always be with me.
In quiet moments, we remember those we served alongside, those we loved and lost. We pray for our families and those of the fallen and wounded, those with physical injuries and those with “hidden” wounds.
But who understands our grief, our pride in our service to The Crown, or why we repeatedly put ourselves in harms way, knowing the potential consequences? The answer is other soldiers, other men and women who have experienced war up close and personal.
That’s why the work of the Veterans of the Saints Foundation is critical, bringing the military community together and supporting them in so many ways. Many of us, including myself, live alone so without this support and that of the Regimental Associations, we would be left isolated.
St Helens is my hometown and Saints my Rugby Team. It is a huge honour for me to represent The Foundation as an Armed Forces Ambassador and one I will always treasure.
This Remembrance Day, honour the fallen in your own way, but never forget that the Foundation is there standing side by side with us all.
God bless.”
Derek Hardman, Saints Community Development Foundations Chaplain also added:
“On this day , the willingness of our armed forces to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude.
Lest we forget.”
Photographed here is Foundations Armed Forces Ambassador Stephen Boardman MBE DL
