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Posted on 07/14/2009 3:47:19 PM PDT by Stolly
Thousands of people lined the streets of Wootton Bassett as the bodies of eight British soldiers killed in Afghanistan were driven through.
The bodies of the soldiers, who were killed in a single 24-hour period, passed through the town in Wiltshire, which is near RAF Lyneham.
On Monday troops in Helmand province held their own memorial to the men.
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At the sound of the church bell, the street fell silent.
The pavements were packed six deep around me; now, as the shops emptied, every available space was occupied.
Schoolchildren in uniform, the standard bearers of the local British Legion, the crews from the town's fire station, all gazing south down the main street as the sun flashed off the windscreens of the hearses.
No bands, no bugles - just silence; then, as the cortege paused beside the war memorial, a stirring in the crowd. Some family members pushing forward to throw flowers onto the hearses; others, overcome by grief, holding tightly to each other.
Moments later, a ripple of applause spreading across the town square, surrounding the war memorial bearing the names of others lost in past conflicts.
Beside a police car at the head of the cortege, one of the escorting officers stood at the salute; as the applause faded, a middle-aged man laid one last single white rose, and the convoy moved on.
Behind me, the shops re-opened their doors; Wootton Bassett had done its duty once more
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
A very wonderful post.
Thankyou.
Here is a story from just last week, five more soliders, thousands of people giving their respect.
As the story states, none of this is organised. Its always spontaneous.
A whole different picture of Britians than what we are usually treated to.
I truly pray for these souls and their families. And how wonderful this town shows such respect for their fallen heroes.
Yes, well, normally “British continue being British” isn’t very newsworthy. Fact remains we still are and will continue to be so.
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Jolly good show to the people of Wootton Bassett. Nice to see the heart of Britain still beats. The good folks of Britain need to take another stand and defeat the solicialists in the Parliament.
mel
Apparently one difference between americans and british is that british war protestors know when to SHUT THEIR DAM MOUTH!
Here in america we have funerals guarded buy the GODDAM HELLS ANGELS to keep the goddam war protestors a respectable distance from the grieving family.
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