This Sunday
is the annual service of remembrance honouring the men and women who gave
their lives in the great World Wars and other wars. In churches and
at war memorials all over Britain thousands shall gather to pay their respects.
Remembrance Sunday (by Eric Wm. Walker)
09 November 1997
This Sunday
is the annual service of remembrance honouring the men and women who gave
their lives in the great World Wars and other wars. In churches and
at war memorials all over Britain thousands shall gather to pay their respects.
At Brechin on Sunday we shall miss the Honour Guard from US Navy Edzell after many years of their Colour Party attending the parade with the Stars and Stripes and Navy and Marine flags flying proudly alongside those of our country.
Today I remembered being on the beautiful island of Islay, 33 miles from
the mainland out in the
Atlantic, some
time ago with Senior Chief Gary Gentles from the base. It is famed
for its scenery, its many historical and religious sites, quaint towns and
villages, and, of course, its many whisky distilleries.
One day we drove to the southern end of Islay, the Oa, and tramped over the heathery hills. There on a wild and rocky headland stands a splendid stonebuilt monument the size and shape of a full size lighthouse. The cliffs fall away hundreds of feet below where the seas break roughly upon the rocky shore.
Here in February and October1918 two American troopships, the Tuscania and Otranto, were sunk in stormy waters and hundreds of American soldiers and sailors died in the service of their country and their allies. The effect of being there is very emotional. The huge bronze plaque carries the following text
SACRED
TO THE
IMMORTAL MEMORY
OF THOSE
AMERICAN SOLDIERS AND SAILORS
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES
FOR
THEIR COUNTRY
IN THE
WRECKS OF THE TRANSPORTS
'TUSCANIA' AND 'OTRANTO'
----------------
THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY
THE AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS
NEAR THE SPOT WHERE SO MANY OF
THE VICTIMS OF THE DISASTERS
SLEEP
IN
EVERLASTING PEACE
On a flat piece of windswept ground a bronze wreath from the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, bears the sentiments and the great sense of loss of those young men who gave their lives so tragically in 1918
A TRIBUTE
FROM
WOODROW WILSON
PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
TO THE MEMORY OF HIS
FELLOW CITIZENS
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES
FOR THEIR COUNTRY
IN
NEARBY WATERS
1918
--------
"We will remember them"