We still need to remember

WE will remember them.

Those are the words that will be said at The Cenotaph in Whitehall and around every war memorial across the country on Remembrance Sunday.

But do we remember?

This is not just an occasion when we remember those who were killed during the First World War and the Second World War: but those who have died on the bloody battlefields of the past 50 years, too.

We remember Korea and Aden and the Falklands and the Gulf.

And today we remember Iraq and Afghanistan.

That is the reason we still have Remembrance Day - and it is the reason we must continue to have Remembrance Day.

It's about taking a moment to realise that not one year has past since the end of the Second World War when troops from this country have not been involved in risking their lives somewhere around the globe.

It is a sobering thought.

The First World War became known as the war to end all wars, but that was not to be.

The Second World was seen as a time when there would be an end tyranny.

It just hasn't happened.

I make the point because I went as a six-year-old to witness my first Remembrance Day parade.

It was in the days when Great War veterans were still around and talking about the Somme and Yypes.

They were proud men - and had every right to be.

In contrast, those who had been through the Second World War kept there thoughts to themselves.

They did not talk of the bravery and courage they obviously possessed.

Even in today's nightmare of Iraq and Afghanistan those involved do not see themselves as heroes. They are simply getting on and doing a job - but it is, after all, the most dangerous job in the world at the moment.

It's the silent heroes from the past and those now doing their duty that we remember on Remembrance Sunday.

It is to those to whom we owe the greatest debt.

And we shall continue to remember