I too always cry at the service when the poppies come down. Oh, who am I kidding? I cry all through it. The minute the military bands strike up I cry. Playing the last post? I cry. And moving onto today, the part in the marchpast at the cenotaph where the men (and women) from St Dunstans turn their unseeing eyes right? I can cry just thinking about it.

This year I also managed to embarrass myself completely at the two minute silence on the 11th, (which is always observed on the Town Hall steps) because two elderly gentlemen complete with medals and red berets stood to attention as the bugle played and saluted.

I do appreciate their sacrifice. And it's just so painfully sad that these often very young men are still dying, only this time for a reason that is not clear, not easy to understand. They aren't dying to make the world safer for their own loved ones, but more to fulfil a political end. :(