• last year
At the gathering in the Invicta Park Barracks in Maidstone, veterans stood to reflect the famous tommy symbol of a soldier.
Transcript
00:00 For remembrance this year, veterans and staff from the Royal British Legion Industries have gathered to form the charity's signature Tommy.
00:10 Alongside members of Royal and Gurkha engineers, they assembled in Maidstone with a drone recording from above.
00:19 For many, this service gave them the chance to reflect.
00:24 It's the first time I've done anything like this with the Legion. It means a lot, this sort of remembrance of people who are not there.
00:32 We have the Tommy figure as our symbol and to actually be part of this is a great idea and I feel quite privileged to be here.
00:42 Every soldier also held a Tommy with the name of a veteran engraved into them.
00:49 Each of us had an individual Tommy that we were holding that had a name of a veteran that has been supported by the RBLI.
00:59 So every one of those Tommy's that you saw, the soldiers that were here plus us veterans were all individuals that the RBLI have individually helped in some way.
01:09 Whether that be housing, welfare, monetary issues. So yeah, the support that's given to the RBLI is massive.
01:16 The assembly also allowed veterans to express the importance of opening up to mental and physical issues created from conflicts.
01:25 I think of my father. He was in the First World War. He was in the Royal Artillery.
01:32 Unfortunately, he never spoke to me about it and you wish that you could have talked.
01:40 But it's too late now and I wish anyone, if they've got parents, talk to them past and share their thoughts with them.
01:49 Remembrance will serve as a time of reflection and hopefully support.
01:56 Henry Luck for CAME TV in Maidstone.

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