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Millions needed for war memorial
Monday 23rd November 2009, 11:30AM GMT.
A visitors’ centre at a memorial commemorating servicemen who died on operations since the Second World War is in danger of falling into disrepair unless £8 million is raised.
The chairman of the National Memorial Arboretum’s Future Foundations Appeal is calling for the Government to match every pound that it raised.
The site, at Alrewas, near Lichfield, is devoted to the concept of remembrance, and its centrepiece is the striking Armed Forces Memorial that records all the names of those who have died while on duty or as a result of terrorist action since the Second World War.
A new reception area is to be built to cater for the growing number of visitors.
A memorial wall that originally stood in Basra, Iraq, to honour British soldiers who died in the recent action in that country is also being rebuilt at the arboretum.
The appeal was launched in April to raise £8m for urgent infrastructure work at the site.
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To help maintain the NMA and National Armed Forces Memorial is the least we, as ordinary members of the public can do. It is possible to become a “Friend of the National Memorial Arboretum” for a small fee per annum, the more people who do this the better.The Fire Service, Police and many branches of the Armed Forces also have their Monuments and Memorials at the NMA.By doing “our bit” we help to ensure that all who have given their lives and those who are still giving selfless service are remembered.
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Can the 8 million not be spent in better ways? Feeding the hungry and homeless?
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I agree with Morag, we spent a wonderful day there recently and will go back time and again.
Anything that we can do, we will.
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It is so important that we provide a fitting tribute to those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
The development of the Arboretum, which is already glorious, will do them and the Nation proud.
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Now then Greg, do you not realose that the names on the Memorials are of those who gave their lives for the hungry, homeless and oppressed?
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Fred do you realise how many hungry and homeless there are in the UK?
It is us going around the world forcing our policies on other countries, we are always the invaders never the invaded.
The servicemen that have lost their lives have done so at the hands of the politicians who see the servicemen as expendable. Being a soldier isn’t about fighting for your country anymore, it’s about enforcing the will of the Government on other countries, our way or the highway!
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I agree with greg, instead of wasting money like there is no tomorrow, lets spend it where it’s needed, where it will make a difference to the people who really need it.
The homeless are a nonentity in this country, they are just pushed to one side like they don’t even exist. The Government seem to care more about womens rights in Afghanistan than the homeless in their own country, maybe they don’t even know homeless exist in the UK?
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Whatever the reason the sad losses of life remain a fact. Are we just to forget and ignore the sacrifices that have been made? I for one cannot.
Not only the losses, or service carried out by the armed forces, but also the service given by the Fire Service and Police, who also have suffered many losses of life, should never be forgotten.
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Shall we forget the sacrifices then?
Whatever the reason they have still been made. How can we forget? I for one will not.
At the NMA it is not only the service given, and sacrifices made by the Armed Forces which are remembered but also the losses suffered by, and the work of, the Fire Service and Police that are recognised.
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M.E.B we do not need to spend 8 million pounds to remember anyone by. Why don’t they plant a tree or something in their memory that will not cost millions? I also agree the 8 million could be spent in many areas where it is more needed.
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Frightening that only two weeks after remembrance day there should be such attitudes. Perhaps we should have let the Nazis win the last war. So in fighting Hitler and other dictators we were the invaders? If these whingers care so much about the homeless, they could give up their cars, their computers and mobile phones to care for them. People died to protect your rights,they deserve respect.
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The Arboretum is a place where trees are planted in remembrance and also a place where individual regiments, societies, associations and services erect their own memorials to remember their respective fallen.The cost for these is met by themselves. There is however and overall running and general cost which must be met to ensure a fitting and worthy place for them.
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Paul dont get upset. Ignorant BBC regurgitaters are incapable of thinking past their remote controls.
BBC says war in M/E is bad and so it overwrites all previous conflicts in their little minds. In fact if you ever want the weather forecast just listen to one of these ignorami for long enough they’ll eventually repeat it too.
Never forget the great sacrifice so many gave for OUR freedom. Never bury the past.
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The freedom of speech being expressed would not have been possible were it not for those prepared to fight and make the ultimate sacrifice for OUR freedom.
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How naive and conditioned some of you really are.
Lets get one thing straight, if the nazis won WW2 then our history books in schools would be telling us how they were the good guys.
Whichever side wins the war, they go on to tell the generations after them they were the good guys when in reality the only good guys are the ones that don’t fight at all.
Lets be clear on one thing before we go any further, these servicemen never sacrificed their lives for their country’s freedom, the Government sacrificed the lives of the servicemen for some personal gain similar to what happened with Iraq, we were lied to about WMD’s that never existed to justify public backing for war. We now know over a million Iraqis have been killed and there were no WMD’s, this is how the Government sacrifices the lives of servicemen for their own personal gains, people need to wake up.
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A fair comment S.O.B. with a couple valid points, but whilst the majority probably didnt have the intention of becoming a martyr they nevertheless died whilst being a very effective buffer between you and an ideology you probably wouldnt approve of, if you were even gonna be allowed to exist at all.
£8 mil is quite hefty though, as they say, it’s the thought that counts, not the amount.
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A memorial regardless of how much it costs can never compare to the natural beauty of a tree. Plant a tree in memory of the servicemen and give the 8 million to our fellow humans who really need it.
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Perhaps the item should be read again. The £8 million is not for a memorial but to ensure the memorials and monuments already there, and paid for by individual organisations, are served by a suitable infrastructure. Those who choose to be “Friends” pay a small amount each to assist in the maintenance.No one is being made to give, it is not tax-payers money being asked for, all have a choice. Some may help the homeless and the hungry and also donate to other causes such as this.It is not necessarily either or.Trees ARE planted there for those who wish to do so, in fact hundreds, it is an Arboretum.Men died, men live and serve, let us give them some respect.Not all are heros but deserve respect from a fellow man for what they have done and are still doing. These men and women did what they did because they thought it right. It is easy to look back in hindsight and decide some action was wrong. If the Nazis had won who then would be the oppressed ?
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