To See Smudge
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Our Visit to See Smudge at the National Memorial
Arboretum  After our little train ride we went in
search of the main Armed Forces
Memorial.
The Armed Forces Memorial, dedicated in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen on the 12th of October 2007, is a nationally significant focus for Remembrance. It honours those members of the Armed Forces (Regular and Reserve) who were killed on duty while performing functions attributable to the special circumstances and requirements of the Armed Forces, or as a result of terrorist action, and those who died while deployed on designated operations.
  The Monument. We
wanted to find one name amongst the thousands, found on the far right-hand wall.
 That of Smith
MD or Smudge to our son Joe..........good friends who served
together in Afghanistan. On the 10th of August 2012 Joe heard his dear friend
had died six hours before. Such a tragedy, such a waste of a young life. Our
hearts went out to Smudge’s parents, fiancé and especially to his four young
children. https://www.gov.uk/government/fatalities/lance-corporal-matthew-david-smith-killed-in-afghanistan
   Respects paid we bimbled around this huge space and then went in search of the Bastion
Memorial.......
 To the left the Bastion
Memorial, to the right the Armed Forces
Memorial.
  Here we once again looked for Smudge (top right plaque on the right).
            The twelve name
plaques. We read all the Royal Marine names, some known to son-in-law,
Mark.
 The back of the
Monument.
  The map, the
larger photograph to show Camp Bastion.
 This memorial was built to mirror the
original memorial erected in Camp Bastion by British service personnel and
incorporates elements of the original stonework plaques and
cross.
  When you go home tell
them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today.
ALL IN ALL SO SAD BUT SO PLEASED
TO BE HERE
EXTRAORDINARILY MOVING
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