Jonathan serving with the UN Stabilisation Force FRY

Funerals and memorial ceremonies of current and former service personnel are dignified and moving occasions.  They are an opportunity for family, friends and comrades to remember with gratitude, those who with honour, courage, and commitment protect our nation and provide vital humanitarian relief around the world in times of crisis.

Military funerals are a way of paying respect to men and women who have died (or ‘crossed the bar’ as it is termed in the Royal Navy) whilst on active service whereas Veterans or Ex-Services funerals honour those who have served their country but have since left the Armed Forces.  Both currently serving military Humanist colleagues and I are always ready to help families when asked.

As a retired Army Reservist myself and with a military career spanning more than 25 years, I absolutely understand the special bond which exists between military colleagues and their families; a bond which develops and is sustained through an acute understanding of the necessity to trust the professionalism of their friends unconditionally and ultimately to lay down their lives for them, should the circumstance arise.

Military ceremonial, poetry and music are among the best available at times of commemoration or bereavement and I will always be honoured to write and deliver a poignant tribute for a former colleague in arms.