City pays respect to fallen

Sunderland remembered.

Wearsiders gathered to remember the fallen of armed conflict yesterday and fell silent to honour their memory.

As ever in our newsroom on Remembrance Sunday it is a difficult task to transfer the emotion of the day onto the printed page.

The images usually speak loudest.

With photographs of veterans, serving soldiers, the gathered crowds of young and old, many with tears in their eyes, there is no shortage of emotive images to choose from.

That we have leave any out is the pity.

The words too always seem to fall short of the experience. But that’s to be expected. Everyone who attends a Remembrance Sunday service has their own personal thoughts and emotional response to what is a shared experience.

It is the present remembering the past and giving thanks for the sacrifices made.

Once again our community responded to that call.

We strive to capture the moment, but it is nothing compared to the experience.

Veteran Len Gibson, 97, who served in wartime and was taken prisoner by the Japanese, expressed his thoughts on Remembrance Sunday and they come close to capturing the thoughts of many.

“Every year I’m amazed at the turn out from the people of Sunderland and it makes me feel marvellous,” he said. “I’m proud to be British but I’m prouder to be from Sunderland.”

While the paper struggles to do justice to Remembrance Sunday, the community never does.

Wearsiders did themselves proud with yet another impressive show of respect to the fallen.

We remembered.