One of a kind
Re: “Winston Churchill: History’s indispensable man,” Andrew Cohen, Opinion, June 13.
I just had to write and thank Andrew Cohen for the salute to Winston Churchill.
I was in the U.K. as a child and confirm that he kept all of us on our toes and positive. Every time he made one of those rousing speeches, we were all brought out of our classrooms and into the assembly hall and it came over the Tannoy loudspeaker system. We left that hall jubilant and firmly convinced we were winning the war!
Every national anthem of the allies was sung. At home, we gathered around the radio.
I was evacuated and went to six schools; I was molested, raped. I was also bullied at school. I was 10, but all I could think of was praying the war would last long enough for me to sign up for the Red Cross so that I could nurse the soldiers.
My father was in the military — India, Africa and Burma. It was a rough time with four siblings younger than me, but I never remember being scared as Churchill and the Royal Family kept all of us positive.
He was a jewel of a man, and though from the privileged class, he also had a rough childhood with a negligent father and a frivolous mother. He was treated badly at school and his father put him into the military as he felt he was not good enough for anything else.
What a pity we do not have a Winston Churchill around today!