Racist? Poppycock!

IT’S astonishing that some people say poppies are racist. I am secretary of the RAF memorial garden at Snaith/Pollington where the local children place poppies at a Remembrance service.

One of them, ten-year-old Thomas, wrote this essay for homework and put a copy through my letterbox. I cried when I read it: ‘Dear soldiers, I am writing to tell you that you haven’t been forgotten. I visited the memorial garden by the old runway.

‘The service started when RAF pilots marched in wearing their medals with pride as the bugler played the Last Post and the flags were lowered to half-mast. We stood in silence.

‘I thought about what I had seen on TV, of the black and white images of planes dropping bombs and planes falling from the skies. I thought how brave you all were. Were you scared? Did you think of yourself when you gave your life for me?

‘Then it was my turn. Stepping forward, gently carrying the posy of scarlet poppies, I bent down and placed it on the stone. Taking a step back, I bowed my head while quietly saying: “Thank you.” Your bravery will always be special to me.’

RENNE OUNSLEY, Snaith, E. Yorks. WHY do I wear a poppy? For my grandfather, who served in the Great War, my father who fought in World War II, my school friend killed in the Falklands, and my son who served in Afghanistan.

And for the former soldier in his 50s, living rough and not yet eligible for his pension, who refused a hand-out from my daughter’s cafe owner boss and insisted on cleaning windows and doing some tidying in return for £25 to help him on his way.

KEITH COLLINS, Manchester.