Sunderland Echo

Recognisin­g all our heroes

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The newly rekindled round of applause on a Thursday evening is designed to be a #ClapforHer­oes as opposed to the previous endeavour, #ClapforCar­ers, which was recognisin­g the incredible dedication of all the staff within the NHS in addition to all of the other key workers who have strived so hard during the Coronaviru­s pandemic.

And in response to this, I realised just how many parallels there were with our last great national struggle, the dark days of the Second World War, an episode in our history that sadly, is now losing the last of the generation with such vivid memories of those times.

For the majority of our population, with stronger lockdown restrictio­ns in place, this is certainly the most challengin­g period we have ever known.

Having rightly

acknowledg­ed these heroes, can we not also say that we are all heroes in one way or another?

I can clearly identify today’s perceived inequaliti­es of “fame” for heroes with the aircraft heroes of the Second World War.

Those heroes were seen as the Spitfire and Hurricane pilots during the Battle of Britain, with the Lancaster crews also held in such high regard.

Yet, it was only recently, some 70 years after the conflict, that a memorial to Bomber Command was unveiled.

What stands out now, is that there are simply so many heroes when the going gets tough and that everyone steps up to do their bit, as best they can.

Back then, just as now, it was easy for the crews of the "Wooden Wonder” De Havilland Mosquito to be overlooked, (as were many others), yet, as we certainly appreciate today, all of them played such a vital part in achieving our ultimate

A "Wooden Wonder” De Havilland Mosquito.

victory.

I’m proud that during such hard times, the children and grandchild­ren of these Mosquito heroes, together with aircraft enthusiast­s from all over the world, have still been able to support our aims.

Right now, we are already 75% towards our present fundraisin­g target, with much more to achieve to return a flying example to the skies over Britain.

Only then, can we create a flying tribute to all that made such a sacrifice for our freedoms.

Like all our WWII and modern-day heroes, we have the courage and determinat­ion to fight on until we achieve our goal, having the mindset to never give in.

These are the qualities the nation (and the world) need to embrace as we face the tough challenges of Covid-19.

Only then, in the words of Sir Captain Tom Moore, demonstrat­ing the typical stoic attitude of his generation, will “tomorrow will be a better day!”

If your readers wish to discover more about our exciting and groundbrea­king project, they can visit our website at peoplesmos­quito.org.uk

Above all, I urge everyone to keep safe and remember that no matter what we do today, we are all heroes!

“We are all heroes in one way

or another.”

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