Tri-Service
#IRemember: MP's Tribute To The Rifles' Fallen Heroes
A former Army Major who served in Afghanistan with The Rifles has paid an emotional #IRemember tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives during the regiment’s 2009 tour to Afghanistan.
James Heappey MP, who represents the Wells constituency, was deployed to Afghanistan with 2 Rifles as part of Operation Herrick 10.
The battalion sustained heavy casualties in a particularly bloody phase of the conflict, losing six soldiers in one week in July 2009.
He said: “I remember all of those who died from my regiment, The Rifles, in Iraq and Afghanistan but particularly those from 2 Rifles with whom I served on Op Herrick 10 in Afghanistan in the summer of 2009.
“It was a very difficult tour when frankly to pick out one of the 25 or so people who died from our battle group on that tour would be wrong. But I remember so vividly the sense that we were up against it and there were IEDs under the ground everywhere the battalion went and knowing that almost every night something would happen. The issue was whether that was going to be fatal or not.
“The courage of the people that carried on and went out on patrol every day despite those circumstances, knowing that mates had already been killed or injured in action, that was an extraordinary time and an extraordinary demonstration of exactly what it is to serve in our nation’s armed forces.“So every time I stand on Remembrance Sunday and the Last Post is sounding, I find myself transported to Sangin, stood on the helicopter landing site where we did our own acts of remembrance each day and I think of all of those men that lost their lives in Afghanistan, in the Helmand Valley that summer.”
If you’d like to join our #IRemember campaign in the run-up to Armistice Day you can post brief tributes to relatives or loved ones who served our country, using the #IRemember hashtag on social media.
They might have seen action in either World War, they might have served in peacetime, they might have been killed in action or lived a long and happy life after leaving the forces; they might have not have served in uniform but supported the war effort in another way. It’s up to you to remember whoever you choose.
To take part in #IRemember, you can use our BFBS and Forces TV Facebook pages – you can just add your memories in the comments section of our posts.
If you want to use Twitter, make sure you use the #IRemember hashtag and tag us in using our @bfbs handle
And if you want to use Instagram, again – use the #IRemember hashtag and tag us in using our forces_tv handle.
Do join in with I remember – let’s make sure we remember those who gave so much.
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