23rd June 2010

Dear Sir,

This coming Saturday is Armed Forces Day, this is an opportunity for all of us as a nation to rally behind the men and women serving in the British Armed Forces, for their families left behind and for the veterans who have served in the past.

Often the efforts and sacrifices made by these men and women and their families go unrecorded, lost in the fog of national media and events, and this is our chance to put them up front and centre as they deserve.

Whatever your opinion on the recent and ongoing military campaigns in the Middle East and Asia please remember that our soldiers, sailors and airmen didn’t have a choice in when or where they served, they went where ordered and fought as commanded.

So this Saturday I hope that everyone across the South West will join me in raising a glass and sparing a thought for the men and women serving on our behalf across the world. Some have paid the ultimate price, and some families are still paying for it today, and they all deserve our support.

They will certainly have mine.

Yours faithfully,

Ashley Fox MEP