I’m Canadian, so I had forgotten it was Memorial Day in the US until an article on the internet reminded me. Up here we have Remembrance Day on November 11th, when the cadets and veterans march down Main street in a parade in the morning. Afterwards, they pop in the local legion hall for a pint which is only a block and a half away from my house.

My Dad was air force but we didn’t talk much about military stuff because a) He was an engineer and b) In the 70s, he spent a fair amount of time in counter-intelligence and basically spooks keep their mouth shut.

My Grandad was a career soldier. He served in the US Army in the thirties in the Blackhorse Regiment which is now 11th Armored that is serving in Iraq (if I recall correctly). But he was originally British so in the mid 1930s he emigrated back to Britain and joined the army there. He was at Dunkirk when everthing stinky hit the fan. Then he got sent off to North Africa and was captured and become a POW for four years.

About ten years ago, when he was still alive and I was visiting England, I sat down to talk with Grandad about his military experiences. He said he didn’t remember the battles and the POW years very much ( and his voice would fade and he would look away). But he talked a lot about his time in the US. He liked looking after the horses, and he said the food was good.