[Acrylic-bob]

On the whole I do like a good funeral and state occaisions are pretty special. I am just old enough to have reliable memories of Sir Winston Churchill's funeral and pretty spectacular it was too. I think watching it in black and white added something to the occaision.

So Lady Thatcher guided the country for a while, through troubled times, using wit intelligence and energy. For which she was amply rewarded in pecuniary terms and also by being elevated to the nobility. Fair enough.

But my mind is continually drawn to those men and women who also serve their country in its hour of need. Who face danger to life and limb on a daily basis. Who forego the joys of family life for extended periods so that we may enjoy our own in freedom and peace. Who, whenever they are required to do so, are willing to give up their own lives and futures without hesitation or complaint. There are also those who survive, but with appalling injuries to mind and body.

My question is this: where is the offer of an equal schedule of honours for them? Where is the sad, solemn procession to St Pauls Cathedral for those who die in war? Why does our nation's capital not come to a halt to mark the passage of those who gave not only their time, their wit and intellience, but also their very lives?

If every life is unique and every life uniquely valuable, why must the many make do with so little simply because they are the many?

It all seems a tad unfair somehow.

Perhaps if all those who died in war were accorded the honour of a state funeral then the true cost of war would be brought home more forcibly to those so eager to indulge in it.