Leeds locals discuss the importance of remembering those who gave their lives for ours and reflect on those involved in conflict.
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00:00 I think we always remember Remembrance Sunday, although I don't have any direct relatives
00:04 that have fought in the First World War or other wars. My grandfather was in the army
00:10 as well and my husband is from Sierra Leone so he was in the army in Sierra Leone as well.
00:15 So we just remember, it's really important to remember anybody caught up in any conflicts
00:19 around the world, don't we Isabel?
00:21 I think Remembrance Day is really important because I think a lot of people forget that
00:24 you know without the soldiers we wouldn't have what we have today, the environment and
00:28 especially for us young people I think a lot of people forget but especially when I was
00:31 in school I'd always do the Remembrance Day parade, I'd play the saxophone with my band
00:35 and it was always a really special time of the year.
00:37 I love celebrating Remembrance Day because I think it's what we owe to everyone that
00:41 gave so much to us all. My brother was in the forces, my nephew was in the forces, they'd
00:46 done tours, different tours and thank God they're still here. But in memory of all those
00:51 that are not still here, you know I commend them, always remember them, never forget.
00:58 Yes I remember my father and my grandfather. My grandfather was in the First World War
01:05 and got injured. My father was in the Second World War, luckily he got through it without
01:12 any injury. But yeah, and you always feel sad at all the lives that were lost through
01:21 war and even today we're losing so many people through war. It's so sad. It is sad. We should,
01:31 I think we'd have worked out a way to settle differences without killing each other by
01:37 now, wouldn't you? You would wish they could. Yeah. Yeah I think I love watching the parade,
01:41 they walk tall, so proud and I thought they should be. It's very emotional watching Remembrance
01:47 Day. Like most of us I have had relatives who were in both World Wars. I think the thing
01:56 that I find difficult about it is that, particularly in recent years, it seems to have sort of
02:03 been co-opted by people who want to make it into a jingoistic thing about trying to recruit
02:12 people into the military, but also about making it about like, "Oh we won" and all this kind
02:18 of stuff. Whereas really I don't think that serves the memory of the people who fought
02:23 in the wars very well. Do we really want to keep having to fight? I mean is war something
02:31 that we want to celebrate? I think it's really important that people don't forget how lucky
02:36 we are really to be here because the war, albeit it might have been a very long time
02:41 ago, it should always be remembered and the poppies are a really important symbol of that.
02:44 And I think what I'll try and instil in my own friends, even my own kids, how important
02:48 it is to remember not even just people that died in the world wars, but everyone that
02:52 fought, the horses, the people, the women that worked hard. It's so important to remember
02:56 everyone and everything because you need to be happy in the future. You've got to remember
03:00 the people that made it so you could be happy for you in the past.
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