Memorial Day at Gatwick Airport

Memorial Day at Gatwick Airport

What I Learned about British Reverence for the War Dead

Today, 31 May 2022, is Memorial Day. For many folks in this nation, it is merely a day-off from the usual grind, a day to have picnics, BBQs, or a visit to the lake, river, or the beach. But the day was actually set aside as a way to honor men and women who wore a uniform, went into harms’ way to maintain our freedom or to secure liberty for those locked in a political system of tyranny, and then paid the ultimate sacrifice. Today, their bodies lie in a grave. We are to intentionally remember and reverence their heroism and sacrifice and be grateful.

For those who have lost loved ones in recent wars such as the Vietnam War, the two Wars in the Gulf, or Afghanistan, and other recent military conflicts, this is an especially difficult day for them. They remember, but do so with immeasurable sorrow and pain as they eat supper with a vacant chair at the table. For many, the loss of a family member is the greatest trial of their lives. May God comfort all of them today.

May the earth lie lightly on their bones.[1]

As part of my travels in the UK for PhD studies, I happened to be in London’s Gatwick airport on Remembrance Day, the British (and Canadian) equivalent to Memorial Day. At a prearranged time in the day, a precise time known to the entire UK population, all transactions, conversations (face-to-face or phone), airport announcements, walking, running, buying, eating, drinking, came to an abrupt stop. People stopped walking and talking. All people, adults, teens, kids, stood still. From the cacophony of a thousand voices speaking and feet walking, Gatwick Airport became dead quiet and strangely still. Like a cemetery.

It was a deeply moving experience for me. I could not stop weeping. I had recently been informed that my nephew, Sergeant Evan Cole, in his second tour of duty in Iraq with a US Army Armored Division, had barely survived the blast of an IED under his vehicle.[2] The national honor given to the fallen by my British cousins triggered a fresh wave of emotion. 

I learned something valuable from my British cousins about how to demonstrate reverence for the war dead. It was a national experience. Everyone participated in revering those who had fallen. There were no exceptions as far as I could see. The entire United Kingdom came to a complete standstill in a united way to honor the dead.

This British way of reverencing the war dead might be something this nation ought to consider adopting. It united the entire population together in a meaningful and comforting way. The United Kingdom stood still in unified reverence. And, you can imagine how comforting it was for those special British families whose loved ones never came home.

Thank you for reading.  

 [1] Rick Atkinson, The Guns at Last Light, The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945, Volume Three of the Liberation Trilogy (New York: Henry Holt, 2014), p. 641.

[2] Evan spent three years in Walter Reed Hospital, Washington D.C., recovering from his many wounds. Thank the Lord he is alive today.