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Remembrance Sunday
08/10/2009
The Queen has decided that November 8 shall be observed as Remembrance Sunday, and the Secretary of State, on behalf of the Cabinet, is making the necessary arrangements for the ceremony at the Cenotaph. The customary Two Minutes' Silence will be observed from 11.00 am.
Rt Rev William Hewitt, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, said:
"The reality of war hits home particularly this year when we learn of members of our armed forces who have lost their lives, or who have been severely injured in recent combats. We see pictures of distraught families and whole communities receiving their loved ones back home and we cannot help but be touched by it.
"Remembrance Sunday is a day not only to remember people, some of them close to us, who lost their lives defending their country, but it is also a time of reflection and allows us to think how it is that wars are still happening around the world today.
"As well as notions of respect and honour, and of thankfulness to God for deliverance in the most dangerous times in our history, our thoughts should turn to the values that determine our living - values of freedom and democracy, of peace and safety, justice and mercy.
"This season gives a moment not to indulge in national pride and glory to remember how we won the war but to learn from the past and to dedicate ourselves to the future that those who come after us will live in peace, and war will be no more.