SurviveToFight
Swinger

Regardless of my feelings about the man (and, for the record, I consider him to be an epic balloon), watching Trump leaving the White House for the last time made me feel a little melancholy. When I thought about this over a lock-down whisky, I realised that I've felt the same way on almost every occasion when I've witnessed the end of something, regardless of whether it was an otherwise happy or sad occasion. The lowering of the Soviet flag for the final time on Christmas Day 1991 is another example.
Long after I had left the army, I was there for the Hong Kong handover. Being a lifelong pleb, I didn't have an invite to actually see the flags come down in person, but I was there when the Black Watch, RAF and RN marched off the square for the last time. No matter how much of a hard-faced bastard someone may have been, I doubt there were many dry eyes when the bands played Auld Lang Syn in the pouring rain. Even now, and despite it being one of the most memorable experiences of my life, I can't bring myself to watch the full handover ceremony on YouTube.
I can imagine that seeing bases closing in NI that had played host to British troops for 30 years (or in Germany for 50) must have had the same effect on people who were there. Ditto the fall of the Berlin Wall or the decommissioning of HMS Britannia.
So, please share your thoughts if you are as much of a sentimental old sod as me...
Long after I had left the army, I was there for the Hong Kong handover. Being a lifelong pleb, I didn't have an invite to actually see the flags come down in person, but I was there when the Black Watch, RAF and RN marched off the square for the last time. No matter how much of a hard-faced bastard someone may have been, I doubt there were many dry eyes when the bands played Auld Lang Syn in the pouring rain. Even now, and despite it being one of the most memorable experiences of my life, I can't bring myself to watch the full handover ceremony on YouTube.
I can imagine that seeing bases closing in NI that had played host to British troops for 30 years (or in Germany for 50) must have had the same effect on people who were there. Ditto the fall of the Berlin Wall or the decommissioning of HMS Britannia.
So, please share your thoughts if you are as much of a sentimental old sod as me...