Our most grateful thanks MooiVaal Media, in particular the Editor of Ster South, Ettienne van Rensburg and to Dr. Dewald Venter of VUT’s Tourism Management course, for the deeply moving tribute paid to the Veterans by their insightful coverage of the Border Boys Memorial parade held on 30 May at the MOTH Sandy Shellhole.
An example of their insight is that not many people outside of the Military services understand the significance of the Helmet placed on the butt of the inverted rifle, but they saw it and understood.
This symbolism applies to the MOTH Salut, which is the crossed hands that would be placed upon the “butt of the inverted rifle” as the Last Post is played, as the Lone Sentry displayed.
I am very sorry I did not get the chance to greet Ettienne before the parade, between greeting so many people and then trying to concentrate on formulating the words of my talk. It gets a bit stressful out there and as Dr. Venter would understand, “no battle plan ever survives the first contact”.
Old eyes started to “leak” a bit during the Wreath Laying Ceremony and the memories of our departed brothers and sisters were very close.
Thank you all again for your excellent and insightful coverage!
You made a massive contribution to the memory of the sacrifices made, as many who could not attend, could see and read about the Parade in your newspaper.
At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
