Emily Stevenson got in touch with a lovely post for our Heroes series. Around this time of year we choose to remember those who have fallen. For those in direct contact with the armed forces, remembrance day can be, and all too often is, every day. Take it away Emily.
When somebody asks me who my hero is, the answer is easy. My big brother, Tom, is a Surgeon Lieutenant in the Navy and has just returned from a 6 month tour in Afghanistan, following a 6 month tour of the Arabian Gulf last year. When I think about how brave he is, how many lives he’s saved and how much he risked, I can’t describe how proud and happy I am to be his sister. But I also think about the things he’s seen, how scared he’s been and how many people he’s seen that he couldn’t save.
And this asks a much bigger question. I think about the soldiers who are still out there, the families who are still waiting and the people who will be forever waiting for those who won’t come home. I’m one of the lucky ones who had their hero return home to them – and I know, there are many who aren’t so lucky.
So, I say to all the soldiers, medics and animals fighting for their country, you are my heroes. To all the wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, girlfriends, boyfriends and friends– the ones who support these people through everything and are there to help put them back together at the end of it, as my family will do with my brother, you are my heroes. To all who have lost someone and still have the strength to carry on, proud of everything their loved one accomplished, you are my heroes.
To everybody fighting out there to save lives, everybody fighting at home to save the lives of those returning and everybody fighting to carry on with their lives, you are all my heroes. But as this is my story, I have to say to a big brother who kept his promise and came back safely, you are and always will be my hero.
