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A former Army medic from Stoke-on-Trent will march alongside 10,000 others during the Cenotaph Service on Remembrance Sunday as part of the largest ever group of veterans supported by Help for Heroes.
Lee West, 48, whose 10-year military career included two tours in Bosnia, will honour his grandfather who fought in the Normandy Landings at the annual event on Sunday, November 13.
He said: “Remembrance is an opportunity to come together to remember the sacrifice and great bravery of people before us and in our time. My grandfather, Warrant Officer Frank Adams who served with the Dorset Regiment, had his hand disfigured by a German artillery shell during D-Day and was medically discharged.
“Being asked as a guest at this year's March at the Cenotaph is an honour and a privilege. The opportunity to represent my grandfather, my family, Help for Heroes and myself is a very emotional prospect.”
The Charity has been supporting members of the Armed Forces community to live well after service for 15 years. In that time, the military charity has helped over 27,000 veterans and their families.
Lee joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1990 and served as a combat medical technician until he left in 2000 and is now supported by the Charity.
“As a veteran soldier on the manageable side of PTSD recovery, I aim to push through the anxiety and the hyper vigilance to parade. Help for Heroes has been excellent for my recovery, now I hope to inspire others who are yet to engage with the recovery process to get their head down, crack on and invest in their future.”
Lee is now co-director of a veteran art and mental health community interest company called Veteran Support Network in Stoke, which has an art gallery called Arts and Minds.
He will join more than 20 other veterans from Help for Heroes wearing distinctive tri-service colours when they march in the national Remembrance Sunday ceremony, held at the Cenotaph on Whitehall in London.
David Hornsby, a Veterans’ Clinical Liaison at Help for Heroes, who has organised the charity’s largest ever group of veterans in attendance, added: “Remembrance is not just about one day - I think it’s all year round for veterans, but the ceremonies on Remembrance Sunday are an incredibly poignant focus for me.
“I was an Emergency Department nurse and was privileged to care for our wounded on operations, many of them experienced traumatic injuries that had previously been regarded as unsurvivable. Many more bear the scars of the events they witnessed, I’m now in the privileged position of being able to continue to support our wounded veterans. Remembrance Day reminds me of the operational tours I deployed on and those fellow veterans of all operations I can help now.”
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