The post you are reporting:
If I may come in on a more personal note this time; Sheila, I think of your little friend often. I remember too the first time I saw her picture; just heartbreaking. We have visited her grave several times, indeed as we visit as many other graves of our lost ones as possible. Those we cannot visit, kind people across the world do so on our behalf. Each person who was lost was unique and precious, and even though it is nearly a century on now for some of them, that loss reverberates to this day with the families and friends who were bereaved.
The names submitted have been requested in the three years since the last dedication was made in 2009. The very first came the day after that dedication was reported in the local papers. That first request was the dying request of someone who had mourned the loss throughout her life; she said, "This is the last thing I can do for my darling dad."
When the decision of the Committee was made public, which was nearly a month after it was made, I wrote to all the families and friends, by email for speed, by letter where I couldn't contact by email, to inform them. We have had many emails, phone calls, and letters in response. Everyone knew that the final decision was up to the Town Council, in whose care the Memorial is placed, but it takes little imagining to appreciate that responses have generally been very emotional.
Some have expressed a weary view, along the lines of "this is the kind of thing we'd expect from the Council". At the same time, they and others vary from white-hot anger through deep dismay that seemingly the Council just don't understand what service for one's country means to the occasion when someone was unable to speak at all through sobbing. I feel that it has been underestimated exactly how significant it is for the families and friends to have a Dovorian loved one commemorated on the Town Memorial, the focus point of Remembrance in November, with the name displayed in the centre of our community, for all to see every day. The communications have not come just from the families and friends, but from others too; this has hit our community, and not just here but overseas, because some members of several of the families now live elsewhere.
Paul, I wrote to Allison, our Town Clerk, on 29th April, to request information regarding the discussion that occurred at that meeting, which the minutes give as "full and frank", the names of the people who were present at the meeting, and a copy of the report that she put before the committee. I have been given information unofficially, but to date haven't received an official response to my letter.
Speaking for the Committee, if I may for a moment, I currently believe that the general goodwill and intention to "do the right thing" was there. The problem lies, I think, in the decision to decline the names, rather than referring any queries before making any decision. Nevertheless, this decision does not mean dialogue is closed - far from it. The minutes request a further meeting, and I am quite sure that all members of the Committee, indeed, all Councillors, will wish to resolve this, and that it will be resolved. I am equally absolutely certain that, no matter how it may currently appear, absolutely no offence was ever intended to anyone, not to townsfolk, not to serving and ex-serving people, and certainly never to the memory of our Fallen and to the families and the friends who mourn them to this day.