A Vigil for the Fallen

Last evening I was able to attend a unique ceremony.  There is a very large contingent of British military forces here in Afghanistan as part of ISAF.  Each Wednesday (as needed) they hold a vigil for their fallen service members.  I have been to several of these for fallen Americans, but never for a combat loss, and never for a UK soldier.

We had actually not intended to go, but we were on the British side of the base (known as Camp Bastion) to go to the Afghan bazaar and we literally stumbled on it so we decided to participate.  It was a short, but moving ceremony.  The entire British contingent forms up in a square shaped parade formation with one side open.  Specific units form as units and march on, but alot of folks kind of fill in the ranks in the back and that is where we were.  On the open side of the square is a dais with a podium and microphone; behind that are the flagpoles with the Union Jack and the flags of the units involved, in this case it was the 1st Royal Welsh Regiment and the 3rd Yorkshire Regiment.

Once the ceremony begins, the parade is called to attention.  The companies that the soldiers served in march on and take the place of honor at the center of the square.  The Chaplain says a prayer and then two or three of the fallen soldier's friends speak briefly.  Then the Chaplain reads the Collects for the Regiments (each Regiment in the British Army has its own Collect), followed by a reading from the Gospel and a cannon salute.  The parade is then dismissed with a quote: "When you go home, tell them of us; and tell them that for their tomorrow, we gave our today".  Later on in the late evening, the companies will hold a "ramp ceremony" where they put the bodies on a plane to send them home; however, those are private ceremonies for those units.

The entire thing was less than 20 minutes but I noticed some interesting things.  The service was almost entirely out of the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England.  I was reminded that England does not separate Church and State the way the US does.  The Queen is the head of the Church and the head of the State, so the army only uses these services.  In the US, there are Chaplains from any and all denominations, to include Roman Catholic, protestant, Jewish, and even Muslim.

All in all it was a moving tribute and a stirring reminder of the tragedies of this war.  I was glad I attended.