[padredan]

I was in joint operations training in the early nineties with the royal marines and i do not think i have met any better trained and squared away soldiers than those. they took well to this old paratrooper and i became quite fond of them and as they say we became "mates" A few years ago when my daughter was in london , my mates of the royal marines took the time to escort my daughter and her friends around london and the surrounding area. Do to the kindness of these soldiers i had no doubt they were in good hands and well protected. they were allowed to tour parts of buckingham palace and the grounds under the escourt of my royal marine "mates" , something my daughter and her friends will never forget. I am still in contact with several of them as we have remained friends. The queens diamond jubilee celebration showed how much pride the uk has . the soldiers i trained with had never forgotten the debt they owned us, and being a decendant of one of the members of the paratroopers who sixty eight years ago today made the night jump into france as well as my self being a former paratrooper , i can well understand that pride.