[Fat Pang]

I have friends and family who served in the US and UK military and saw active service. They are men like you and me who view what they did with pride but also a little regret. Men who don't rush to tell you about it, but if they do, ordinarily tell you stories that illustrate the lighter side of the job.

What I've noticed about these men is that they have a greater maturity, a greater equanimity that enables them to deal with the everyday as it should be dealt with. They have seen the extremes of life, and it's equipped them to value the things around them to a much greater extent than they may have done before.

They make outstanding and genuine friends.

I'm genuinely pleased that I know them, these men who take the risks on behalf of people like me and at the behest of people like Bush and Blair.