Posted on 09/13/2001 11:54:36 AM PDT by MadIvan
A special Changing of the Guard ceremony has taken place at Buckingham Palace to honour those killed in the terrorist outrage in America.
In an unprecedented move, the military band played the American national anthem first. When they finished a large and emotional crowd burst into applause.
The Duke of York, representing the Queen, and US Ambassador William Farish stood solemnly side-by-side as others in a crowd of well-wishers - eight deep at the Palace railings - waved flags, clapped and cheered.
The two men stared grim-faced ahead as the anthem gave way to a two-minute silence.
Then the band from the outgoing Number 7 Company, Coldstream Guards, played a selection of sombre US music.
It included Hymn for the Fallen, written by US composer John Williams and used in the final credits of the film, Saving Private Ryan.
The Queen could not make it as she was in Balmoral, Scotland, but she will be attending a special ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral in London on Friday.
Another Royal, the Prince of Wales, was the first person to sign a book of condolence at the US Embassy in London.
He wrote his name in the volume in a gesture of sympathy and solidarity with the thousands of victims of the atrocities in New York and Washington.
He called at the embassy, in Grosvenor Square, central London, on the way back from a visit to Somerset.
After signing the book, the Prince spent about seven minutes talking to staff, many of whom know people affected by the tragedy.
A US embassy spokesman said: "It was a very simple, solemn occasion. He was joined by Ambassador William Farish and his wife. There was a signing ceremony and a formal handshake."
Meanwhile both British and American mourners gathered around an impromptu memorial near the embassy in Grosvenor Square.
An American flag was draped around a tree while scores of bouquets were laid around it. There were many messages of condolence written along with the flowers.
Many mourners were unable to control their grief as they remembered the victims of the devastating terrorist attack.
Andrew McGee, 32, from London said: "The attack was a tragedy. I love Americans and when I saw the pictures I just could not believe it. "I despise the people who did this and I am still in shock really".
Lloyd's remembers
Lloyd's of London, the insurance market, rang its Lutine bell and held a minute silence as a mark of respect to those killed in the US terrorist strike.
The bell, which was salvaged from British Frigate HMS Lutine in the 19th century, was traditionally rung to signal news of a missing ship.
It has been rung to mark other tragedies such as the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
There was a minute-long silence which will end with the bell being rung a second time. A spokesman for Lloyd's said they were ringing the bell as a mark of respect to the victims in the US.
He said that as a market Lloyd's had several broker offices in the World Trade Centre.
Residents of Lockerbie, the Scottish town which was devastated when a jumbo jet exploded over it more than a decade ago, spoke of their horror at the US terror attacks.
Many townspeople forged close links with the scores of American families whose relatives were killed when Pan Am flight 103 was blown out of the sky in December 1988.
Phil Jones, the chief executive of Dumfries and Galloway Council, said flags would be flown at half mast on all local authority buildings in the area this week as a mark of respect for the American people.
"The people of Lockerbie are appalled by these acts of terrorism in America.
"The scale is unimaginable but the individual trauma of the relatives of the victims is known and fills local people with deep sadness.
"We received comfort and support from America following the Lockerbie air disaster in December 1988 and we want to let them know that they are in our thoughts now and in the difficult times ahead."
And in an area that is used to terrorism, Ireland is to hold a national day of mourning on Friday.
But they WILL be defeated. God bless you and God save the Queen.
And -- in this, the week in which the true awfulness of the criminal "administration" that Our Fraternal Republic has just rid itself of is sheeted home -- and "the Clinton legacy" begins to take its awful effect -- bring to mind another Englishman -- and the forlorn wish, hope and prayer that a man like him was available to My America now -- in Our Nation's hour of peril.
To whit:
On May 13, 1940, in his first statement as Prime Minister to the British House of Commons, Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill declared: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.
Those eleven burning words summed up the nature of Britain's war, turned Britain's back on the weaknesses of the past, set her face toward the unknown future. Because of them the rest of that speech has been forgotten. It should not be forgotten, for it is not only a great example of Winston Churchill's eloquence, but the epitome of the movement which he leads.
After a brief report on the formation of his Government, Winston Churchill said: "You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea and air--war with all our might and with all the strength God has given us--and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.
"You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terrors. Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.
"Let that be realized. No survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge, the impulse of the ages, that mankind shall move forward toward his goal."
Cheers, Mate
Brian
That's the one that burns only Alaskan Pristine "World Heritage" Wilderness Oil Field Corporation's natural gas, of course?
<];^)~<
Further from the ITN site:
Support for silence
Unions and managers throughout industry have united in support of an international plan to hold a three-minute silence in honour of the victims of the terrorist attacks.
Offices across the UK will fall silent at 1100 tomorrow in an unprecedented display of mourning, backed by the Trade Unions Congress and the Confederation of British Industry.
Who are 'they'? I agree that we should get the people who did this, but bombs are totally indiscriminate. There is no way that more innocent people dying will set anything right.
Thank you for this thread, and reminding us of Winston Churchill's words of inspiration.
England knows the pain we feel, your country knows what it's like when it's HOME thats attacked.
I was very moved by the reports from ENGLAND and we are learning quickly who our friends are in the world ...though never in doubt about the United Kingdom actually.
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