A BLIND Worcester veteran will march at the Cenotaph in London on Remembrance Sunday with the charity that supported him when he lost his sight.
Steve Brown, from St Peter’s, will take part in the march on November 13 with more than 100 other blind veterans supported by the national charity for vision-impaired ex-service men and women, Blind Veterans UK.
The 63-year-old became a Royal Marine in 1972 as part of 42 Commando based in Plymouth after training at Commando School Lympstone and went on operational tours in Northern Ireland and the Mediterranean.
After his time in the forces, Steve went on to work in the music industry, at the BBC as a broadcast journalist and in the civil service until recent retirement.
In 1990 Steve started losing his sight and was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a disease of the optic nerve that causes sight loss and was told he would be blind in five years.
Steve started receiving free help and support from Blind Veterans UK in 2015 and attended an introduction week at the training and rehabilitation centre in Llandudno.
Speaking of the charity’s ‘awe-inspiring’ work, Steve said: “The technology they have to help you is astounding.
“I initially said I didn’t need certain equipment but they proved I would need it to aid my sight loss and I shall have it.
“Remembrance is such a personal thing to a soldier. I lost friends in Northern Ireland, I lost friends in the Falklands. I’ll be thinking of them.”
Chief Executive of Blind Veterans UK, Major General (Rtd) Nick Caplin CB, said: “This year’s Remembrance Sunday is particularly poignant as our delegation of current blind veterans remember those blinded at the Somme but also those who didn’t make it back.”
Worcester City Council leader Coun Adrian Gregson has been invited to mark this year’s Remembrance weekend in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen.
Coun Gregson will join an estimated 20 Worcestershire members of the Royal British Legion for the Festival of Remembrance at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Saturday evening (November 12).
County standard bearer Derrill Green will take part in the festival, parading the Worcestershire standard during the opening of the event.
“The Festival of Remembrance is an event I have always found to be both powerful and poignant when I have watched it on television,” Coun Gregson said.
“I am proud to represent Worcester at this important act of remembrance for the many who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedom. I have no doubt it will be a moving and memorable evening,” he added.
Coun Geoff Williams will take the place of Coun Gregson at the Remembrance Sunday (November 13) parade and service at Worcester Cathedral while Coun Joy Squires will represent the authority at St John’s Cemetery for a service in memory of Woodbine Willie.
