My father (a WWII veteran) never complains about how well veterans are treated officially, just that no one pays attention to them personally. (He was the president for many years of the Last Post Society in Canada, for burying poor veterans). In our country -- probably because we didn't have a good movie industry -- the wartime histories are completely forgotten, and are never taught in school. Certainly since he was a long-serving officer, he thinks of what he gets as his pension, and as an entitlement. My mother fought for 20 years to get a pension from the British government (she was an officer in the WAAF), not for the money, just to get the recognition she felt women deserved. The British government acted disgracefully throughout. I remember one evening my mother was at an official reception for some War Reunion in Canada, and the British Ambassador said to her (she was wearing her medals), Oh my dear, where did you get those? And she replied: ""This one is for the Battle for Britain. And this one is for my Battle against Britain."

yours, Peter T.