Captain Sir Thomas Moore helping others One Step at a Time

 

      As we say in Jamaica:” WALK GOOD, SIR TOM”

           Give Him a permanent tribute, please!

                 He was the very best of us.

 

“I think he deserves a stone in Westminster Abbey because I think he embodies this whole terrible pandemic which we are all living through,” BBC TV personality Carol Vorderman said on Wednesday morning (February 3, 2021) as she called for a permanent tribute to Captain Sir Tom Moore.

Blackpool Tower in Lancashire, England, one of the UK’s most iconic attractions, was lit up blue on Tuesday night February 2, 2021. Why? It was a special tribute in honor of Sir Tom Moore.

Queen Elizabeth led the condolences, BBC News said on Wednesday (February 3). It added that she would send a private message to Sir Tom’s family. Her thoughts and those of the Royal Family are with them recognizing the inspiration he provided for the whole nation and others across the world.

“I join millions across the country in mourning with them,” Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury wrote. “Captain Sir Tom Moore was the very best of us. His courage, compassion, resilience, hope and generosity have been an inspiration to millions and an example to us all. Where he walked a nation followed. I give thanks to God for such a long life, so well lived. May Captain Tom rest in peace.”

The Army Foundation College in Harrogate, Yorkshire made Captain Tom an honorary colonel on his 100^th birthday. Lt. Col. Simon Fairbrother commented that “it was pretty rare to give out such a title.”

Captain Tom had visited the college in September “where he talked to junior soldiers about his wartime experiences.”

Players from Coventry City and Nottingham Forest observed a minutes silence in Captain Tom’s memory on Tuesday night.

In Leeds, the flags on civic buildings in that city were flown at half-staff on Wednesday in honor of Captain Sir Tom. “Sir Tom will be mourned and remembered across the nation as a man who above all gave us hope that, in his own words “tomorrow will be a good day.” Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council said.

The British Army described him as “an exceptional man and soldier to the end.”

British radio and TV personality Zoe Ball wrote: “Captain Sir Tom Moore. Thank you for inspiring us all to do more to help our fellow humans. You are forever in our hearts.”

Where did all this outpouring of love, respect and admiration come from? Where did it begin and why?

Sir Tom was a retired Army officer who “won the nation’s hearts with his extraordinary fundraising efforts for National Health Service charities.”

He had served in India and in Myanmar (also known as Burma) during World War 2 (September 1, 1939 to September 2, 1945). But no one knew about him. “It was by walking laps around his garden that he became known to millions” says the article by Helen Burchell on the BBC website.

Tom had a fall in 2018 and broke his hip. He also needed treatment for skin cancer. The NHS staff who helped him through the healing process were “marvelous”, he said. “He pledged to help those same “super” people who were working on the front line during the pandemic.

But what could he do? At his age, the options were few and far between.

Then he had an idea. He would walk 100 laps (doing 10 laps at a time) around the patio of his home before he reached his 100^th birthday and hoped to raise 1,000 pounds for his effort.

“His family thought reaching 1,000 mark would be a real stretch” Burchell writes, “but as press coverage of his efforts increased so did the donations.”

The rest, as they say, is history. On April 16, 2020 when he completed his 100 laps, he had raised more than 1million pounds (sterling) for NHS Charities Together.

More than one and a half million global donors were involved in the magnificent undertaking.

His actions inspired many people – some young, some old, many with walking frames, to get involved – to get moving again and to give.  

On April 30, 2020, there was a personal birthday greeting for him from Queen Elizabeth the Second, from the prime minister and an RAF fly-past as well.

His fundraising effort had made the news. But there was still more to come! He was to be awarded a knighthood and would be known as Captain Sir Thomas Moore.

On July 17, 2020 he was knighted “in a unique ceremony” in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The photographs from that ceremony are indeed poignant. There is Queen Elizabeth, now slightly bent with age, touching the shoulders of the 100 year old veteran, (also bent with age,) with the sword. It was Queen Elizabeth’s first official engagement in person since lockdown.

The Queen spent a few minutes speaking with him and his family. She had used the sword (that her own father George V1 used) to bestow the insignia of Knight Bachelor upon Captain Sir Tom, a BBC report on 17 July 2020 said.

“I am absolutely overawed. This is such a high award and to get it from her Majesty as well, what more can anyone wish for? This has been an absolutely magnificent day for me,” he said.

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Sir Tom passed away on Tuesday at Bedford Hospital two days after being admitted with breathing problems, the BBC report for February 3, 2021 said.

As we say in Jamaica:” WALK GOOD, SIR TOM”.

PS. The Comet >News Jacob Thorburn 5:33pm February 3 2021

Flags have flown at half-mast in Stevenage and North Herts in recognition of Sir Captain Tom Moore who passed away yesterday. Captain Tom was a beacon of light and a source of inspiration to so many of us in these troubling times.

At 6 p.m. in England, February 3, 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined a National Clap to honor NHS Charity fundraiser Capt. Sir Tom Moore and health workers.