To think this DDay veteran is a total legend

[Mrsdavidcaruso]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-27735086

No idea why the care home said he couldn't go, but he seems to be safe and well.

good for him I say

I think I read that he isn't in the care home because he needs care, that he stays there to be with his wife who is in need of the care and that he is free to come and go.

Ah, right, so why the big hoo-hah, I wonder?

No surprise that the DM et al have latched on to a 'heartwarming' story, and are picking and choosing their facts, but I think the whole kerfuffle does reinforce society's expectation that when you're old, you should be confined indoors playing bingo or watching telly, rather than doing stuff that might be exciting or stimulating!

For all that we have an aging population, who more than ever before are going to have been used to wide horizons, there's not much enabling going on at the moment to allow that to continue for them into their old age.

All over the news this morning. Care home staff were trying to book him... he wasn't sure if could/would go and then it was too late to get on an organised trip.

He went out and the staff thought nothing of it as he usually goes out for hours during the day. When he didn't come back for tea they got worried, checked with his family and called the police.

He was connected with an organised trip at the other end and had a lovely day out. He said, it was just a spur of the moment decision - you know, I think will go after all. Dead easy to do as a foot passenger on a ferry, you walk on you walk off.

It's a shame the meeja couldn't help themselves when they tried to report it as a shameful deed done by dastardly care home owners. Pillocks!

What a ridiculous non-story, patronising shite. The police should be ashamed of themselves for tweeting such nonsense.

There would need to be a Deprivation of Liberty (DOLS) assessment done before he could be stopped going anywhere and there would have to be proof that he lacked the Mental Capacity to make the decision.

I'm pleased this veteran got to the ceremonies but am pissed off that his story is the headline rather than that all the men who took part in this campaign, many of whom didn't make it back, like my grandfather.

Most of the veterans being interviewed and taking part are in their v. late eighties and nineties and are bright, articulate, full of stories and memories and a pleasure to listen to.

There was a special last night on TV here in the States featuring fairly extensive interviews with several who were exactly like this.

It's when they show the pictures of them in 1944 that really gets to me. How young they were; some just teenagers.

Yes, me too. They would have been around the same ages that my two eldest boys are now. Unbearable to contemplate them being conscripted and sent to war. How on earth did people cope? The same in WW1.

Incredibly unfair to the care home to cast them as the villains, and dreadful lazy journalism. Not only did they not stop him from going, at the point when he was still making his mind up about it they took the trouble of helping to get him a new blazer to display his medals.

Whilst I agree that the initial reporting of his story tried to make the care home out to be the bad guys I think it's great that it has hit the news. I work in a care home and today it has been the number one topic of conversation amongst both staff and our clients. There has been lots of laughter and jokes going around. Clients who don't usually interact much have been chatting away and two even -broke out- took themselves down to the local shop to buy some beer!

thinkingaboutfostering

It's a great story and everyone has had a good laugh and shed a tear or two over it. The media have milked it and stretched it because it touches everyone's heart. It's about freedom, "breaking out", nearing the end and reliving past glories. Everyone can relate to it and it is great to see that

"There has been lots of laughter and jokes going around. Clients who don't usually interact much have been chatting away and two even -broke out- took themselves down to the local shop to buy some beer!"

That is the spirit. As the crew on the ferry said

"He is a game old boy"

and that is what people love to see.

More details about Bernard's trip and how he was looked after by a retired schoolteacher and her party who saw him alone on the boat.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2651658/For-time-Britains-favourite-D-Day-runaway-Bernard-Jordan-tells-amazing-story.html

I see this story is doing the rounds on facebook. Linked to the BNP facebook page.
I nearly unfriended a few folk yesterday but they claim not to have noticed the BNP link they were posting[hmmm]

I hope when I'm 93 I'll be up for a parachute jump.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/05/jim-martin-photo_n_5455567.html